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In Saint Michael鈥檚 College鈥檚 Business Administration and Accounting program, faculty members Nicole Morris and Karen Popovich model a practical, transparent approach to AI integration 鈥� one that treats the technology as a 鈥渢hinking partner鈥� rather than a replacement for human expertise.

The approach to AI in business education focuses on preparing students for ethical, real-world applications. Students learn to understand AI鈥檚 capabilities and limits, evaluate outputs critically and ethically, communicate professionally while preserving authentic voice, and apply AI in workplace contexts with transparency and integrity.

鈥淭his exploration of AI鈥檚 capacity helps us be better at our craft,鈥� said Morris, Associate Professor & LaMarche Endowed Chair in Business Administration and Accounting. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have all the answers, and we don鈥檛 ever pretend to have all of the answers in our classrooms. And our obligation with AI is to embrace it as a potential partner, and that means a lot of different things as we show up in the classroom.鈥�

Saint Michael’s College Professor Nicole Morris

Both professors emphasized the liberal arts foundation of critical analysis when working with AI.

Popovich noted that working with AI as a thinking partner allows for broader initial exploration.

鈥淵ou can start to generate ideas that are much bigger,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e getting much better at communicating with the tool, making sure that we鈥檙e sending chat into the right direction.鈥�

Popovich used AI to design an experiential learning activity 鈥� a Catholic Social Teaching scavenger hunt 鈥攆or her Gospel of Work course, which explores the intersection of religion, culture, and commerce. It was a creative way, she said, for students to connect theory with practice.

Morris created customized case studies with AI that connect abstract concepts to Vermont鈥檚 business landscape. For example, when teaching cost behavior and fixed versus variable costs, she began with base information from the textbook, combined with AI prompts, and then edited a generic base into an example that would resonate with students.

鈥淏ecause we鈥檙e situated in Vermont, I want students to get to know our Vermont business landscape,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檒l put a disclosure that the numbers are fictitious 鈥� they鈥檙e for illustration only 鈥� but it gives us something that鈥檚 tangible to talk about in a classroom.鈥�

The time savings allow Morris to focus on higher-level work with students.

鈥淚鈥檓 able to do so much more with my class, and to make my classroom more experiential, more engaged, rooted in the content that I鈥檓 the driver of,鈥� Morris said. 鈥淚t’s almost like working with your own personalized instructional designer.鈥�

She added that AI allows her to think more expansively, as it is not limited by her own lived experience and background.

Business Administration and Accounting Professor Karen Popovich

Both professors establish clear boundaries for student use and teach critical evaluation of AI outputs. This reflects the College鈥檚 broader commitment that students use AI transparently and responsibly, recognize bias and misinformation, and apply human judgment before accepting AI output.

Popovich assigned an exercise in which students were asked to use AI to revise their resumes as a way to consider the technology鈥檚 limitations. What the students discovered is that AI had overstated some of their skills and experiences.

鈥淭hey realized that they weren鈥檛 always going to get something that was completely accurate,鈥� Popovich said. The students learned 鈥渢hat they have to be the ones to verify and validate … evaluate with critical thinking and ethical reasoning.鈥�

Popovich provides explicit guidance on when and how AI can be used in her courses. For journaling exercises, she prohibits AI entirely.

鈥�100% human-made, no AI allowed. And that includes editing,鈥� Popovich said.

For case studies and other assignments, students may use AI tools like Grammarly for grammar checks but must cite what percentage of their paper was changed by AI versus their own work.

鈥淏ut for larger-based assignments where I really need them to connect ideas and to integrate, and to demonstrate their critical thinking,鈥� Popovich said. 鈥淚 want them to go to the Writing Center and use one of our peer writing tutors to help them because learning how to edit is a critical thinking skill. Anyone can copy and paste what Grammarly says to do. But I want them to be able to think, so I think they truly appreciate the safeguards when it鈥檚 on every assignment.鈥�

Morris emphasizes that AI cannot replace the uniquely human skill of articulating ideas and reasoning.

鈥淗elping them understand why their ability to articulate ideas and thoughts is so important, because AI can鈥檛 do that. So, it鈥檚 not just about the calculation, it鈥檚 understanding why I might recommend this?鈥� Morris said.

Morris encourages students to use AI for ideation and revision rather than simply doing work for them. She also frames the decision to integrate AI as consistent with Saint Michael鈥檚 values rather than contradictory to them.

鈥淥ne of the things that we talk about at Saint Michael鈥檚 is leading with purpose,鈥� Morris said. 鈥淎nd I think that to avoid AI would not be leading. It would be ignoring the reality of the world as we know it and ignoring the reality that the world will continue to evolve.鈥�

Morris said she has come to appreciate that students at the College want to do the right thing 鈥� to act with ethics and integrity.

鈥淲hen you tell students what the boundary conditions are … they will rise to the occasion,鈥� she said.

Read the collection of stories on AI at Saint Michael’s College. This story was published as part of the Spring/Summer 2026 edition of The Saint Michael’s College Magazine.聽