In a national study I conducted for my doctoral dissertation of how university libraries are implementing AI systems, one library leader shared a distressing discovery. Not long after installing a system, the library learned that the AI was building user profiles that stored students’ intellectual behavior far beyond the library’s standard data retention period. “We had no idea it was happening,” the librarian told me. In another interview, a high-level decision-maker at another library shared, “Our privacy policy, last updated in 2018, addressed traditional database searches. It never contemplated how a machine learning system might use seemingly innocuous data to infer patron interests or identities.”
Reciprocity over Hierarchy: Designing and Implementing a Student-Led Reverse Mentoring Program
Many academic leaders, including administrators and faculty members, participate in traditional mentoring programs that prioritize hierarchy. But these programs typically don’t foster engagement and connection between students and faculty or
Marquita Lyons-Smith and Keva Suitte
October 19, 2026
