On Friday, May 15, 2026, Ryan Low, the University of Maine System (UMS’s) Vice Chancellor for Finance and Strategic AI Integration, sent an email out to UMS with the subject line “Advancing a System-wide AI solution.”
The email read, “Today, the University of Maine System (UMS) will award its first System-wide enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) platform contract to ChatGPT Edu from OpenAI. Through the two-year agreement that will begin this July 1, every faculty member, staff member, and matriculated student will have access through their UMS account and the opportunity to use this tool (or not) as they see fit.”
According to the email, UMS will fund the first year (from the beginning of July 2026 to the end of June 2027) from System resources. The cost of this partnership is said to be approximately $1.39 million. No new student fee will be introduced this year, but the system will revisit funding for the second year of the contract.
Low continued, “Our reasoning is straightforward. AI tools like ChatGPT Edu have quickly become essential infrastructure for teaching and learning, research, and operations. We are committed to ensuring Maine’s Public Universities remain the most affordable in the region while providing our students with the foundational experience and knowledge of the tools that are increasingly common in the workplace and that employers expect them to have the skills to utilize.”
In a subsection of the email titled “How we got here,” Low referenced a public report issued in September by a UMS AI working group. According to Low, the group recommended that an “AI solution be made available System-wide to ensure equitable access to tools and training.”
He also stated that the working group process was “inclusive of faculty, staff, students, and Trustees.”
However, the publicly available working group report appears to list only one student member — a University of Maine at Farmington (UMF) student who has since graduated. The report does not currently provide evidence of broader student engagement efforts such as campus-wide surveys, public forums, or formal feedback collection from the wider student population.
The University of Southern Maine Student Body President, Ted Campbell, acknowledged these concerns as well, stating that, “Having read the AI working group report, I noticed that concerns about the downsides of AI use were only briefly addressed. I wish some more critical perspectives would have been represented. I also noticed that only [one] faculty and [one] student were represented.”
Campbell continued, “Though I personally keep my AI use in both work and school to a minimum, I think that if you are to use AI, it’s important to be trained in how to properly use it. I think a proper system-wide integration of AI would necessitate comprehensive AI training for all students. I plan on discussing with USM’s admin how best to implement this change to USM while also maintaining a sense of academic integrity. I’m grateful that the first year of this contract will not lead to any increased fees for students and will work to make sure that any fees that may occur next year are as low as possible.”
According to the announcement email, the rollout of the new partnership will occur in phases throughout the summer. The email also noted that “decisions about how AI is used in any individual classroom, lab, or office will continue to rest with the people doing that work.”
Additionally, UMS stated that a “System-wide Q&A session” will be recorded and posted online in the coming weeks.
Low has previously spoken publicly about artificial intelligence and its role within the University of Maine System. In January 2026, he appeared on the Leaders in the Loop podcast, hosted by Dan Jenkins and Gaurav Khanna, for an episode titled “AI at the System Level: Leadership, Shared Services, and Scale with Ryan Low.”
During the episode, Low was asked how AI is being incorporated into system-level strategy and financing, specifically within the University of Maine system. He responded by stating, “We’ve tried to embrace it every opportunity we can.”
According to a November 2025 article, Low has specifically used AI to help navigate the university system’s multimillion-dollar budget.
Low has also publicly discussed utilizing AI during hiring processes within the University of Maine System. He stated that, while tasked with hiring a new Chief Information Officer (CIO), he used a custom ChatGPT to assist in evaluating applicants. Rather than reviewing the submitted CVs independently, Low explained that he fed the CVs into this AI tool in order to determine whether candidates met certain qualifications for the position.
When describing the experience, Low stated: “From that day on, I was hooked.”
Since the initial announcement of the system’s partnership with OpenAI, students and organizations across UMS have expressed mixed reactions. The UMF Activism Club shared criticism of the decision in an Instagram post published on May 15, the same day Low’s initial email was sent.
In the post, the group stated, “We are not going to let our brains rot!” The post also cited an MIT study that found AI usage was “associated with lower cognitive performance in three different areas of study.” Additionally, the group raised concerns about AI’s environmental impact and even the potential financial ramifications of the contract. In the comment section, one social media user stated, “They definitely waited until the semester was over to make this announcement, awfully convenient…”
Chloe Longpre, a USM student majoring in Environmental Science, has some concerns about UMS’s partnership with OpenAI, particularly from an environmental standpoint. Longpre has worked to make USM and the broader community more sustainable; she works for the Office of Sustainability and received the Contribution to Campus Sustainability award in 2026. On the topic of the system’s contract with and usage of ChatGPT Edu, Longpre said, “I can confidently say that if the university systems wish to continue using AI, there should be more AI education events hosted in order to ‘offset’ and reduce the AI usage at our universities.” Longpre continued, “Doing even a simple Google search will tell you that AI requires both land and water to function, and on a planet whose population is increasing, we cannot risk depleting our natural resources.”
However, proponents of AI have said it can have great benefits in the education sector. According to the University of Maine System AI Working Group, AI is being utilized for admissions and scholarships, and can even potentially aid in healthcare.
Both inside and outside of the higher education world, broader concerns stem from the potential safety risks of AI chatbots. This month, OpenAI has faced a lawsuit in relation to a shooting at Florida State University (FSU). Specifically, the lawsuit claims, ChatGPT told the alleged shooter that it’s more likely for a shooting to gain public or even national attention if children are involved. “Even 2-3 victims can draw more attention,” the chatbot reportedly said.
In addition to this recent lawsuit, OpenAI is actively facing dozens of pending lawsuits, which range from copyright infringement to wrongful death.
However, supporters think that, with the proper guardrails and education in place, AI’s benefits can still outweigh its downsides. In the executive summary of the University of Maine System’s report, they state, “By empowering each campus to tailor AI guidance, and support and incentivize its use—within the guardrails of existing privacy and security policies—we honor both local expertise, the System’s shared commitment to ethical practice, and the fundamental university role in the creation of new knowledge to benefit society.”
As AI becomes increasingly integrated into higher education, the debate with the University of Maine System mirrors larger national conversations surrounding ethics, sustainability, accessibility, and safety. Whether ChatGPT Edu ultimately proves to be a transformative educational tool or a source of continued controversy may depend on how universities choose to regulate, teach, and implement the technology moving forward.
Andresin • May 24, 2026 at 1:48 pm
Good read I personally think ai won’t be as impactful as broad will want to be even if students were properly trained on how to use the tool