President Jim Ryan, speaking on behalf of the Council of Presidents, told the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee’s Education Subcommittee that higher education in Virginia has faced recent shocks but remains strong and that the council has four priorities for the 2025 session. “This has not been an especially easy time for higher education,” Ryan said, and he thanked lawmakers for their “support of higher education.”

The Council of Presidents (COP), which Ryan said is chaired by him this year and includes public university presidents and community college leaders, identified four priorities: college athletics, expanding internships and work-based learning, securing ongoing support for the Virginia Military Survivors' Independence Education Program, and planning for a Commonwealth artificial intelligence institute. Ryan said the COP seeks to balance robust athletics programs with strong academic outcomes and noted recent structural changes in college sports, including name, image and likeness rules and conference realignments. “To say that college athletics is in a different place than it was 5 years ago would be a gross understatement,” he said.

On internships and work-based learning, Ryan described ongoing collaboration with the Virginia Talent Opportunity Program, CHEV, the Virginia Business Higher Education Council and the Virginia Chamber to increase both the number and quality of internships and to make them accessible to students who face financial barriers. He said the Council is also “making progress on the collection of consistent data related to internship participation and outcomes” and expects a clearer picture of internships by the end of the academic year.

Ryan emphasized ongoing support for the Virginia Military Survivors' Independence Education Program, calling it “an incredibly important program that opens the door to education wider for deserving military families,” and said the COP will share institutional participation and outcome data to inform future needs. On artificial intelligence, Ryan said Virginia institutions have engaged with AI for decades and the COP wants to be “proactive rather than reactive” in ethically harnessing AI, supporting a proposed Commonwealth artificial intelligence institute. “This year, you will see a request for planning for funding of this institute,” he said, adding that discussions with Virginia Tech and other campuses envision a networked institute rather than a single physical home.

Senator Stewart asked Ryan how institutions define ethical parameters for AI. Ryan replied that the work will combine norms for responsible data collection and use with “some regulatory framework,” but that the technology’s rapid pace makes detailed regulation difficult.

The COP presentation closed with Ryan thanking the General Assembly for its partnership, saying Virginians’ confidence in their institutions remains high despite national trends of declining trust in higher education. No formal motions or votes were recorded on these presentations.