New Book · 2026

The AI‑Ready Campus

A Practitioner's Framework for AI Transformation in Higher Education

"Technology doesn't fail organizations. The absence of a framework does."

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The AI-Ready Campus hardcover

Official Release

The AI‑Ready Campus arrives January 1, 2027

Midnight Central · hardcover and e-book

For the practitioner

You were handed an AI assignment — without a playbook.

Not a theory of AI transformation. A playbook written from inside an institution doing the work in real time — for the project managers, directors, and council chairs who must turn a mandate into results with limited budgets, skeptical faculty, and no blank check.

The Framework

Five domains. One ready campus.

I

The Landscape

Where higher education stands, who actually leads AI work, and how ready your institution really is.

II

The Strategy

A one-page, constraint-aware plan with clear bets, sequenced investments, and defined success metrics.

III

The Capability

The human infrastructure that turns training into real behavior change, not completion certificates.

IV

The Governance

Governance bodies, procurement standards, and risk registers that keep adoption from outpacing accountability.

V

The Transformation

Moving from pilot program to standard practice, and sustaining a community of practice as the technology evolves.

Inside the Book

Fifteen chapters of tools, diagnostics, and guidance.

Readiness assessments, portfolio scoring, tiered competency models, governance charters, and risk registers you can use on Monday.

  1. 01The AI Moment in Higher Education
  2. 02The Practitioner's Dilemma
  3. 03Assessing Your Institution's AI Readiness

From the Foreword

"The institutions that got it right didn't move slower. They moved with more precision. They built the scaffolding first."

Marcus Marshall

Founder & Chief Architect, Continuum Intelligence Engine™

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Have a question? The manuscript answers.

Answers are drawn directly from the full text of The AI-Ready Campus.

About the Author

Leon Burks, Jr., D.B.A.

PfMP · LPM · PMP · CSPO

Enterprise Portfolio Manager and AI governance practitioner in higher education, and Subcommittee Chair of a campus AI Governance and Opportunities Council. With more than 22 years across energy, defense, and higher education, Dr. Burks holds four active board seats. The AI-Ready Campus is his fifteenth book.

Speaker · Workshop Facilitator · AI Transformation Advisor

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Launch List

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