With AI advancement, private higher education urgently requires systemic restructuring. Prior studies focus on technological applications, yet organizational impacts remain underexplored. Focusing on academic units in private universities—exemplified by an art and design college—this study analyzes structural tensions in operations, talent cultivation, and governance amid AI empowerment. Through literature review, policy analysis, and case studies, it proposes a "technology-organization-strategy" coordinated reconstruction path. AI acts not merely as a teaching method driver but as a critical variable reshaping organizational models and development logics. This research offers theoretical and practical insights for strategic optimization and governance innovation in academic units navigating the AI era.

Na Luo, Zhuzhu Wang. AI-Driven Strategic Reconstruction of Academic Units in Private Universities. International Journal of New Developments in Education (2026), Vol. 8, Issue 4: 14-21. https://doi.org/10.25236/IJNDE.2026.080403.

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