As AI usage spreads across teaching, research, and operations, higher education IT teams are finding their networks increasingly strained by workload spikes. The report describes how campus connectivity can appear stable—until sudden surges from AI learning or inference overwhelm wireless and wired infrastructure. Infrastructure leaders warn that networks can idle for long periods and then spike abruptly, making performance monitoring and capacity planning critical. The article frames the challenge as an IT governance issue: maintaining reliability and agility across the wired backbone that supports growing wireless demand. For universities and colleges managing device proliferation and new AI workflows, the piece signals that campus network oversight may need to be treated as a continuous operational responsibility rather than a periodic upgrade cycle.