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Dear Colleagues,
As we start a new year and a new semester, I would like to note some of the progress we have made toward enhancing AI-related activities on our campus, as well as reminding you of resources and upcoming opportunities I hope you will take advantage of.
Each school or college has now designated an AI Teaching Fellow, who will serve as a point person in the unit for AI-related teaching initiatives, as well as contributing to campus-wide AI activities. These individuals are listed on the Office of the Provost AI and the Learning Environment webpage, and I would like to thank all of them for their service. Also, faculty council worked with both my office and the Office of the President to form the AI standing committee whose charge is to advise campus leaders on policies, use and study of artificial intelligence (AI) in teaching, learning, research and business practices. Special thanks to Tom Warhover (Faculty Council Chair) and Carolyn Orbann (Faculty Council Vice-Chair) for their leadership in establishing this committee, and to Kevin Brown, Associate Professor of Digital Media and Performance Studies, for agreeing to serve as inaugural chair of the committee.
If you have not yet done so, I strongly recommend that all instructors adopt a syllabus statement related to acceptable use of Gen AI in each of your courses, considering factors like relevancy of AI to course objectives and ability to incorporate generative AI into course assignments. If you have questions about such a statement, I encourage you to consider consulting with either the Teaching for Learning Center or your school/college’s AI Teaching Fellow.
We have several professional development events coming up in the spring semester—including a showcase event hosted by the Professional Development Council and a series called, “Small Teaching with AI” that the Teaching for Learning Center will be hosting with the AI Teaching Fellows. Other events in January include:
- The Teaching for Learning Center’s annual virtual teaching conference, Teaching Renewal Week, January 13 – 17, 2025. This year we have a focus on teaching with AI with a keynote presentation from nationally renowned expert Lilach Mollick, as well as concurrent sessions on AI, teaching, and learning.
- The College of Arts & Science’s AI Symposium on January 17 will illustrate AI research efforts at Mizzou.
Please see the AI and the Learning Environment webpage for links to more AI resources and events, as well as the link to full report from the Task Force on AI.
I hope you all have a great start to the spring semester.
Sincerely,
Matthew P. Martens, Ph.D.
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs