Auburn University receives Collaborative Initiatives Award for pioneering AI education

Auburn University was awarded the Collaborative Initiatives Award category of the Tambellini Future Campus Award at the Future Campus Summit on June 27. The award recognizes initiatives to enhance artificial intelligence, or AI, adoption, usage and literacy, especially in education.

Auburn’s accomplishments within the AI space are numerous. The Biggio Center for Teaching and Learning, or Biggio Center, spearheads initiatives to promote AI literacy through online courses for faculty and students. In Fall 2024, the Biggio Center will launch a K-12 AI educator program in collaboration with the Alabama School Librarians Association.

By collaborating with major technology companies, such as Microsoft, NVIDIA and Salesforce, Auburn’s annual AI Day brings industry insights to students, professional staff and faculty. The university has established AI guidelines to safeguard its technological ecosystem and incorporates findings from current initiatives into its long-term AI strategy. The AI@AU Initiative, established through an internal grant from the Office of the Provost, builds a comprehensive infrastructure for AI research collaboration and education across campus and has increased the excitement about AI at Auburn.

“I am excited about Auburn playing a leading role in AI education and research within the state and in the Southeast through increasing cross-disciplinary AI-powered research, providing new educational opportunities in AI for AU students, staff, and faculty, and hosting major AI-related events such as the Alabama Commission on Higher Education’s statewide conference on AI that the Biggio Center will help organize this October,” said N. Hari Narayanan, AI@AU leader and chair of the Department of Computer Science & Software Engineering.

The partnerships amongst campus units fostered by the Biggio Center have been instrumental in the success of AI initiatives at Auburn.

“The Biggio Center is a prime example of this collaborative approach,” said Jill Albin Hill, executive director and deputy chief information officer in the Office of Information Technology. “They work tirelessly to consider the needs of all colleges, faculty and students. Their dedication to innovation helps pave the way and bring others along.”

The Biggio Center continually embraces innovation and collaboration, exploring what it means to be a modern workplace and classroom and encouraging inquiry and creativity.

“The Biggio Center remains relentlessly committed to being a connective tissue that provides the Auburn University community and the State of Alabama access to support and resources that elevate the quality of teaching and enhanced learning in ways that prepare our students for the disruptive technologies of our time,” said Asim Ali, executive director, Biggio Center.

This Oct. 10-11, Auburn will continue to expand upon its work with AI by partnering with the Alabama Commission on Higher Education, Auburn University Montgomery and Southern Union State Community College to host the Alabama Higher Education AI Exchange. The conference focuses on the teaching and learning, research, business operations and student services impact of AI on the Alabama higher education community. More information on the conference is available online.