AI @ Furman – November
There’s so much happening at Furman related to AI that it’s hard to keep track! Just as AI is rapidly evolving, so too is Furman’s response. Across campus, faculty, staff, and students are exploring what artificial intelligence means for teaching, learning, research, and everyday work. Here’s an overview of the major initiatives on campus. At the end of each section is information on how to get involved.
AISTF
The AI Strategy Task Force (AISTF) brings together voices from across the university to help shape Furman’s approach—developing recommendations for responsible, creative, and forward-thinking uses of AI. If you’re interested in joining AISTF, please contact Magdelyn Helwig ([email protected]) or Mike Gifford ([email protected]).
Workshops
To help our community gain confidence and curiosity with these tools, Furman offers AI training and exploration opportunities like AI in Action workshops, AI Peruse & Play sessions, and IT-led sessions focused on practical applications. These gatherings invite everyone to experiment, learn from one another, and imagine new possibilities for how AI can support our work. If you’re interested in sharing what you’re doing with AI in a future AI in Action workshop, please email Stephanie Freis ([email protected]) or Magdelyn Helwig ([email protected]).
Learning and Networking
Furman is also connecting to broader networks through participation in the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) AI-Ready Programs, which link us to national conversations about AI in higher education and provide opportunities to share our own innovations and lessons learned. Program 1, All-Campus Essentials, is open to everyone on campus. Several weeks before each set of monthly webinars—which spotlight different areas of the university—stakeholders in those areas will receive details about how to register. So keep an eye on your inbox! The January sessions will focus on administrative uses of AI, offering insights that will benefit everyone across campus.
Furman is also represented in the University of Richmond’s new Center for the Liberal Arts and AI (CLAAI). Mai Nous Xiong-Gum has been named a CLAAI faculty fellow for 2025-2026, and Magdelyn Helwig has been appointed to the CLAAI Advisory Board as an Associated Colleges of the South (ACS) representative.
SoTL
As you can see in the diagram, at the heart of all these efforts is the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)—research that helps us understand how best to teach and learn with and about AI. If you’re already experimenting with AI in the classroom, or have hesitation on whether it will be effective, consider turning your current AI activities or lingering AI questions into research! We’re building an AI SoTL community at Furman where you can join with fellow instructors to test your curiosities around AI in learning and teaching.
This is a particularly timely moment where every discipline is eager to understand AI’s effectiveness. Perhaps you’ve asked students to use AI tools for specific assignments, asked students to reflect on their AI use, compared AI-assisted work with traditional approaches, or evaluated how AI changed students’ learning process. By systematically recording what works and what doesn’t, you’re not just improving your own teaching, you’re helping build evidence for your discipline and the wider landscape of higher ed. Your classroom insights are now easier to document and share than ever before thanks to FDC’s umbrella IRB process for pedagogical research. To learn more, email Stephanie Freis ([email protected]).