| Dear WashU Danforth faculty colleagues, Welcome to the spring semester! We hope you return rested and ready to greet our students as we enter the second half of the academic year. Whether in the classroom now, or in their preferred post-graduation path, our students will engage with generative AI. As Mark announced earlier this week, WashU has begun a new faculty-led academic initiative to explore how our institution can most thoughtfully meet this moment in ways that serve our students and faculty. In the near-term, there are important foundational steps the university is taking as part of this initiative and the involvement of our faculty community—both your participation and your pushback—are welcome. AI Literacy for the WashU Scholar Canvas module First, we are investing in the skills and understanding students need to use genAI technologies thoughtfully and responsibly through the new AI Literacy for the WashU Scholar module in Canvas. This short, self-paced module represents an important step toward providing all WashU students access to a shared foundation for understanding how genAI works, how to critically evaluate its outputs, and how to apply these tools through guided learning activities using university-supported genAI platforms. As instructors, we encourage you to review the content and, where appropriate, assign it within your course. Learn how at ai.wustl.edu/ai-literacy. Students may also choose to self-enroll in the Canvas module and will receive information on how to do so at the beginning of the semester. A university-wide framework for undergraduate education At the heart of this work is an educational model focused on preparing our students to offer transformative solutions to society’s deepest challenges. While training them in emerging technologies and tools is key, we must also develop in them the authentic expertise that will allow them to engage in creative and analytical thinking independent of and beyond the capabilities of generative AI. The framework Jen Smith and Peter Boumgarden shared in December includes a focus on building quantitative and computational literacy in our students, but also involves a broader collection of curricular and co-curricular opportunities to develop disciplinary expertise, cultivate integrative skills, and help students discover and articulate a coherent sense of purpose. AI technologies may play a role in these experiences but will not define them. Access to new genAI tools Alongside our first campus-wide AI literacy program, we are pleased to introduce a suite of new, university-supported genAI tools to give students and faculty on the Danforth Campus practical experience using emerging technologies in an academic context. In collaboration with WashU IT, we are beginning a phased expansion of these tools by providing access to Gemini for Education and NotebookLM today. During the spring semester, an additional, advanced AI option will be made available to faculty and students on the Danforth Campus. More information on these tools and details for access and sign-in is available at ai.wustl.edu. This limited rollout to faculty, students, and staff on the Danforth Campus ensures we can test and refine our approach based on student and faculty feedback, while remaining academically and fiscally responsible. Thank you for helping us shape this academic initiative. We are collecting feedback on these initiatives, including your perspective on future phases and rollouts. Further programming and tools will be shared this semester, including the forthcoming call for proposals for the new AI Curriculum Corps. With best wishes for a great start to the semester, Jen Smith, Arts & Sciences Betsy Sinclair, Arts & Sciences Nathan Jacobs, McKelvey Engineering Peter Boumgarden, Olin Business School |
| Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Initiatives |