Wilson Nitunga smiling at the camera. Wilson is a young, Black man wearing a blue suit and tie.

Wilson Nitunga, Keynote Speaker

Fall Faculty Focus is on Tuesday, September 17.

We will spend the day exploring our roles as educators in a present and future that includes generative AI (artificial intelligence). Fall Faculty Focus is an event during orientation week that provides space and time for faculty to come together and share ideas, get inspired, have fun, and gear up for the year ahead. This event centers faculty and Instructional staff, but it is open to other staff who find the content relevant to their work at Clark and would like to attend.

All attendees must register. Please register by September 10.

Morning

8 - 9 am

Welcome!

We are so glad you are here to engage with us around AI in higher education today! There are so many times when situations arise that require a "both...and" approach rather than an "either...or" approach. We want to acknowledge that many people are feeling a lot of fear and even grief around generative AI and the changes it will inevitably bring to our lives...and...we want to embrace the opportunities that AI presents to enhance teaching, learning, and accessibility. We hope that today will be the springboard for many fruitful conversations around AI in our work at Clark and how we can partner with students to use AI in intentional, empowering ways. To get the conversation rolling and to begin our reflections around these issues, let's please start the day with a brief activity:

Morning Prompt: How we are thinking and feeling about AI

Please follow the link above to a wiki page and share your thoughts!

9 - 10 am

Keynote Speaker Video

We are so excited to welcome Wilson Nitunga, who is a faculty member at Portland Community College involved in the Center of Artificial Intelligence and Cultural Computing. He will be sharing his own academic journey from "at risk" student to college faculty, instructional and relational strategies to develop the best possible support system for students, and innovative ways to use AI for enhanced teaching and learning.

Wilson came to the United States with his family at the age of 12. He was born in Burundi and spent 10 years in a refugee camp in Tanzania before being resettled to Tucson, Arizona and, a year later, moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It was an enormous cultural shock and he struggled to adapt on many levels. He was labeled as an at-risk student starting middle school.

Fast-forward twenty years, Wilson is now on the faculty at Portland Community College in teaching Business & Entrepreneurship, while helping the department integrate Generative AI into its curriculum. In 2020 he was named one of Portland’s 40 Under 40. Wilson will share how he went from a struggling teenager to a successful academic, entrepreneur and consultant.

Wilson’s focus on AI has allowed him to become an avid AI user in everyday life and an AI Curriculum Integration Lead. He has successfully completed the Applied Data Science Program through MIT professional education. Wilson has given numerous workshops around integrating AI tools and frequently attends AI conferences & workshops to stay in the know of the latest trends.

When he is not in the classroom, Wilson works with organizations on student engagement, leadership, and the incorporation of technology and generative Artificial Intelligence into education. Wilson is the founder of WK Social, a digital agency revolutionizing the way businesses brand themselves and engage digitally.

Wilson believes in closing the opportunity gap…TODAY!

Please watch the keynote video in the morning to prepare for the day! Click on the image to view the video.

Wilson will also offer a synchronous workshop later in the afternoon - Stopped Listening: Co-creation of Knowledge in the Age of AI. You will have a chance to dig deeper with him and ask questions, etc.

10 - 11:30 am

Open Lab: Explore AI Tools! Join on Zoom

Join Sociology Professor Virginia Kyle for an open lab where you can explore AI tools in the company of your colleagues! This will be an informal session where you are free to try things out, play, and investigate. There will be a handout from the Teaching and Learning Center with a list of potential AI tools to practice with, as well as some prompts and ideas for trying them out. The last 20-30 minutes of the session will be a discussion with peers about your experiences - which tools did you find useful and might try again? Can you imagine using these tools in your lesson planning or with your students in class? What questions and concerns do you have?

Afternoon

1:45 - 2:45

Stopped Listening: Co-Creation of Knowledge in the Age of AI; Join on Zoom

Join Keynote Speaker Wilson Nitunga for a deeper dive into his talking points from the morning session. Explore instructional and relational strategies to develop the best possible support system and relationship with every student, including AI best practices for teaching and learning. Bring your questions!

We thought we would invite everyone to this session. That lets you all have a chance to interact with the keynote speaker and each other!

3 - 4 pm

Using Generative AI to Help Students Achieve their Professional Goals; Join on Zoom

Join Transitional Studies Professor Zach Patrick-Riley for an interactive session that focuses on how to use generative AI to help students achieve their professional goals. Among the topics covered are using AI to help with job interviews and using AI to help with emails, as well as the art of a good prompt.

Using AI in Geospatial Courses; Join on Zoom

Join Portland Community College Professor and member of PCC's Center of Artificial Intelligence and Cultural Computing team Lorena Nascimento for a workshop that shares her journey to using AI, ethical considerations, and applications in various aspects of life. Here is the run-down of what to expect in her session:

1- 10 min: Introductions and icebreaker about AI
10 - 25 min: How AI works, data ethics principles and data training in AI
25 - 50 min: AI applied for a specific subject (geospatial technologies, business, or everyday life)
50 - 60 min: Final thoughts and questions

On Love and Robots; Join on Zoom

Meeting ID: 823 7230 2651

Passcode: dopamine

Content warning: This workshop touches on themes of isolation, addiction, and associated maladies. Please take care.

Join CTEC Professor Robert LaCosse for a session that reflects on the risks of AI: Gather round friends! We need to talk about the all-too-friendly chatbot next door and the imminent behavioral implications of these unregulated perversions of generative logic. We've all seen the dip in engagement in our classrooms. We know the world is not as it once was. Something is off on a grand scale and the root cause continues to elude us. Unfortunately, the worst is yet to come and in a vastly more insidious way that we may expect. That said, we all know that knowledge is power and, thankfully, resistance is not futile. However, in order to help ourselves and our students navigate the onslaught, we all need to be keenly aware of the horrifically addictive digital products on the horizon. This is a lecture for anyone who does not want to go quietly into that good night. This is for those who are called to rage against the dying of the light.

4:15 - 5 pm

Takeaways and giveaways

We want to thank you for participating today! Before you sign off, please share a takeaway on this wiki page.

Takeaways!

We are also giving away some prizes at the end of the day. Stay tuned for a virtual raffle to win a Data action figure, a HAL sign from 2001 Space Odyssey, or one of 4 books on AI and education or AI and equity! We will reach out if your name comes up. Good luck!

Information and Resources

Accommodations

If you need an accommodation to fully participate in this event, please contact Clark College's Human Resources office by phone at 360-992-2105 or by email: hr@clark.edu. Sign language interpretation is scheduled through Disability Access Center - contact Angela Childers at achilders@clark.edu. Please don't hesitate to ask questions or let us know if there is a way we can support you.

Adjunct faculty Compensation

Fall Faculty Focus is a workday for full time faculty.

Adjunct faculty can receive compensation for their attendance. Adjunct and part time faculty who attend the full day (keynote and afternoon presentations) will be paid a stipend of $200 by the Teaching and Learning Center.

Please complete this attendance form no later than Friday, September 20 in order for payment to be processed. Participation in the full day is required for a full stipend. That includes the morning prompt, keynote video, open lab, afternoon keynote workshop, a second afternoon workshop, and the afternoon prompt. Thanks!

Adjunct Faculty Attendance Form

Please note that if you are not able to attend the keynote and both afternoon sessions, your stipend will be adjusted accordingly. You are welcome to attend any portion of the day : )

PPI 101: Understanding the Influence of AI

Our hardworking Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion does not have the capacity to run two sessions of this workshop concurrently this year. They are offering an in-person version the day of Fall Faculty Focus, but the next day, Wednesday, September 18, they will offer a Zoom version. Please consider attending that session to get your PPI training in and deepen your reflections on AI and its uses in education!

This Power, Privilege and Inequity training is eligible for Clark College's antiracist training program.

Power, Privilege and Inequity 101: Understanding the Influence of AI, provides a foundational understanding of key concepts related to power, privilege, and inequity, and how these concepts can impact identities. As we discuss these concepts, we will explore how AI can amplify or mitigate these issues and examine the implications of AI development and usage.

Find the workshop on the employee training and development calendar.