I have appointed three inaugural AI Faculty Fellows in the Office of the Provost. They will implement recommendations from spring 2025 working groups and work collaboratively across the university to understand and meet needs for AI guidelines, policies, and professional development.  

Their work, detailed further below, will be the latest evolution of AI-related efforts occurring across CU Denver for several years—ranging from resources and guidance developed by our Office of Information Technology, to three AI Working Groups that convened in spring 2025, to research on technological, social, and ethical impacts throughout the university.   

The fellows are:  

• Farnoush Banaei-Kashani, associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and data researcher whose creative reasoning in AI work was featured in this recent story 

• Cameron Blevins, an associate teaching professor in history and a director of digital initiatives for CLAS who has explored the impact of generative AI on both research and teaching  

• Soumia Bardhan, Department of Communication associate professor, director of CU Denver’s AI & Communication certificate, director of International Studies, CFDA and CETL Faculty Fellow, and AI Research Working Group member. 

Dr. Banaei-Kashani and Dr. Blevins’ appointment begins this week of March 8, while Dr. Bardhan’s appointment will begin after the conclusion of the spring semester; their terms run through the end of August.   

They will pursue the following efforts, most of which are based on AI Working Group recommendations: 

Listening workstream 

1. Conduct listening sessions in all schools and colleges to identify support gaps since spring 2025 AI Working Group reports were released 

2. Collect information about AI guidelines and practices already in place in schools, colleges, and departments so that the campus can learn from established norms that could inform university-wide guidance and policy development 

Practice workstream 

1. Implement a regular series of events for faculty to come together to share AI classroom and research experiences 

2. Develop recommendations for a Getting Started with AI resource center to launch in fall 2026 

3. Learn what support (technical, pedagogical, etc.) faculty need to deploy AI in their work, and liaise with relevant campus offices to implement professional development, training, and support 

Policy and Guidelines workstream 

1. Develop a required syllabus statement on AI use, with sample variants, with the goal of approval in May and launch by the fall 2026 semester 

2. Develop faculty disclosure requirements and explore whether they should be a standalone policy, integrated into an existing policy, or otherwise 

3. Collaborate with the Office of Information Technology to develop and implement a transparent AI tool approval process and inventory 

4. Collaborate with SESS colleagues to develop Student Guidelines for AI Use  

You will be able to learn more about this activity throughout 2026 on this AI at CU Denver webpage. 

I’m thrilled that we have such experienced and thoughtful faculty members driving our responsible and ethical implementation of policies, practices, and principles related to generative AI across CU Denver. It is imperative that we continue to interrogate both observed and potential AI impacts in our community: on cognition, learning, teaching practice, and our work. 

I greatly appreciate these Faculty Fellows stepping forward to convene important conversations and address pressing topics, and I look forward to continuing dialogue on this topic across our campus.  

Karen