Penn has launched an educational event series dedicated to building expertise in artificial intelligence among the University’s faculty and staff.
The program — titled AI Principles & Practices Series at Penn — was jointly organized by Penn Libraries; the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Innovation; and the University’s Information Systems and Computing. Throughout the fall, the series will explore how AI has shaped both the workplace and the classroom.
The series features three interactive, in-person sessions — “AI Essentials,” “AI in the Classroom,” and “AI in the Workplace” — that focus on the beneficial uses of the technology. Penn faculty members associated with each of the three collaborating groups will facilitate the workshops.
“AI Essentials” will run on Sept. 15, making it the series’ first workshop for the fall semester. The event will guide faculty through identifying “appropriate tools” for AI use while exploring the reliability of different platforms.
Bruce Lenthall, the executive director of CETLI, described his intention for the series in a written statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian.
“Since the arrival of AI, it has been clear that all of us need to figure out what it is and what it means for our work,” Lenthall wrote. “At the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Innovation, we had been offering workshops on AI in teaching for several years; those have demonstrated both how transformative AI may be for education and the need to help a broader audience think through AI’s implications for them.”
Lenthall added that Penn’s faculty and staff will “explore what generative AI is, ways of deploying it effectively, some concerns around using AI and how to take them into account, as well as ways of engaging with AI in teaching and to help one be more productive in the workplace.”
He described the program as “a great opportunity” to assist “a wider range of Penn’s instructors and staff develop their abilities to understand, evaluate and, where appropriate, use AI for their professional aims.”
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Emily Morton-Owens, the associate vice provost for technology and digital initiatives at Penn Libraries, similarly noted the importance of understanding and following best practices for AI in a statement to the DP.
“The workshops are meant to be thought-provoking, hands-on, and empowering,” Morton-Owens wrote. “We want to show participants how they can evaluate use cases and outputs of AI in conjunction with their own particular expertise, allowing them to adapt as this technology rapidly develops.”
Joshua Beeman, who serves as Penn’s interim vice president of information technology, also wrote to the DP that “generative AI tools will transform the educational and administrative branches of Penn.”
The series draws inspiration from the “In Principle and Practice” framework developed by former Penn President Liz Magill in 2023. On Sept. 3, Penn announced an update to the framework, titled “Penn Forward.”
The new plan, which seeks to address challenges facing higher education, includes provisions on developing Penn’s own AI policy — though it will not yet be implemented uniformly across the University.
Lenthall emphasized that the AI Principles & Practices Series at Penn will respond to the growing popularity of AI by educating Penn faculty and staff on its potential uses in their professional engagements.
“We hope participants in these workshops will feel comfortable deciding if, when, and how to use AI – and, equally, to continue learning,” Lenthall wrote.
