Dear faculty,
Over the past few years, Rice’s AI Advisory Committee — a cross-campus committee of faculty and staff — has met to discuss issues related to artificial intelligence and provide advice and guidance to both me and the Chief Information Officer Terrence Gee. The committee works to ensure that institutional efforts align with Rice’s mission, values and strategic goals for the future of higher education and facilitates coordination across units. Chris Jermaine, the Victor E. Cameron Professor of Computer Science and chair of the Department of Computer Sciences, led the committee last year and will continue to lead it this coming year. I am excited to announce that Chris will also serve in a newly created role: special adviser to the provost on artificial intelligence. I am very appreciative of his guidance and the work of many others, notably Shawn Miller, associate provost for digital learning and strategy.
While several AI initiatives are taking shape across Rice, I would like to share key outcomes from the AI Advisory Committee’s work this spring.
Subcommittee Reports
Our subcommittees were launched, focusing on:
- AI Education for Faculty, Staff and Students
- Academic Integrity and Assessment
- Software and Services
- Vision and Policy
A summary of each of these committee reports is available online. The subcommittees were composed of members of the AI Advisory Committee and other campus leaders, including 26 faculty members and staff with related experience.
The reports provide many insights and recommendations that are being reviewed and considered by leadership. Several of the recommendations relate to curriculum and other issues that directly impact faculty and are governed by you. As such, I am working with Leo Costello, Faculty Senate Speaker and associate professor of art history, to bring these questions and issues to the senate and facilitate a discussion.
Responsible AI Values (Open for Input)
The Vision and Policy Subcommittee also drafted a framework outlining seven core values to guide our campus and define what responsible AI means at Rice: Transparency, Consent and Opt-Out, Data Security, Human Accountability, Autonomy and Choice, Equity and Access, and Environmental Stewardship. We invite faculty and staff to review the draft values and share your input on the Rice Responsible AI Hub. Building directly on the subcommittees’ recommendations regarding classroom support, resources and expanding training, the following resources and opportunities are available for you as we start the fall semester:
- CTE Assessment Resources and Consultations: To assist faculty with course design and academic integrity, the Center for Teaching Excellence is focusing this year on “Aligning Assessment: From Learning Goals to Learning Outcomes.” Faculty can explore CTE’s Decision-making Framework for Teaching With AI, attend upcoming INSTILL work sessions or schedule a one-on-one consultation to discuss custom assessment strategies. Instructors are encouraged to establish clear AI expectations in their syllabi and can reference the CTE’s sample usage statements and Parsons’ AI Usage Scale for examples.
- Teaching With AI On-Demand Course: Developed by Rice Digital Learning, the self-paced Teaching With AI course remains accessible to all faculty looking for practical, flexible strategies to integrate AI into coursework.
- AI Week: A cross-unit collaborative team is putting together a year of training, workshops and events to support AI across Rice — whether you use AI for daily work, for teaching or to help students navigate an AI-enabled world. I encourage campus community members to submit presentation and workshop proposals to help shape the programming for Rice AI Week Oct. 19–23.
The Rice Responsible AI Hub also has a number of other resources and information for faculty and staff.
Thank you for the work you are doing to ensure an excellent education for our students in this dynamic environment, including addressing the challenges of integrity in the classroom as well as innovating and adapting pedagogy to ensure all students know how to learn, adjust and thrive in the age of AI. I encourage everyone to lean into these opportunities and resources, share your experiments and insights, and help us model responsible AI leadership together.
With best wishes for the start of the new semester,
Amy Dittmar, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs