Generative AI for University Leaders
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Generative AI for University Leaders
Instructors: Dr. Jules White
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What you'll learn
Explain fundamental concepts of generative AI, including its underlying principles and potential applications in university operations.
Assess the strategic implications of Gen AI adoption in higher education, identifying opportunities for innovation as well as potential challenges.
Develop a comprehensive plan for integrating generative AI into university settings.
Skills you'll gain
Tools you'll learn
Details to know
1 assignment
See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills
There are 3 modules in this course
Generative AI is rapidly reshaping industries and the skills that students are going to be expected to have to be employable. As the pace of technological change accelerates, universities must innovate to stay competitive and ensure that they are giving students the skills that they need to be competitive. At the same time, generative AI offers the potential to transform university operations, from automating course scheduling and content creation to streamlining expense reporting and administrative functions.
This course provides university leaders with a foundation to understand enough of the key fundamentals of how generative AI works and what it can do to make effective strategic decisions. The course provides a primer on the innovative potential of generative AI across all disciplines and the opportunity for higher education to lead the way in reshaping how students learn and how we work in the future. It shows what is happening in industry and the strategic opportunities for institutions to focus on to help their students excel in the future of work. The course also provides the foundation that an institution needs to get started innovating with generative AI, ranging from policy to platform. The course covers the essential platforms and infrastructure for effective generative AI integration in university settings, offering advice on investment priorities, efficient resource distribution, and pinpointing key advocates to create an interdisciplinary culture of innovation across campus.
Module 1 introduces the transformative impact of Generative AI (GenAI) on universities and motivations for its implementation. It highlights the groundbreaking ways that GenAI is already impacting the education space today. Key focuses of this module include exploration of concrete use cases of GenAI in higher education, as well as explanations of how GenAI works and its limitations.
What's included
10 videos1 reading
10 videosโขTotal 91 minutes
- Welcome to the courseโข5 minutes
- Who should take this courseโข1 minute
- University Leader Testimonialsโข2 minutes
- The Future of Education: Studentsโข14 minutes
- The Future of Education: Senior Leadersโข10 minutes
- Generative AI Primerโข15 minutes
- How Generative AI is Impacting Work & University Operationsโข15 minutes
- How Generative AI worksโข8 minutesDeepLearning.AI
- What LLMs Can and Cannot Doโข11 minutesDeepLearning.AI
- What Do We Need to Teach?โข10 minutes
1 readingโขTotal 10 minutes
- Optional Reading: Coursera's Foray into GenAI (Harvard Business School Case Study)โข10 minutes
Module 2 explores the impact of Generative AI on industries and jobs, guiding university leaders on aligning curricula with employer and student needs. It places significant emphasis on understanding GenAI's effects on businesses and the emerging skills required. Additionally, the module offers instruction on how to use GenAI as a thought partner in your work. Finally, it provides insights into popular courses on Coursera, assisting leaders in identifying high-demand curricula.
What's included
10 videos1 reading1 assignment1 discussion prompt1 ungraded lab
10 videosโขTotal 64 minutes
- Welcome to the Moduleโข2 minutes
- Employer and student demand for GenAI skillsโข5 minutes
- Industry perspective: The impact of GenAI on higher ed (with SAP)โข6 minutes
- Potential impact of GenAI on jobs and peopleโข10 minutes
- Emerging use cases of GenAI in businessโข5 minutes
- Employees need to use new thinking toolsโข2 minutes
- Using GenAI for basic queriesโข12 minutes
- Using GenAI as your "Thought Partner" (part 1)โข7 minutes
- Using GenAI as your "Thought Partner" (part 2)โข12 minutes
- Your role as a critical thinker with GenAIโข5 minutes
1 readingโขTotal 12 minutes
- The Potentially Large Effects of AI on Economic Growthโข12 minutes
1 assignmentโขTotal 8 minutes
- Use GenAI as your Thought Partnerโข8 minutes
1 discussion promptโขTotal 8 minutes
- Adoption of GenAI in higher educationโข8 minutes
1 ungraded labโขTotal 25 minutes
- Toolkit: Use GenAI as a "Thought Partner"โข25 minutes
Module 3 dives into practical strategies for leading your institution through the rapidly changing landscape of generative AI. This module provides a starting blueprint for leveraging AI's potential while addressing its challenges, based on sucesses from Vanderbilt's Initiative on the Future of Learning and Generative AI. This module explores the most common starting needs for institutions: creating policy, thinking through curriculum needs, sparking community innovation, and setting up a private enterprise chat platform. This module will equip you with the initial knowledge and tools to start engaging with Gen AI confidently and ethically, ultimately driving meaningful progress in learning, operations, and research. If you already have all of these items in place, this module will provide a data point on how another institution approached these key elements.
What's included
7 videos3 readings1 ungraded lab
7 videosโขTotal 55 minutes
- A Generative AI Blueprint for Universitiesโข3 minutes
- What Type of Education to Focus Onโข5 minutes
- Augmented Intelligence Not Artificial Intelligenceโข20 minutes
- Step 1. Policy: Setting the Tone for Innovation & Experimentationโข3 minutes
- Step 2. Training & Igniting Interdisciplinary Innovationโข9 minutes
- Step 3. A Private Chat Platform for Interdisciplinary Innovatorsโข15 minutes
- Wrap upโข1 minute
3 readingsโขTotal 30 minutes
- Training & Interdisciplinary Innovation Componentsโข10 minutes
- Vanderbilt's Open Source Platform for Enterprise Chatโข10 minutes
- Private Chat Platforms & Supporting Generative AI Innovation on Campusโข10 minutes
1 ungraded labโขTotal 15 minutes
- Toolkit: Envisioning how your degree programs might need to changeโข15 minutes
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Reviewed on Jan 10, 2025
Excellent ... Simple approach to make the students understand the concept and practice them.
Reviewed on Feb 14, 2025
The Labs were really helpful and gave a hands-on feel. The coach was good too. It was actually able to extrapolate and be intuitive. Some videos could be shorter.
Reviewed on Apr 26, 2025
Very good and the way content was delivered very informative and easy to understand.
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