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Category: Provost Messages

Update on the work of the AI Task Force 

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Update 10/31/24: See the most current information about AI Task Force town halls. 

We’re excited to update you on progress on the provost’s initiative for AI at the UW and announce next steps for getting involved in this transformative work.  

As announced at the Provost’s Town Hall in February, developing an institutional strategy for artificial intelligence is imperative for the University. The UW has a responsibility to lead in the conversation around AI – not only in potential applications but in their ethical and equitable use. To meet the challenges and opportunities that AI represents, Provost Tricia Serio and President Ana Mari Cauce appointed a Task Force on Artificial Intelligence to suggest a UW-wide strategy for AI earlier this year. 

Charge to the AI Task Force 

Charged with preparing a comprehensive vision and strategy, the AI Task Force developed a range of proposals covering every aspect of university life and work with and for our local and global communities, guided by the following principles and assumptions:

  • The UW has a responsibility to lead in the conversation around AI — not only in potential applications, but in their ethical and equitable use.
  • The responsible use of AI requires a basic understanding of AI.
  • Incorporating faculty, staff, and students is important and consistent with the University of Washington’s mission to preserve, advance and disseminate knowledge and prepare students for a future where AI will be an integral part of their professional and personal lives.

The task force carried out its charge with five working groups:  

  • Research and Knowledge Creation/Transfer 
  • Student Services 
  • Teaching and Learning 
  • Infrastructure 
  • Administration 

The WAISTAR framework  

Building on proposals submitted by the working groups, the task force developed a framework integrating vision and strategy. The Washington AI Initiative for Society, Teaching, and Research (WAISTAR) focuses on key areas of Education, Research, Student Experience, and Operations, to address a wide range of ways to enable AI through training, community, infrastructure, expertise and collaborations, as well as the necessary investment and governance to create a visionary and sustainable AI strategy at the UW. WAISTAR is a framework that can accelerate the UW’s considerable strength in AI and associated disciplines at the center of the UW’s and UW students’ futures, in service to the public good.   

We’re in this together 

This vision is not just an outcome of the AI Task Force; it’s a way for the entire institution to move forward into an AI-empowered future. To learn more and join the conversation, please take some time to review an abbreviated version of the AI Task Force recommendations in narrative or slide format. This version is a summary of the initial report to the provost, highlighting key recommendations and a long-term vision for the UW to lead a human-centered, AI-fueled transformation in teaching, learning, research and operations. Share your feedback and input via an institution-wide survey that is open until 5 p.m., Oct. 25.

Other ways to get involved 

Please join us to learn more about AI at the UW with a weekly series of town halls from late October through early December.

We begin on Thursday, October 24, with “What is AI?” that is designed to build a shared understanding of AI’s foundations, opportunities, potential, and risks. This session will set the stage for future discussions by demystifying AI and exploring how it may impact our work, research and daily lives.

The next session will be Wed., Oct. 30 on “AI for Research and Research in AI.” Scheduling is underway for the following town halls and details will be announced soon.

  • AI for Student Success
  • AI for Education
  • AI for Teaching and Learning
  • AI Infrastructure
  • AI for Administration

Each town hall will explore a different aspect of the future of AI at the UW and will include a moderated question and response session where everyone is encouraged to share their perspectives. All town halls will start at noon PST and end at 1:20 p.m. Check back here next week for the YouTube link that will give you access.

We look forward to your participation and input as we create this future together! 

 

Reminders and resources for creating inclusive learning environments

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One of the joys of an academic career is the freedom to explore what intrigues us. We have the agency to become experts in the fields of our own choosing, to self-direct our collaborations, discoveries, innovations, and creations and to follow a line of inquiry wherever it leads. We also have the unparalleled privilege to continuously integrate our knowledge and perspectives with those of our students through our partnership with them in teaching and learning, as both instructors and mentors.

As President Cauce noted in her recent communication about expectations and responsibilities of our UW community, our contributions to the mission of our University and thereby the world flow directly from this foundation of academic freedom and free speech. As I suspect is true of many of you, I have chosen this profession because I believe deeply in the importance of these freedoms for the common good and have personally experienced their positive impact through my own education, teaching, research, service and outreach.

We begin a new academic year during a time of significant discord and conflict across the globe and in the midst of an upcoming election. It is my hope that we can draw together to not only protect but also uphold these freedoms as our collective responsibility and to ensure that they are available to all members of our University. I ask each one of us to pursue this responsibility with intentionality throughout our academic activities and particularly in our courses.

In support of this work, I am writing to share a few reminders and resources.

Inclusive Learning Environment
As faculty and instructors, you are the trusted subject matter experts, who embody our educational mission. The ethics of our profession, the Faculty Code (Section 24-33) and federal regulations detail both our rights and responsibilities to ensure an environment that supports learning for all students. These balanced responsibilities also ensure that all learners have access to the same rights in their educational environments. As detailed in the Faculty Code, key components of our responsibilities include:

  • respecting the dignity of others
  • acknowledging the right to express differing opinions
  • presenting the subject matter of our courses as approved by the faculty in their collective responsibility for the curriculum
  • evaluating students based on academic performance alone
  • refraining from:
    • coercion of students to make a particular personal choice as to political action or their own roles in society
    • harassment or discrimination

In ensuring these principles, we must be particularly mindful of the positionality of our students even as we engage them as partners in learning. I encourage you to explore the following resources to intentionally and transparently create and maintain an inclusive learning environment:

In parallel, we are supporting students to further develop their own skills in dialogue across differences through First Year Programs and LEAD 298C “2024: Dialogue, Disagreement, and Democracy” offered by Vice Provost and Dean Ed Taylor across our three campuses. Additional information can be found at https://dialogue.uw.edu.

Election
As employees of the state of Washington, we are all bound by the regulations in the Ethics in Public Service Act. Information on our responsibilities can be found on the Internal Audit website and includes restrictions on using state resources:

  • To assist a campaign
  • To promote or oppose a ballot initiative
  • To lobby the state legislature

I encourage you to participate in the many opportunities for learning about elections across our University this fall, many of which will be listed on the Office of the Provost’s website later this week. I especially call your attention to the lecture series “Democracy in Focus: Navigating the 2024 Election” that is co-sponsored by my office and the College of Arts & Sciences, occurring each Tuesday leading up to election day and culminating the week after, the Public Lecture Series sponsored by the Graduate School, and a resource guide developed by the Libraries.

Student Life and the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity will also be offering programming and information for students to support their engagement with the democratic process.

Finally, I want to stress the importance of your own well-being in these challenging times. The Whole U offers many resources to support and promote faculty and staff well-being. I encourage you to not only explore these resources but also prioritize time to care for yourself.

I thank you for all that you do for the University of Washington. Your voice and contributions collectively define our excellence as an institution. Please join me in ensuring that we protect this opportunity for everyone.

Empowering students through teaching

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One of the many things that drew me here was the University’s deep commitment to the concept of an R1 university, where excellence in scholarship and creative activity and in teaching are valued and integrated to strengthen both. Our vision is to create a challenging learning environment for our students that is informed by cutting-edge scholarship. Key to that vision is engaging our students as active participants in their own learning. 

In fact, this idea is clearly stated in the Regents’ policies that govern us, the first of which states: “. . . the University fosters an environment in which its students can develop mature and independent judgment and an appreciation of the range and diversity of human achievement. The University cultivates in its students both critical thinking and the effective articulation of that thinking.”  

Whether we are early in our careers or have years of experience, instructors of all roles, ranks and disciplines play a vital role in creating that environment in our classrooms, labs, studios, discussions and learning spaces – wherever and whenever we teach.   

I believe that we have all chosen to work here because we recognize the transformative power of this noble work. Teaching gives us the opportunity to pay it back – to acknowledge the instructors who taught, mentored, and inspired us. And, teaching gives us the opportunity to pay it forward, to spark in our students their own interests and passions for science, or literature, or social justice, and their intersections.  

Although the nature of my own contributions has evolved over time, a focus on the success of students has been a significant part of my work at every stage of my career as a scientist and a leader. Just as my research has developed over time, so has my teaching. Teaching is not a static endeavor, and we have much to learn from one another.  We have many ways to keep current on the scholarship of teaching and learning, such as discussions with colleagues and resources through Teaching@UW. 

Another excellent resource for instructors at all stages is the yearly UW Teaching & Learning Symposium that brings together faculty, staff educators, and graduate instructors from across the UW’s three campuses to share and explore teaching practices. With the theme “Empowering Students,” this year’s symposium is set for 1-2:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 16 in Kane Hall and streaming online. The keynote presenter will be Cate Denial, American history professor and director of the Bright Institute at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill. A panel discussion about power dynamics in the classroom will follow with Professor Denial and UW educators Kevin Lin, assistant teaching professor of computer science; Maya Smith, associate dean in Arts & Sciences and associate professor of French; and Rachel Song, doctoral student in social psychology. Learn more and register to attend. 

The symposium also includes a showcase of teaching-related projects developed by your UW colleagues. Visit the showcase to see their wonderful work.  

Good teaching is a practice that we constantly develop, and I encourage all instructors to be intentional in advancing their pedagogy. Teaching offers another avenue for creativity and analysis that benefits from reviewing the literature, connecting with others to talk and learn about teaching, innovating in the classroom, assessing those new approaches, and refining our courses based on these new insights.

I have long believed that we are all elevated by working and learning together, and that through this strength, we – and our students – will make a transformational impact in the world. As we look to the future, we are deeply involved in conversations to define teaching excellence at the UW through a shared understanding of quality instruction and the supports that will sustain it. 

The Future of Teaching and Learning working group, composed of faculty and instructional staff from all three campuses, including representatives from the Faculty Council on Teaching and Learning (FCTL), is developing the shared language based on feedback from over 600 UW instructors of all ranks. Later this spring, the group will send recommendations to FCTL on how to implement the shared language to improve the criteria, processes and support for instructional quality. 

This important work will help us establish a foundation on which to ensure inclusive and equitable learning environments that will empower all students. Look for future blog posts on this topic and how you can engage in this work. 

Task force appointed to address AI

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Across the UW, faculty, staff and students are discovering and exploring the potential of artificial intelligence to improve lives around the world in nearly every field of study and area of research – computer science, health care, social sciences, humanities, law, public policy, and much more. AI is being leveraged countless ways, from diagnosing and delivering targeted treatment to cancer patients, to analyzing past weather patterns to predict future events.

AI also has the power to enhance the effectiveness of the University’s teaching and operations by personalizing and accelerating pathways to the institution’s goals.

Developing an institutional strategy for artificial intelligence is no longer a choice; it’s an imperative for the University. The UW has a responsibility to lead in the conversation around AI – not only in potential applications but in their ethical and equitable use. It is about catalyzing our mission to preserve, advance and disseminate knowledge and preparing students for a future where AI will be an integral part of their professional and personal lives.

Task Force on Artificial Intelligence

Provost Tricia Serio and President Ana Mari Cauce have appointed a Task Force on Artificial Intelligence to address these issues and to suggest a UW-wide AI strategy. Chaired by Andreas Bohman, vice president of UW-IT and the University’s chief information officer, and Anind Dey, dean of the Information School, the task force will initially divide its work into five areas:

  • Research and Knowledge Creation/Transfer
  • Student Services
  • Teaching and Learning
  • Infrastructure
  • Administration

Other task force members:

  • Magda Balazinska, professor, Bill & Melinda Gates chair and director of the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering
  • Andrew Connolly, associate vice provost for data science and director of the UW eScience Institute
  • Yoshi Kohno, professor, Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering
  • François Baneyx, vice provost for innovation and director of CoMotion
  • Andy Harris, executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, UW Tacoma
  • Eric Neil, chief information officer, UW Medicine
  • Anne-Marie Gloster, associate teaching professor, Department of Epidemiology, and member of Faculty Senate’s Council on Teaching and Learning
  • Rickey Hall, University Diversity Officer
  • Jihui Yang, vice dean, College of Engineering, and Kyocera professor, Materials Science and Engineering

Ex-officio members:

  • Mary Gresch, senior vice president for University Advancement
  • Randy Hodgins, vice president, Office of External Affairs

Working groups for each area will provide awareness of current efforts across the University, identify and prioritize areas of opportunity, and suggest policy for emerging issues. Additional members will be added to each working group in the coming weeks.

Working group chairs:

  • Research and Knowledge Creation/Transfer: Mari Ostendorf, vice provost for research, and Luke Zettlemoyer, professor, Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering
  • Student Services: Denzil Suite, vice president for Student Life, and Michaelann Jundt, senior associate dean for Undergraduate Academic Affairs
  • Teaching and Learning: Pen Moon, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, and Bill Howe, associate professor, Information School
  • Infrastructure: Bin Guo, associate vice president for infrastructure and chief technology officer, and Xiaosong Li, associate vice provost for research cyberinfrastructure
  • Administration: Mindy Kornberg, vice president for Human Resources, and Erin Guthrie, assistant vice provost for university analytics and institutional research