AI in Teaching

Introduction

Miami’s culture fosters learning through transformative experiences. By researching and utilizing AI technologies, faculty, researchers, and students can gain a critical understanding of how these technologies are shaping us and our society. These aspirations are reflected in our community's goals:  

Here on the Provost’s page, as part of the AI Fellows program, we provide resources, events, and information to help as we all adapt to teaching, learning, and researching with AI.

What Is Generative AI?

Generative AI refers to systems that produce content, such as text, images, code, or other outputs, based on patterns drawn from large data sets. Tools like ChatGPT can simulate human-like writing, answer questions, or compose arguments. Other tools can generate images, voice recordings, or data tables. These technologies are being used across all sectors of society, including education. Yet they also present concerns about accuracy, bias, source attribution, privacy, and academic integrity, along with requiring substantial amounts of energy to operate. (Please see this Miami Library page for more information on GenAI and an extensive listing of tools https://libguides.lib.miamioh.edu/ai)

The following principles establish a shared foundation for how the Provost’s Office approaches AI across academic endeavors, from classroom instruction to scholarly research. They reflect our belief that technology should augment human capabilities rather than replace them, and that every AI implementation must ultimately serve student success, institutional integrity, and add meaningful value to our community in ethical ways. All guidance and recommendations throughout this page are grounded in these core principles, ensuring that our approach to AI remains consistent with Miami University's educational values and commitment to responsible innovation.

1. Shared responsibility: Faculty, staff, students, and administrators each play essential roles in exploring, implementing, and governing AI use across campus.
2. Practical wisdom: We approach innovation with ethical responsibility, ensuring AI both centers human agency and aligns with institutional values while considering long-term impacts on our community and planet.
3. Student-centered purpose: Every AI initiative must enhance student learning, critical thinking, career readiness, and long-term well-being without leaving any student behind or creating new disadvantages.
4. Continuous Learning: We proactively embrace learning and innovation, staying informed about emerging technologies through interdisciplinary collaboration.
5. Creative integration: AI assists and augments human capabilities and judgment rather than replacing them, complementing existing curricula, research, and administrative processes through thoughtful design.
6. Transparency: We maintain clear communication about AI policies, disclose limitations and biases, encourage campus-wide dialogue, and share results from regular AI impact assessments.

People

Meet Miami's AI Community

Connect with faculty who are exploring, researching, and implementing AI across our campus. While this listing is not exhaustive, it is an evolving directory to help you find others who are ready to assist and collaborate.

Leadership

Marko Dumančić

Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education, Academic Affairs

dumanim@MiamiOH.edu

AI Provost Fellows

The AI Provost Fellows support teaching and learning related to AI at Miami. Their goals and objectives are to:

• Assist the Miami community as we all learn and adapt to teaching and learning with AI, and we seek to develop critical AI literacies.
• Foster dialogue & knowledge sharing across the university.
• Build connections /and for faculty and students across disciplines.
• Support existing initiatives encourage faculty and students to take advantage of these opportunities.
• Create new opportunities to support teaching and learning in an AI era.

Heidi McKee

Professor of English (College of Arts and Science; Affiliate, Emerging Technology in Business and Design (College of Creative Arts)

mckeeha@MiamiOH.edu 

Dennis Cheatham

Associate Professor, Art; Affiliate, Emerging Technology in Business and Design (College of Creative Arts)

cheathdm@MiamiOH.edu 

Institutional Research

In partnership with the Howe Writing Center and the Center for Teaching Excellence, the AI Fellows are conducting research to gain a deeper understanding of perspectives and experiences with AI. This includes the Miami AI Student Survey in Spring-Early Summer 2025 and the AI Faculty Survey in Fall 2025.

Results from these surveys are shared in departmental and divisional meetings and inform many of the AI Fellows' offerings.

AI Thrive Technology Implementation Committee Subcommittee

• Sami Bali - Quantum information / quantum technology
• John Burke - Middletown library director
• Arthur Carvalho - ISA faculty
• Cara Dillon - School Psychology faculty 
• Dennis Cheatham - Art faculty
• Marko Dumancic - Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education
• Bonnie Erwin - Miami Online
• John Femiani - CSE - AI/computer vision
• Nikki Ferrell - Associate Director of Enrollment Marketing and Communication
• Liran Ma - CSE chair
• Tom Mays - Dept Commerce Chair
• Heidi McKee - Professional Writing faculty
• John Millard - Assoc Dean of Libraries 
• Imran Mirza - Physics faculty
• Zhe "Jay" Shan  - ISA faculty and FSB director for AI Initiatives
• Paul Uryama - Chair of Physics
• Randy Vollen - Business Intelligence director