ECU trustees learn about AI strategy efforts on campus

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to grow and evolve, East Carolina University is preparing to embrace the opportunities it offers.

Chief Information Officer Zach Loch presented to the Board of Trustees’ Committee on Strategy and Innovation on Thursday about ECU’s emerging AI strategy, “ECU AI 2030: Transforming the university for an AI-driven future.”

“Our responsibility is not simply to teach students how to use an AI tool,” he said. “It is to help students understand how to work effectively with AI, how to critically evaluate its outputs, how to recognize its orientation and how to apply it responsibly within their chosen professions.”

Nilaya Henry shows trustee Vanessa Workman a renovated dorm room during a tour of Legacy Hall. (Photo by Steven Mantilla)

Loch and a multidisciplinary task force identified three AI priorities for the university.

“Our primary focus is AI for learners with the ultimate goal of producing AI-ready Pirates that graduate with the skills, experiences and knowledge to lead and thrive in an AI world,” he said. “The second priority is AI for research, discovery and innovation. The third is harnessing AI for operational efficiencies and institutional growth.”

Dr. Michelle Eble, professor of English, explained to the committee how three AI literacy mini modules are equipping students with needed skills. The first course helps freshmen and incoming students build foundational knowledge. A second course prepares students nearing graduation for how AI is being used within their prospective fields while identifying expertise needed to navigate ethical complexities and decision-making using AI agents. A final course teaches students to communicate both their human-centered and AI expertise to potential employers.

“Our approach to these AI literacy courses became the premise that AI technology should enhance student learning, not replace it, and prepare students for practices and continuous learning needed in their careers and as educated citizens,” she said.

Dr. Moritz Dannhauer, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science, and computer science senior Joshua Martinez introduced TheoTeach to committee members. Developed by Dannhauer, Martinez and fellow computer science students Branlan Roberson, Brice Hamlett and Forrest Fishel, TheoTeach is an AI-assisted learning tool that helps students in Dannhauer’s automata, computability and complexity class test their understanding of concepts. If students are lost or don’t understand something, TheoTeach can help get them back on track and requires them to demonstrate understanding.

“With Dr. Dannhauer, we’re creating a better system, a safer system, for our students to use AI,” said Martinez.

Nicole Stokes, assistant vice chancellor of strategic advancement operations, shared how AI is increasing efficiency and productivity in University Advancement through the Anchor360 initiative. New technology is allowing for increased contact with current and prospective donors as well as a revamped online giving process that saw an 11% increase in the first three months of activation.

AI is one of three strategic focuses for the committee this academic year, along with fiscal health, and enrollment and student success.

Following Thursday’s committee meetings, board members toured the newly renovated and reopened Legacy Hall. The College Hill residence hall welcomed 450 students last month following a yearlong, approximately $29 million renovation.

In Other Business

In his comments to the full board on Friday morning, Chancellor Philip Rogers continued the discussion on AI, telling trustees that ECU is staring at a moment of consequence.

“Either we shape how AI serves our students, or we become observers of its impact on how they learn,” he said.

He explained that AI must be additive to learning and enhance the process. Rogers mentioned that the university is focused on AI access and fluency as well as supporting faculty as they redesign courses that require both AI tools and human judgment.

Rogers concluded his remarks with an update on the Innovation Fund, which was first introduced at University Day as an investment of the savings from ECU’s fiscal health work. One use of the Innovation Fund will be to help provide resources to faculty who are adopting AI technology in their area of study.

Student Government Association President Ryan Grant was formally sworn in at the start of the board meeting by Pitt County Clerk of Superior Court Sara Beth Fulford Rhodes. In his remarks, Grant highlighted the work the organization was doing to combat student food insecurity as well as working with the city of Greenville in support of renters’ rights.

As part of its consent agenda, the board:

• approved the faculty workload report
• approved naming menus for the Isley Performance Center, the ECU baseball expansion project and ECU golf facility.
• approved naming the scoreboard in the Isley Performance Center for JB and Claire Davis
• approved naming the grass area outside of the Isley Performance Center for Jonathan Earle
• approved naming the donor wall inside the Isley Performance Center for Wes and Darlene Johnson
• approved naming the softball hitting facility for Marnie Oursler.

The next meeting of the ECU Board of Trustees is scheduled for Nov. 12-13 in the Main Campus Student Center.

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