A Colossus Mark 2 computer being operated by Dorothy Du Boisson (left) and Elsie Booker (right), 1943

AI At Geneseo

At Geneseo, students, faculty, and staff are exploring whether artificial intelligence (AI) can improve learning, stimulate innovation, drive ground-breaking research, and promote efficiency. They are also studying the potential—and already demonstrated—harms of AI in such areas as political discourse, critical thinking, creativity, and the environment. They are asking what guidelines and protections are necessary to harness the power of AI safely, ethically, and responsibly.

In spring 2025, the Geneseo College Senate endorsed a document setting forth a framework of definitions, principles, and guidelines intended to help our campus meet the challenges and leverage the opportunities presented by AI, particularly generative AI. You can read the statement here.

GenAI: AI at Geneseo, a website in Geneseo's OpenLab network, serves as a clearinghouse for resources and perspectives on artificial intelligence.

In the news …

Geneseo team participates in AI Institute

In Fall 2025, a team from Geneseo participated in the Institute on AI, Pedagogy, and the Curriculum organized by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U).

The intent of the institute is to advance the development and enactment of ambitious AI action plans designed to address the challenges and opportunities presented by AI within courses and curriculum. Teams work to

  • Define a clear and inspiring purpose for their AI and curriculum initiative that includes key goals, expected student learning outcomes, and benefits for students, faculty, and the institution.
  • Create and carry out a detailed action plan that focuses on using AI to improve teaching and learning, with clear benchmarks to measure progress.
  • Stay current with AI developments.
  • Use evidence-based models to guide course and curriculum design, rethinking assignments, grading, and academic integrity.
  • Explore new, AI-informed approaches to support student learning and plan for inclusive and effective implementation.
  • Consider student diversity, transfer challenges, and equity in success standards.
  • Ensure AI use supports equitable outcomes for all.

Geneseo's team—Cassie van Stolk (Psychology), Peter Kalenda (School of Education), Lytton Smith (English and Creative Writing), Jeff Peterson (Chemistry), Alan Witt (Milne Library), and Mark Rider (School of Business)—attended a two-day kickoff event where they learned how AI is being integrated on other campuses into policies, curriculum, and programs across all levels from the institution as a whole to individual classroom activities.

The team has developed an action plan with three primary goals.

  1. Create a shared language framework for AI pedagogy discussions on campus. This goal emphasizes the importance of recognizing that a shared foundation in language is essential for achieving meaningful progress. The team will examine this need at various levels, including institutional, departmental, and course levels.
  2. Explore departmental faculty attitudes towards using AI. This goal focuses on directly engaging with departments and faculty to gain a deeper understanding of their perspectives on the use of AI in teaching and learning.
  3. Develop pathways to embed AI literacy within disciplinary contexts. This goal emphasizes collaboration with departments to develop discipline-specific approaches to AI literacy, enabling students to graduate with a comprehensive understanding of when and how to apply AI in their fields.

Alexis Clifton named SUNY "AI for the Public Good" Fellow

Director of the Geneseo Center for Teaching and Learning Alexis Clifton has been named an inaugural SUNY "AI for the Public Good" Fellow. The fellows will serve as a resource to SUNY institutions by providing support for faculty and staff working to update courses and learning activities to incorporate AI literacy, including the practical and ethical use of AI and teaching students to evaluate AI-generated content critically. Learn more about Clifton's participation in AI for the Public Good in this Geneseo news story.

Clifton leads cross-campus community of practice on AI

In addition to serving as a SUNY AI for the Public Good fellow, Clifton is the Geneseo lead for a SUNY-wide community of practice on AI supported by the system's Innovative Instruction Technology Grant program.

Nine SUNY campuses are participating in total. Each participant will complete a project related to the topic of the community, which will be shared publicly when finished.

The five community topics are

  • Reimagining Assessment in the Age of AI
  • Build Your Own Chatbot
  • Designing Assignments for Critical AI Literacy
  • Accessibility and AI
  • AI and Writing Across the Disciplines

The Geneseo participants, who have divided themselves among four of the topic groups, are

  • Alla Myzelev (Art History)
  • Avan Jassawalla (School of Business)
  • Lytton Smith (English and Creative Writing)
  • Cynthia Klima (Global Languages)
  • Emrys Donaldson (English and Creative Writing)
  • Javier Velasco (Global Languages)
  • Jennifer Tripp (School of Education)
  • Jordain Moore (Study Abroad)
  • Sharon Peck (School of Education)
  • Taylor Kessner (School of Education)
  • Md Nazmul Islam (School of Business)

The grant is also funding a November 5, 4 p.m. virtual keynote address on "Navigating Generative AI's Ethical Challenges in Higher Education" by Marc Watkins, Assistant Director of Academic Innovation, Director of the Mississippi AI Institute, and Lecturer of Writing and Rhetoric at the University of Mississippi.

Banner photo: A Colossus Mark 2 computer being operated by Dorothy Du Boisson (left) and Elsie Booker (right), 1943, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons