Author: u_kpelletier

Announcement of Faculty Taskforce on AI – October 3, 2025

Dear Colleagues,

We are living through a moment of profound transformation. Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly generative AI, is reshaping every aspect of society — from business and law to healthcare, education, the arts, and beyond. The future of work will depend on how effectively we can partner with AI, using it to extend human creativity, judgment, and problem-solving rather than to replace them.

As educators, we have a shared responsibility to ensure that every UMass Dartmouth graduate is AI-literate, ethically grounded, and professionally prepared. To meet this imperative, I am pleased to announce the formation of the Faculty Taskforce on AI Integration in the Curriculum.

The Taskforce is charged with developing a systematic and thoughtful approach to introducing every undergraduate student to generative AI tools and their responsible use. The work will focus on helping students understand:

  • The capabilities and limitations of AI, including large language models (LLMs);
  • The biases and ethical issues inherent in AI systems;
  • The role of AI in the human creative and decision-making process; and
  • The responsible application of AI within their disciplines.

Through this initiative, we aim to prepare students who can critically assess AI outputs, apply AI tools with creativity and integrity, and lead responsibly in a world where AI will be broadly used in every profession.

The Taskforce will:

  • Conduct a landscape review of AI education across higher education and within UMass Dartmouth.
  • Define foundational learning objectives and competencies for AI literacy.
  • Recommend strategies to embed AI education across general education and major programs.
  • Propose opportunities for faculty development, interdisciplinary teaching, and hands-on student learning; and
  • Design assessment models and a phased implementation roadmap.

The Taskforce will work closely with the Office of Faculty Development, the Senate Technology Committee, and Instructional Design to develop strategies for preparing both faculty and students for this work. While the committee does its work, ideas proposed by faculty through the recently issued RFP will be piloted in AI-integrated courses beginning in Spring 2026 so that we can equip the class of 2028 with skills to integrate AI thoughtfully into their professional practice.

Taskforce Membership

  • Amy Shapiro – Chair of the Task Force, Dean of the Honors College
  • Scott Ahrens – Design, College of Visual and Performing Arts
  • Brian Ayotte – Psychology, Honors College, Faculty Senate President
  • Nancy Godleski – Dean of the Library
  • Firas Khatib – Computer and Information Science, College of Engineering
  • Melody O’Donnell –  Medical Laboratory Science, College of Nursing and Health Sciences
  • B.K. Rai – Chair, Decision and Information Sciences, Charlton College of Business
  • Michael Sheriff – Biology, Office of Faculty Development
  • Mendy Smith – Instructional Design
  • Matt Sneider – History, Director of University Studies
  • Alexis Teagarden – English, First-Year Writing Program Coordinator
  • Iren Valova – Associate Dean, College of Engineering
  • Anoo Vyas – Law School

I am deeply grateful to this distinguished group of faculty and academic leaders for taking on this important and forward-looking work. Through their guidance, UMass Dartmouth will position itself at the forefront of ethical, inclusive, and innovative AI education, ensuring that all our students have the knowledge and judgment to lead with integrity in an AI-powered world.

Sincerely,

Ramprasad Balasubramanian
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Curricular Integration of AI Skills and Literacy – September 24, 2025

Curricular Integration of AI Skills and Literacy

 

Award: $1,500 stipend or $3,000 in professional development funding

Deadline: October 15th, 2025

 

Overview

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to reshape the academic and workforce landscapes, UMass Dartmouth is committed to preparing students to navigate this new reality with ethical awareness, critical thinking, and practical skills. We invite faculty from all academic councils to propose a course revision or a new course that meaningfully integrates one or more of the following student learning outcomes (SLOs) related to AI.

AI Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

  1. Master practical AI use: Integrate AI fluency with human creativity, judgment, and communication by appropriately selecting and applying AI tools to support academic tasks, while ensuring that human originality and critical thinking remain central to their work.
  2. Identify and mitigate bias: Detect representational and statistical biases, assess equity impacts, and apply mitigation strategies; document decisions transparently.
  3. Exercise professional judgment in the use of AI: Evaluate discipline-specific contexts to determine when AI tools add value and when human expertise is essential, and articulate the reasoning behind those choices.
  4. Identify and address ethical, environmental, and social implications of AI:
    Analyze the ethical, environmental, and societal issues associated with AI technologies and articulate how these considerations impact the application of AI.
  5. Diagnose limitations in AI models: Explain model capabilities, constraints, and failure modes; evaluate outputs for accuracy, uncertainty, and provenance; and identify situations where AI use may not be appropriate due to these limitations.

Eligible Activities

Full-time faculty may propose to:

  • Revise an existing course by incorporating assignments, modules, or assessments aligned with one or more AI SLOs.
  • Develop a new course—undergraduate or graduate—focusing on AI literacy, application, ethics, or interdisciplinary use of AI tools.
  • Collaborate across departments or colleges to create interdisciplinary offerings that address AI from multiple perspectives.

 

Funding and Support

Selected proposals will receive:

  • A $1500 stipend for course revision or development, or $3,000 in professional development funding (to be used according to ACA-027).
  • Instructional design consultation from the Instructional Design Team and access to AI pedagogy resources from the Office of Faculty Development.
  • Opportunities to participate in faculty learning communities on teaching with AI.

 

Proposal Requirements (2 pages max)

Please include:

  1. Course information: Course title, number (if applicable), and department.
  2. Type of project: New course or course revision.
  3. Target audience: Intended student population and level.
  4. Learning outcomes addressed: Clearly state which AI SLO(s) will be integrated.
  5. Description of changes: Outline how AI-related content will be incorporated, including specific assignments, technologies, or pedagogical approaches.
  6. Timeline for implementation: Indicate when changes will be piloted (e.g., Spring 2026; no later than Fall 2026).
  7. Assessment plan: Briefly describe how student achievement of the AI outcomes will be evaluated.

Proposals that will reach the most students, meet multiple AI SLOs, and offer the course in the Spring 2026 semester will receive the highest consideration. For this reason, a memo or email from the department Chairpersons and respective deans in support of the proposal should accompany it. We are expecting to fund faculty from all academic councils.

Significant course revisions and new courses rxequire approval by the departmental curriculum committee. Additionally, a Curriculog proposal may be required.

 

Deadline and Submission

Submit your proposal as a PDF to provost@umassd.edu by October 15th, 2025 by 5:00 pm. Awards will be announced by October 24th, 2025.

 

Questions?

Please contact Shannon Jenkins (sjenkins@umassd.edu) with any questions or for support during the proposal process.

Provost Update – September 11, 2025

Dear Colleague,

Welcome back. As we begin a new academic year, thank you for the many ways you have contributed to the momentum UMass Dartmouth is experiencing. Our enrollment is growing because of strong academic programs, meaningful research and hands-on learning opportunities, excellent advising, and a supportive, intellectually engaging environment. These outcomes reflect your time, talent, and dedication—thank you.

Our reputation as a destination of choice is also rising because your scholarship and creative work are being recognized nationally and globally for advancing knowledge and the public good. This visibility strengthens our ability to attract outstanding students, faculty, and staff.

New Academic Leadership
This growing reputation enabled us to attract strong national candidate pools and recruit three dynamic new Deans who joined us this summer. It was great seeing so many of you gathered on Tuesday evening to welcome Dr. Denise Baxter (Visual & Performing Arts), Dr. Rob Griffin (Engineering), and Dr. Phil Scher (Arts & Sciences) to UMass Dartmouth. I’m excited to partner with them as they help elevate the teaching, learning, scholarship, and creative work happening across our colleges.

Priorities for 2025-2026
Over the last year, I’ve engaged in thoughtful conversations with the Deans, Chairs, the Faculty Senate President, and a wide range of faculty and staff about how my team can continue supporting the academic enterprise.

Faculty Development
We remain committed to timely, meaningful support for the professional growth of our faculty and staff. Last year, the new Director of Faculty Development, Dr. Michael Sherriff, refreshed the content and format of the New Faculty Institute. We also expanded competitive internal funding for research and creative activity and found additional ways to celebrate a range of faculty accomplishments. We will continue and build on these efforts.

Student Success
Many of you contributed to the various initiatives to improve student success, including a new system for math placement testing, an expanded summer bridge program, a new academic orientation course for first-year students (UMassD Ready), advising tools that facilitate better communication between students and advisors, the re-institution of an early engagement survey, and the pilot of an on-demand, online on-demand tutoring service (BrainFuse) to supplement the work of the ARC this academic year. I’d also like to commend faculty for increasingly providing early feedback to students so they can adjust their approach and make every effort to succeed in their courses. These collective efforts are starting to make a real difference. For the first time in a decade, we are on track to see a meaningful increase in first-to-second year retention rate—I look forward to sharing the data when it is final later this fall. This is a great outcome for our students—we all want to see them continue to make good academic progress and earn their degrees.

AI Task Force
One strong theme that emerged from my conversations with the Deans and Chairs is the rapidly evolving impact of AI on higher education and the future of work. Many of you are already experimenting with AI to enrich your teaching, research, and the student learning experience. These discussions have surfaced some creative approaches as well as some important questions. I plan on convening an AI Taskforce with faculty, staff, and students from across our academic units to explore and build on these ideas, provide guidance and practical resources on effective and responsible use of AI, and help ensure that our students graduate prepared to use AI thoughtfully in their professional and civic lives. I will convene the task force this month and share more information about its membership and work soon.

Assessing Program Resource Needs
With rising enrollment and improving retention, we must ensure our colleges and schools have the resources to meet student demand while maintaining quality and investing in areas of distinctiveness that make UMass Dartmouth a destination of choice. This year, I will partner with the Faculty Senate and our Deans to launch a collaborative process—establishing a committee, timeline, and criteria—to strengthen and position our academic programs for near-term and long-term success.

In closing, I am deeply grateful for everything you do for our students and community. Our progress last year—on faculty development, research, student success, and college-level milestones—gives us real momentum. I look forward to working with you this year to continue investing in our faculty and staff, our academic enterprise, and—most importantly—our students.

Best wishes for a productive and inspiring semester.

Ramprasad Balasubramanian
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Fall 2025 – Resources for Faculty

Dear Colleagues,

 

I hope you had a relaxing and productive summer. As we kick off the 2025-26 academic year, I also want to draw your attention to important resources and guidelines for faculty, including a required action.

 

  • REQUIRED: All Faculty are required to file Outside Activities and COI disclosure annually, regardless of activity status. You may access the disclosure form at https://umassd.kuali.co/coi/.

 

Please visit the Provost’s Office website for the complete list of Resources for Faculty.

 

I wish you all a successful and productive year.

 

Ramprasad Balasubramanian

Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

LARTS Restoration Project Update – August 14, 2026

Dear faculty and staff,

As we approach the upcoming academic year and fall 2025 semester, I wanted to share the latest information about the LARTS Restoration Project and updated locations for various impacted centers, classrooms, and offices.

First and foremost, I am happy to announce that the 18-month-long construction activity is on track for building occupancy and reopening before the spring 2027 semester.

Since LARTS is offline, we have relocated centers, classrooms, and offices as follows:

  • Academic Resource Center (ARC) – Library 219
  • Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture – Library Basement M02
  • College Now – Modular #7 (Between Dion and Lot 17)
  • College of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Office – Campus Center 225
  • International Programs Office – Library 234 & 236
  • Kaput Center (STEM Ed Research) – Textiles 107
  • Language Learning and Multimedia Center – Library 135
  • Leduc Center for Civic Engagement – Campus Center 232
  • STAR Center (Advising) – Library 228
  • Writing and Multiliteracy Center (WMC) – Library 219

In addition, we have utilized new locations for classes and constructed a new modular classroom building called the Centennial Modular Classroom Building (CMOD). [Everyone knows the Marketplace. Do you want to show that on the map, so they can place CMOD?)The map below shows some of these new locales and important relocated offices:

 

LARTS Update August 15 - Map

 

The Registrar’s office has completed the Fall classroom assignments. I highly recommend that faculty review them and familiarize themselves with these new locations.

Over the summer, University Marketing created signage for new classroom wayfinding and new locations. Most of this signage will be installed in the coming weeks. If you need a new temporary sign, please use the University Marketing Self-Service Portal to create a branded, pre-sized design. If you have larger signage needs, please contact masterplanning@umassd.edu.

As always, our LARTS Restoration Project website is your best spot for up-to-date information regarding the project. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with provost@umassd.edu.

 

Thank you, and have a great rest of your summer.

Ramprasad Balasubramanian
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Canvas Transition and Brainfuse – August 25, 2025

Important Updates: Transition to Canvas LMS, New Instructional Tools and Protocols

 

Dear Colleagues,

I hope this message finds you well and excited to begin the new academic year. I am writing to share several important updates related to course delivery and instructional support starting this fall.

 

Transition to Canvas LMS

Thanks to the work of several faculty and IT staff, UMass Dartmouth has now fully transitioned from Blackboard to Canvas as our official Learning Management System (LMS). All courses will be conducted exclusively on Canvas.

Learn more about Canvas Policies and Procedures.

Student Access to Canvas Courses

Students will now receive access to their Canvas course sites seven (7) days prior to the official course start date listed in COIN. Canvas has a single site-opening date for all Fall courses. This course site’s launch date was set to seven days prior to the course start date after consultation with the Faculty Senate Steering Committee.  Fall 2025 courses will be open to students on 8/27/2025.

All course sites are set as Published as a default to ensure student access. Faculty may toggle their sites to Unpublished if their course is not yet ready for student access.  When a course is unpublished, students cannot access the course site and content or receive course announcements until the site is toggled back to Published. If you plan to communicate with your students before the official start date, please use one of the following options:

  1. Ensure your Canvas course site is set to Published and then use the Announcements tool.
  2. Use the email roster functionality in COIN to reach your registered students directly.

Please see UMassD’s Study Guide to Canvas for more information on the Canvas transition.

 

New Support Tool: Brainfuse Online Tutoring and Writing Lab

We are excited to introduce Brainfuse, a new platform offering 24/7 online tutoring and writing support for students across a variety of disciplines. We encourage you to share this resource with your students and integrate it into your syllabi, course sites, and Canvas announcements. The Academic Resources Center (ARC) with the Business Center and Writing and Multiliteracy Center (WMC), located on the second floor of the Library during the LARTS renovation, and the STEM Learning Lab, located on the second floor of SENG, will continue to be the primary sources of tutoring services for students, with Brainfuse supplementing on campus tutoring services during off-hours and during peak demand.

Learn more about Brainfuse.

We appreciate your continued commitment to delivering high-quality instruction and student support. These updates reflect our shared goal of making teaching and learning more seamless, accessible, and effective. Should you have any questions or need assistance with Canvas or other instructional tools, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Instructional Development team.

 

Ramprasad Balasubramanian
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs