HBCU Train the Trainer Summit -DAY 1

Unlock cutting-edge educational strategies with our experts at TSU SMART Innovation Technology Center in Nashville.The meeting focused on a training conference about AI in education, featuring presentations from Dr. Robbie K. Melton and Mike Coumans. Dr. Melton demonstrated new features of Google Gemini, including deep research capabilities, music creation, and infographic generation tools, emphasizing their potential for educational applications. Mike Coomins presented SendSteps AI, a platform that integrates presentation creation with interactive assessments and student engagement features. The session included live demonstrations of the tools, with participants testing features like real-time quizzes and voiceover generation. Dr. Chris Alexander was scheduled to present next but was delayed due to airport issues, though his presentation was pre-recorded and ready to be shown. The conference included hands-on opportunities for participants to explore the tools and engage with the presenters in breakout sessions.

HBCU Train the Trainer Summit -DAY 2

This was day two of an AI summit focused on training educators to become "trainers of trainers" in artificial intelligence implementation. Dr. Robbie Melton led the session, emphasizing the importance of immediate hands-on practice with new AI tools and sharing frameworks developed by SREB (Southern Regional Education Board) that were researched and approved by 16 southern state governors. The session featured presentations from Dr. Tiffany Harrison from SREB who outlined comprehensive AI integration frameworks for K-12 through higher education, John Passmore who demonstrated Latimer AI - an alternative AI model focused on mitigating cultural biases by incorporating diverse historical documents, and Dr. Jewel Winn who shared practical applications for supporting international students using various AI tools including Julia for multilingual support and Plaid Note for real-time translation during meetings. The summit also included research findings from Dr. Trina Richardson and Candace Brown from Tennessee State University's College of Health Sciences, who presented a pilot study on faculty and staff attitudes toward AI, finding that while 75% believed AI would improve their work and 80% expected to use AI in the future, only 55% viewed AI as positive for humanity, highlighting the need for continued professional development. The session concluded with Dr. Bill Johnson sharing his experience writing two books using AI tools, demonstrating a six-phase strategic framework for academic publishing that emphasizes the author's role in content creation while leveraging AI for editing and validation.

HBCU Train the Trainer Summit -DAY 3

The meeting focused on AI governance in higher education, featuring a panel discussion with Dr. Tiffany Harrison from SREB, Dr. Matthew Lovren from Grace Christian University, Michael Renshaw from Lumen, and Garrett McAllister from Westchester Community College. The panelists shared their experiences with AI implementation at their institutions, discussing the importance of presidential executive support, stakeholder engagement, and the need for both institutional guidelines and policies. Key topics included the challenges of balancing technology adoption with security concerns, the infrastructure requirements needed to support AI initiatives, and the varying approaches to governance across different types of higher education institutions. The discussion highlighted the need for getting all stakeholders, including those who may be resistant to change, involved in the conversation about AI implementation, while acknowledging the unique challenges faced by institutions of different sizes and resources.