2025-26 Academic Affairs AI Communities of Practice

The 2025-26 Academic Affairs AI Communities of Practice (CoP) at Fresno State brought together staff from across departments to collaborate and explore the potential and practical applications of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in their work. Facilitated by the Office of IDEAS with direction and support from the Office of the Provost, the CoP built on the success of the AI for Higher Ed Professionals course,  developed by the Office of IDEAS and offered by CSU Online Course Services to all employees of the CSU system. All Academic Affairs staff who had completed the course were invited to participate in a CoP cohort.

The four-week program invited participants to share workflows, discuss ethical and professional considerations, and identify opportunities to responsibly incorporate AI into their daily work. Participants represented a wide range of roles and functional areas, from administrative support to communication to finance and more, yet found inspiration and insight from each other in how AI was being used to solve problems or streamline tasks.

These in-person sessions fostered meaningful, cross-departmental engagement and an experimentation mindset. Participants developed a shared habit of asking, “Can AI help with this?”while also raising strategic concerns about the availability of AI tools, AI misuse, job replacement and augmentation, and broader social concerns, whil emphasizing the importance of involving staff voices in campus-level decisions about adoption and investment.

Participants concluded the experience by sharing an example of an AI-integrated workflow or project that they have adopted, that can be shared with the campus community for further inspiration, innovation, and exploration. These examples can be viewed in the repository linked below.

Fresno State Staff AI Use Case Repository