The first cohort of the Redbird AIDE program for faculty and instructional staff will take place from approximately January through December 2025. Throughout the year, participants will meet regularly during both the Spring and Fall 2025 semesters to explore and discuss the impact of AI on their work. Each participant will receive enterprise-level access to one or more AI tools, providing them with the resources needed to integrate AI into their teaching, research, and service in a data secure environment.  

The program’s structure will emphasize both intellectual diversity and disciplinary collaboration. While the cohort as a whole will include participants from a wide range of fields and academic roles, individual groups will be formed to maintain some level of disciplinary similarity. This approach is designed to foster cross-disciplinary innovation while allowing participants to collaborate with colleagues who understand the specific challenges and opportunities in their area of expertise. 

Non-Tenure Track Faculty, Tenure-Track Faculty, and staff members with teaching and/or research responsibilities within Academic Affairs are welcome to apply to be part of this cohort. Non-instructional staff and staff from other divisions of the University are invited to apply to a separate Non-Instructional Staff Cohort, described below, ensuring that the benefits of AI exploration extend across the university community. 

Participants in the Redbird AI-AIDE program will be expected to actively engage in both group and individual activities throughout the year. The time commitment is designed to ensure meaningful exploration of AI, while remaining manageable alongside their other professional responsibilities. The program requires participants to be committed to regular engagement, collaboration, and reflection to fully explore AI’s potential in academic life. 

Onboarding 

At the beginning of the program, materials will be made available to help participants become familiar with the tools they will be using during the academic year. This will consist of both asynchronous written and multimedia content, as well as a synchronous orientation that will help the cohort as a whole come to an understanding of the responsible use of artificial intelligence in a higher education context. 

Bi-Weekly Group Meetings 

Participants will meet in their assigned groups every other week during both the Spring and Fall 2025 semesters. These meetings will provide an opportunity to discuss ongoing AI experiments, share insights, and troubleshoot challenges together. Attendance and participation in these discussions will be essential for fostering collaborative learning within the program. 

Weekly Updates 

Each participant will submit a brief weekly update detailing their use of AI tools. These updates will be informal but consistent, allowing participants to document their progress, reflect on what worked or didn’t, and stay accountable to their personal goals. These updates will also help the larger group track emerging themes and trends throughout the program. 

Year-End Narrative Report 

At the end of the program, participants will create a reflective narrative report summarizing how AI has informed and impacted their teaching, research, and service. This narrative will allow faculty to articulate what they’ve learned, how AI has influenced their work, and what new practices or tools they plan to adopt moving forward. 

Facilitators for the Redbird AI-AIDE program will play a key role in guiding and supporting the communities of practice. They will include staff members from the Scholarly Teaching unit, members of the Committee for the Responsible Use of AI, and faculty champions who have experience with AI. Their primary responsibilities will be to coordinate the bi-weekly group meetings, review participants’ weekly AI reports, and help shape productive, insightful discussions within their groups. 

In addition to facilitating the participant experience, these leaders will regularly meet with one another to reflect on their own growth with AI and deepen their understanding of how AI can enhance higher education. This collaborative exchange among facilitators will ensure that the program evolves dynamically, responding to both participant needs and broader trends in AI integration. 

Faculty interested in serving as facilitators should have some familiarity with AI tools, but they do not need to be experts. The program emphasizes co-learning, where facilitators and participants alike will explore, experiment, and learn from each other. The aim is to foster a supportive environment that encourages curiosity, experimentation, and shared discovery, rather than a top-down directive approach. 

By joining Redbird AI-AIDE, participants will not only gain valuable AI skills but also contribute to a larger movement that positions Illinois State University as a leader in academic innovation and AI integration. 

Participation in the Redbird AI-AIDE program offers faculty a range of valuable benefits, both for their individual professional growth and in their service to the university. These include: 

Service to the University 

Participation in Redbird AI-AIDE allows faculty to contribute directly to the university’s advancement by shaping how AI is integrated into teaching, research, and service. This service demonstrates a commitment to innovation and leadership in higher education, while also playing a pivotal role in defining the future of academic work at Illinois State. 

Early Access to AI Tools 

Participants will be among the first at Illinois State to gain enterprise-level access to AI tools provided by the institution. This early access will allow faculty to experiment with cutting-edge technologies that can enhance their work and explore new pedagogical methods, research opportunities, and service innovations. 

Developing Cross-Campus Connections 

Redbird AI-AIDE emphasizes collaboration across departments and disciplines, offering participants the chance to build meaningful relationships with colleagues from different academic and professional backgrounds. These connections can lead to fresh perspectives, new partnerships, and potential interdisciplinary projects that span teaching, research, and service areas. 

Opportunities for Future Funding 

It is anticipated that the collaborative work done within the Redbird AI-AIDE program will inspire faculty groups to pursue internal and external grants to support the continued exploration of AI in higher education. This grant funding will help sustain the work started within the program, allowing faculty to expand their AI initiatives beyond the initial cohort and into broader academic and research contexts. 

Dedicated Professional Development 

Participants will also have access to dedicated professional development opportunities focused on AI in higher education. These opportunities will equip faculty with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to integrate AI effectively into their academic work, ensuring they remain at the forefront of technological advancements and educational innovation. 

Faculty and instructional staff interested in applying to the Redbird AI-AIDE program are encouraged to submit an application detailing their interest in integrating AI into their academic work. This application is an important first step in joining an innovative community of practice that will explore the transformative potential of AI at Illinois State University. 

Due to both licensing limitations and the program’s commitment to providing each participant with personalized attention and meaningful collaboration, spaces in the program are limited. This ensures that every participant receives the full benefit of the AI tools and the opportunity to engage deeply with their group. 

Applicants will be carefully selected to create communities of practice that reflect a balance of roles and disciplines across the university. The selection process is designed to foster intellectual diversity, ensuring that each group benefits from a variety of perspectives and experiences while still having enough disciplinary overlap to facilitate focused discussions. The goal is to maximize the impact of the program by creating groups where faculty can learn from one another, spark new ideas, and explore how AI can be adapted across different fields of study and responsibilities.