UA Faculty Alliance Thought Leaders Forum

The Faculty Alliance will host the first of a new annual Thought Leaders Forum for two half days of virtual Zoom meetings, March 28 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and March 29 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

This year’s topic is artificial intelligence.

Though long in development, generative artificial intelligence seemingly exploded into the consciousness of the university education community in November of 2022 when OpenAI released an early version of ChatGPT, a large language model capable of natural language processing. Since that time, universities have debated the impact, positive and negative, of GenAI on academic integrity, academic performance, the nature of work in various disciplines, and the broader impact on society. How should AI be handled in the classroom? Is AI appropriate everywhere and in every discipline? Is AI a new phenomenon fundamentally different from what has come before or is it an extension of existing processes? Should universities create new policies specifically about AI or is that an alarmist response? Does AI offer opportunities for all students, or does it privilege some forms of expression over others?

The Faculty Alliance is seeking proposals from University of Alaska faculty and others for presentations or panels. Some possible themes to address:

  • The impact of AI on academic integrity.
  • The impact of AI on academic performance.
  • The impact of AI on a particular discipline or area of employment.
  • Impact of AI on research.
  • The impact of AI on society, including intellectual property, cultural expression, and visibility of minority voices.
  • The coded biases and blind spots of limited data and the potential for discrimination and inequities.

Proposals are due: Feb. 26
Presenters will be notified: March 4
Schedule will available: March 18

Format Options:

  • Individual Presentation: 20-30 minute presentation. Individual presentations with related or complimentary themes will be placed together in one of our concurrent sessions.

  • Group Panel Presentation: 3 to 4 co-presenters coordinated around a specific theme or question for a one hour joint presentation. Panels should reserve 10-15 minutes for questions at the end of the session. Interdisciplinary and/or cross-university collaborations are welcome.

Proposals should include a title, the name/s, title, and affiliation of participant/s, and an abstract of 500 words that demonstrates how the proposal addresses the overall topic and thematic area.

Proposals will be evaluated by members of the Faculty Alliance. Groupings of individual presentations for concurrent sessions will be determined based on submissions received.

For more information contact: