GREENVILLE, Pa.-- Thiel College has been awarded a $1.8 million federal Title III Strengthening Institutions Program grant to launch a comprehensive five-year initiative that will make artificial intelligence literacy part of the educational experience for all first-year students while expanding academic support and creating new AI-focused educational and workforce pathways throughout western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio.
The AI-Integrated Learning and Student Success Infrastructure Project will redesign Thiel’s Information Literacy course to ensure all first-year students receive foundational AI instruction, create a new stackable AI Literacy Certificate and establish dual-enrollment and workforce pathways that extend AI education to high school students, educators and adult learners throughout the region.
Thiel will receive $400,000 in the first year of the project, with approximately $1.4 million in additional federal funding expected over the subsequent four years. The award is part of the federal Strengthening Institutions Program administered through the U.S. Department of Labor.
“Artificial intelligence is changing virtually every profession our graduates will enter, and this investment gives Thiel an extraordinary opportunity to prepare our students for that future,” Thiel College President Susan Traverso, Ph.D. said. “AI literacy is about more than knowing how to use a particular tool. Our students need to understand its possibilities, recognize its limitations, evaluate information critically and make thoughtful and ethical decisions about how these technologies should be used in their professions and communities.”
The successful grant proposal was designed by Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College Sheila Nowinski, Ph.D.; Vice President for College Advancement Roberta Leonard; and Professor of History David Buck, Ph.D.
The College will approach AI literacy as a skill that crosses academic disciplines and not limited to technology-focused programs, according to the grant application. Students will explore how emerging technologies are affecting their individual fields and future professions while developing the critical-thinking and information-literacy skills needed to evaluate and use AI responsibly.
“AI is not simply a subject for computer scientists or technology professionals. Our graduates will encounter it in business, healthcare, education, communication, the sciences, the humanities and many other fields,” Nowinski said. “Our goal is to give students the intellectual foundation to understand these technologies, question them, use them effectively and make informed decisions about their appropriate use. Those are skills that complement the critical thinking at the heart of a liberal arts education.”
A second major component of the initiative will establish an AI Innovation Network that connects emerging technology with Thiel’s student-success infrastructure. The network will support expanded tutoring, advising, early-alert interventions and other academic support services while providing professional development for faculty and staff in the effective and responsible use of AI-enhanced tools.
Buck has helped lead Thiel’s exploration of artificial intelligence in teaching and learning and is teaching an MBA course focused on AI this semester.
“Students are entering a world in which knowing how to work with artificial intelligence will be important but knowing how and when to question it may matter just as much,” Buck said. “AI can produce information remarkably quickly, but speed is not the same as accuracy, understanding or judgment. Teaching students to evaluate what these systems produce, recognize their limitations and use them thoughtfully is an extension of what a liberal arts education has always done.”
The initiative will also extend beyond Thiel’s campus. The College will work with regional school districts, workforce organizations and employers to establish dual-enrollment and workforce-development pathways connecting secondary schools, higher education and the workplace.
Those partnerships will support AI literacy coursework and credential opportunities for regional high school students and workforce learners while helping ensure educational opportunities remain responsive to changing workforce needs.
The federal award comes is part the College’s Join the Journey fundraising campaign, the largest of its kind in the College’s history. Thiel recently launched the public phase of this $100 million campaign after raising approximately $94 million toward its goal. Join the Journey supports scholarships, academic programs, facilities, student experiences and other priorities designed to strengthen the College and expand opportunities for students.
“Thiel is experiencing an extraordinary level of investment in its students and its future,” Leonard said. “As we work toward the $100 million goal for Join the Journey, this competitive federal grant brings additional resources to academic innovation and student success. Private philanthropy and competitive public investment provide different kinds of support, but both expand what Thiel can provide its students and strengthen the College’s ability to serve the region.”
Webmail
Campus Offices
Directory
Schedule an Event
Maintenance Issue
Spectrum U
IT Support
Academic Catalog
Academic Resources
Accessibility
Attend & Assist
Boodlebox
Buy Books
Calendar
Campus Map
Handshake
Course List
Library
The Learning Commons
Moodle
Newsroom
Public Safety
Self Service
Solution Center
Pay My Bill
Thiel Gear
Tomcats Care
Wellness Center