CT State AI Academy

Applications for the 2026–27 cohort are now open.

Application deadline is Friday, October 9, at 11:59 p.m.

If you have any questions about joining the CT State AI Academy, please email carey.ash@ctstate.edu, cc'ing judith@strategiesbydesigngroup.com.

Five Levels
Twelve Campuses
Stackable Micro-Credentials

Build Your AI Fluency.

Strengthen Your Work.

Help Shape What Comes Next.

The CT State AI Academy is the evolution of the Presidential AI Fellows Program and is a five-level professional learning pathway designed to help faculty and staff build practical AI capabilities and put them to work across the college.

Whether you're just beginning to explore AI, already helping colleagues navigate it, redesigning courses and assessments or looking for ways to transform institutional processes, there's a place for you at the AI Academy.

AI at CT State Starts With People

The AI Academy is built around a human-centered approach to AI.

We believe AI can support better teaching, learning, service and institutional work, but it should never replace human judgment. The AI Academy, therefore, focuses not simply on tools but on fluency, ethics, judgment, application and leadership.

The AI Academy grew out of the Presidential AI Fellowship, which demonstrated the value of providing CT State faculty and staff with structured time and support to develop genuine AI capability. This initiative expands that work into a pathway that builds capacity across roles and campuses.

Find Your Level

The AI Academy offers five levels from AI Guide to Champion. Choose the level that best applies to your current knowledge and practical usage, as well as your role at the college.

Level 1: AI Guide

Start here if you want a strong, credentialed foundation in AI

No Prerequisites

As an AI Guide, you'll build foundational fluency in ethical AI use, prompting, model selection and keeping human judgment in the loop.

This Level Is For You If...

You have little or no experience with AI
You use AI occasionally and want to become more confident and intentional
You want a structured foundation rather than scattered tips and tools
You work in an academic or operational role

Especially Encouraged

Colleagues in human resources, bursar/business offices, enrollment services, information technology, advising and financial aid

Credential

AI Fluency Foundations

Level 2: Master Coach and Trainer

Become a source of AI capability on your campus

Level 2 combines peer coaching and training in one role. Participants will help colleagues build their AI fluency while developing and delivering training on their home campus.

This Level Is For You If...

You completed the inaugural AI Fellowship or can demonstrate equivalent fluency
Colleagues already come to you with AI questions
You're ready to coach peers and deliver training
You want to help establish sustainable AI capability on your campus

Credential

Certified AI Master Coach and Trainer

Level 3: Academic AI Innovation Leader

Redesign the learning experience for an AI-enabled world

This level is for faculty and colleagues working with courses, curriculum, assessment and student learning. Participants will identify a specific course, assessment or program and explore how AI-supported practice can improve learning, strengthen academic integrity and address equity gaps.

This Level Is For You If...

You own or influence courses, curriculum or assessment
You're a faculty member, instructional designer, student-success professional, department chair or program coordinator
You can identify a specific course or assessment you want to redesign
You're actively thinking about academic integrity in an AI era

Credential

Academic AI Innovation Leader

hand holds lightbulb lit up with illustrations and AI symbol

Level 4: Organizational Transformation

Redesign how work moves across the institution

AI transformation is not only about the classroom. Level 4 focuses on the operational side of CT State – examining operational processes, identifying friction and determining where AI, bots and agents can improve workflow while maintaining appropriate data, privacy and human sign-off standards.

This Level Is For You If...

You own or lead an operational process
You can identify a real process you want to map and redesign
You have the authority or explicit leadership sponsorship to change it
You're prepared to distinguish genuine AI opportunities from process problems that need to be addressed first

Credential

Organizational Transformation

Level 5: President’s AI Champion

Help shape CT State’s strategic approach to AI

Presidential Nomination

Level 5 develops a strategic voice for AI across the college. Fellows will contribute to policy recommendations, tool-ecosystem stewardship, external representation and the integration of AI into CT State's broader strategic framework.

This Level Is For You If...

You're nominated or endorsed by your campus or college president
Your work is cross-cutting and extends beyond a single department or division
You're prepared to represent CT State externally and contribute to policy recommendations

Level 5 is seated through presidential nomination. Applicants may indicate interest on the application.

Credential

President's AI Champion

What You Receive

Levels 1–3 Include:

Four Live Training Sessions

Practical, facilitated learning across the spring term
Two Optional Open Hours Sessions

Bring your questions, challenges, experiments or problems of practice
An AI Fluency Assessment

Establish a baseline and understand your development
A Community of Practice

Access resources, AI updates and current tools alongside colleagues across CT State

Level 4 Includes:

Five Training Sessions
Process-Mapping Templates
A Step-by-Step Methodology For Working On A Real Institutional Process

hands typing on laptop with ai graphics superimposed

...And You Earn a Credential!

Every level of the academy carries a stackable micro-credential that counts towards your professional standing.

The pathway is designed so that your learning can build over time, from foundational fluency to coaching, academic innovation, operational transformation and strategic leadership.

Who Can Apply?

Any full-time CT State faculty or staff member in any department or division across the twelve campuses can apply to the AI Academy, including:

full-time faculty
full-time staff
instruction/teaching
educational technology, library or tutoring
disability services, mental health and wellness, career services, student engagement or advising
enrollment, recruitment or one-stop
financial aid
human resources, business office/bursar or finance
information technology
institutional research
advancement
marketing/communications
workforce development
central office administrator (New Britain)
campus administrator
any other full-time faculty and staff roles

Level 1 has no prerequisites. You do not need to already use AI to apply.

What Does the AI Academy Cost?

This program is centrally funded and your department is not billed for your seat. Release time and/or workload recalibration, if provided, is determined in partnership with your supervisor and campus dean.

What If I Don't Know Which Level Is Right For Me?

Apply anyways! You can select a first choice and an alternate. During review, applicants who are a stronger fit for another level may be reassigned rather than rejected.

If you are genuinely unsure, Level 1 is the starting point for building your foundation.

Important Dates

September 21, 2026:

Application opens
October 9, 2026 at 11:59 p.m.:

Application closes
October 12–30, 2026:

Applications are reviewed and participants are selected
Early November 2026:

Applicants are notified of acceptance
January 2027:

Training begins

Applications for the 2026–27 cohort are now open.

Apply to the CT State AI Academy

Application deadline is Friday, October 9, at 11:59 p.m.

If you have any questions about joining the CT State AI Academy, please email carey.ash@ctstate.edu, cc'ing judith@strategiesbydesigngroup.com.

Frequently Asked Questions

Eligibility and Cost

Who can apply?

Any full-time academic or operational CT State faculty or staff member at any of the twelve campuses may apply. Level 1 has no prerequisites. The credential is designed to count toward professional standing.

Does it cost me or my department anything?

No. Academy programming is funded centrally. Your department is not billed for your seat. Release time and/or workload recalibration, if provided, is determined in partnership with your supervisor and campus dean.

Do I already need to use AI?

Not for Level 1. That level exists precisely for people who use AI occasionally or not at all. Levels 2 and 3 assume demonstrated fluency; Level 4 assumes you own an operational process.

Do I need my supervisor's permission?

You need your supervisor's endorsement, which the application collects.

Time and Commitment

How much time does this take?

Levels 1, 2 and 3 involve four live training sessions plus two optional open-hours sessions across the spring term, with self-paced work in between. Level 4 involves five training sessions plus applied process-mapping work on a real process you bring. Exact dates will be published during onboarding in November, before you have to commit.

What if I am accepted and then cannot participate?

If you can't participate, let us know by November 13. A waitlist exists for every level and an early decline lets someone else take the seat. Withdrawing later leaves an empty seat that could have been filled by a colleague.

As faculty, how will my participation be accommodated within my workload?

Participation in the AI Academy may be counted toward the additional responsibilities calculation for faculty and/or toward course release calculations, as applicable. These arrangements should be discussed with your campus dean and determined in accordance with applicable CT State processes. Faculty should raise anticipated workload or release-time needs during the application and onboarding process so that appropriate arrangements can be discussed before participation begins.

As staff or management, how will my participation be accommodated within my current work responsibilities?

Participation in the AI Academy should be discussed with your supervisor. Supervisors are encouraged to allow participation during the workday for Academy meetings, training sessions and related assignments. When participation requires modification of an employee’s regular workload or responsibilities, those adjustments should be discussed and determined through mutual agreement between the employee and supervisor.

Release time and/or workload recalibration, if provided, is determined in partnership with your supervisor and campus dean. If release time is the obstacle for you, say so on the application. That is useful information, not a disqualification.

Choosing a Level

What if I pick the wrong level?

You will not be penalized if you choose the wrong level on your application. Applicants who would be a stronger fit elsewhere may be reassigned during the review process rather than rejected. The application lets you name a first choice and flag a second.

Can I apply to more than one level?

You may indicate a second choice, but you will be seated in one level for this cycle. The pathway is stackable and completing one level positions you for the next.

I completed the AI Fellowship. Where do I go?

Level 2 is designed for you if you're prepared to coach colleagues and deliver training.

Level 3 may be a better match if your work centers on courses and assessment rather than coaching peers.

I work in HR, IT, enrollment or the business office. Is this for me?

Yes, and pointedly so. Level 1 seats are deliberately diversified to include operational units and Level 4 exists entirely for operational transformation. If you own a process and want to redesign it, Level 4 is the strongest fit in the AI Academy.

How is Level 5 different?

Level 5 is confirmed through presidential nomination rather than application-based selection. You may indicate interest on the application but nomination is advanced only by your campus or college president.

Selection and Notification

When will I hear whether I was selected?

In early November, every applicant will hear whether they were accepted, waitlisted or not selected for this round.

What do I get at the end?

At the end of your course, you'll receive a stackable micro-credential specific to your level that counts towards your professional standing: AI Fluency Foundations, Certified AI Master Coach and Trainer, Academic AI Innovation Leader, Organizational Transformation or President's AI Champion.

The Bigger Picture

Is this about replacing people with AI?

No. The AI Academy holds to a premise CT State's AI vision makes explicit: AI is a resource that supports and never replaces human judgment in teaching, learning and the work of the college. Level 4, in particular, asks participants to answer honestly about what should never be automated and why.