The University of Kentucky's Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT) has named 18 faculty members to its Fall 2026 cohort of the Teaching Innovation Institute, a program redesigned in 2024 to focus specifically on AI in education. The institute, which began in 2020, brings faculty together across disciplines to develop AI literacy and implement classroom strategies that directly affect student learning.
Participants in the program design courses, update curricula, and develop use cases for AI within their specific fields. Since the institute launched, 128 faculty across 18 colleges and 60 departments have completed the program. Many have gone on to receive teaching awards and lead AI-related initiatives in their departments and professional organizations.
How the institute works
With CELT facilitation, faculty meet as an interdisciplinary learning community to address current issues in higher education tied to AI. The program helps instructors understand the meaning of AI in disciplinary and professional contexts, then apply that understanding to improve teaching and student success.
"The AI-focused Teaching Innovation Institute helped me understand an emerging technology and how to incorporate it into a writing workshop for my engineering lab," said Thom Cochell, Ph.D., senior lecturer in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering. "We dealt with the practical realities of using generative AI, but also how to deal with the ethics and issues of critical thinking in the classroom."
Erin Richard, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Biology, said the program helped her cut through the noise around generative AI. "Being part of the cohort helped me connect with other faculty across the university to talk through issues and share ideas. The CELT team were great guides. They have developed considerable expertise around AI and kept up with the current tools and applications in teaching and learning."
Fall 2026 cohort by the numbers
The new cohort includes 18 faculty members from 13 colleges and 17 departments. Participants span disciplines including engineering, biology, neuroscience, social work, art, public health, and dentistry.
Faculty in the cohort include: Becky Alley and Sophia Farmer (School of Art and Visual Studies); Molly Blasing (Modern & Classical Languages); Joe Dvorak (Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering); Fan Gao (Kinesiology & Health Promotion); Jessica Houlihan (Dietetics & Human Nutrition); Michael Hovish (Chemical & Materials Engineering); Marc Kiviniemi (Epidemiology & Environmental Health); Anita Lee-Post (Marketing & Supply Chain); Shelby Oberst (Oral Diagnosis, Oral Medicine, & Oral Radiology); Jennifer Osterhage (Biology); Johné Parker (Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering); Kristen Platt (Neuroscience); Praneel Samanta (Mathematics); John Schultz (Anthropology); Amanda Slone (School of Information Science); Liz Utterback (College of Social Work); and Andy Williford (Physician Assistant Studies).
For educators seeking similar guidance, CELT's program represents a structured model for building AI for Education skills within a higher-education setting. Faculty can also explore a dedicated AI Learning Path for Teachers for practical, field-tested approaches.
Why this matters for general education professionals
For professionals in general and higher education, this institute provides a replicable framework for teaching AI literacy to colleagues. The core takeaway is that effective AI integration isn't about tools - it's about creating safe spaces for faculty to learn, experiment, and share what works with peers across departments. CELT's model shows that structured faculty support, not just technology training, is what drives actual classroom change.
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