Loyola's AI Playbook: Practical Moves Educators Can Use Right Now
Since AI entered Loyola's academic integrity statement in 2023, the university has treated it like a core skill, not a passing trend. New minors launched in fall 2025, a student-led Loyola AI Society (LAIS) took shape, an AI lab opened, and Microsoft Copilot rolled out to students. The Learning Technologies and Innovation team also published a Generative AI Feature Catalog to clarify what tools the school funds.
The goal is simple: help students and faculty work smarter, reduce routine work, and build real familiarity with AI they'll see in the workplace.
Institution-wide tools and support
Loyola introduced Microsoft Copilot for students to summarize, refine, and analyze content, with ITS hosting February webinars on using it well. A central service like this gives faculty a consistent, secure base to experiment and teach from.
The university framed it clearly: Copilot is a way to explore AI in a supported and responsible way across coursework, research, and operations. That positioning matters for adoption. If helpful, review Microsoft's overview of Copilot for education contexts here: Microsoft Copilot.
Curriculum that signals employability
Loyola launched two minors in fall 2025: an artificial intelligence minor and a business of applied AI minor. Enrollment hit fast-62 students in the business track at rollout-driven by the sense that AI skills translate into jobs.
"It's just having a massive impact on business jobs and careers," said Steven Keith Platt, executive lecturer for applied AI and director of the Lab for Applied AI, which also launched in 2025. "My students come out with that AI minor - it really distinguishes them from a lot of other business students."
Student proof: skills that show up in interviews
Third-year finance major Jonathan Takyi worked in the Lab for Applied AI, then added the business of applied AI minor. Interviewers noticed. He built a daily AI agent workflow on Gemini to pull news, weather, local crime updates, and market data-real output, not theory.
"Once you truly understand the art and the science between how AI actually works, you could truly use it to your advantage in every single thing you do," Takyi said.
Guardrails and evidence of learning
Platt pushes ethics and first-principles thinking. Before Takyi started in the lab, he had to read a book on AI ethics. In class, AI is required-so is proving you actually know the material, often through handproofs.
"Just because you use ChatGPT doesn't make you an AI expert," Platt said. That's a useful standard: use the tool, then show the work.
Broadening access beyond computer science
Computer science chair George Thiruvathukal helped push two minors (AI and business of applied AI) and is backing a new minor for fall 2026: "artificial intelligence and human flourishing," a joint program between computer science and philosophy. It's a path for humanities students to gain technical literacy while studying ethical and responsible AI.
In the School of Communication, adjunct professor Sophie Vodvarka teaches Ethics and Communication and focuses on decision-making. She doesn't require AI in assignments but wants students confident in choosing how and when to use it. The aim: independent judgment, not dependence.
Student leadership and culture
LAIS, led by students like vice president of operations Cordelia De La Fuente (neuroscience major, business of applied AI minor), is building a bridge between AI and business. "It's not really going to replace you, but somebody who knows how to use it is going to replace you," she said.
De La Fuente's stance is healthy: use AI as an assistant, not a crutch.
Ethics baked into the requirements
The business of applied AI minor includes Ethics in Business. The AI minor includes Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues in Computing. "That AI business ethics class is probably the most important one," De La Fuente said. "Knowing how to use it in an ethical context, where you can make a decision knowing what the implications are, is huge."
Environmental tradeoffs
AI runs on data centers, and that energy footprint is growing. Platt acknowledged the impact and the rising electricity costs, while noting it's outside his specialty. The sector is pursuing cleaner energy, with nuclear often cited as a hopeful path.
For a broader view on energy use in data centers, see this overview from the IEA: IEA: Data centres and data transmission networks.
What you can apply on your campus
- Adopt a secure, supported AI assistant (e.g., Copilot) with clear usage guidance and opt-in pilots.
- Publish a living "AI Feature Catalog" that lists approved tools, data use, and support contacts.
- Require an ethics course in every AI-focused track and reference it across disciplines.
- Assess students with "proof beyond prompts": oral checks, handproofs, error analyses, and audit trails.
- Stand up an AI lab for cross-major projects tied to real workflows and employer needs.
- Back a student society to run peer workshops, demos, and portfolio nights.
- Offer short webinars for faculty on prompt strategy, rubric design, and academic integrity updates.
- Create on-ramps for non-CS majors (business, humanities, comms) with applied, ethical outcomes.
Tools Loyola funds today
The Generative AI Feature Catalog lists tools the university pays for: Gradescope, Minitab, NVIVO, Elai, Piazza, Turnitin, and Zoom. A simple index like this reduces friction for faculty and students and clarifies what's supported.
If you're building faculty or staff capability
If you need structured upskilling for specific roles or departments, curated directories can save time. One place to start: AI courses by job.
Bottom line: Loyola is treating AI like literacy. Access to tools, clear ethics, hands-on proof of skill, and visible student leadership. That combination scales.
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