Technology Services at the College of Staten Island was recently honored with an Education Experience (EdX) Award from the Center for Digital Education (CDE) for two innovations: their in-house chatbot and AI training module.

According to CDE, these inaugural awards honor “11 public K-12 and higher education institutions using technology to improve how students learn, families access services, and educators support student success.”

Brian Cohen, CDE Vice President, commented that “These projects show what is possible when technology decisions start with the needs of students, educators, and families. At a time when schools and colleges face growing demands, limited resources, and increasing expectations, these winners are finding ways to make education work better for the people they serve. Their achievements deserve recognition not simply because they’re innovative, but because they’re delivering results that other institutions can learn from.”

In discussing the AI Training Module, Patricia Kahn, PhD, AVP and CIO for Information Technology Services at CSI, laid out the history by pointing to the formation of an AI Task Force, consisting of faculty, administrators, researchers, librarians, and instructional designers, providing knowledge and expertise to tackle a number of challenges posed by AI. According to Dr. Kahn, these issues include “rapid adoption of AI tools across disciplines; development of chatbots for student and academic support; concerns for academic integrity, critical thinking, policy, governance, and AI literacy; and [the need for] a more fluid and interactive environment to capture the opportunities and challenges associated with AI especially in the teaching and learning environment.”

The new LinkedIn AI Module will allow faculty to better understand generative AI, evaluate AI outputs, develop course policies, design AI-resilient assignments, apply ethical AI practices, and access ongoing resources. One of the critical goals, according to Dr. Kahn is to use AI “to support, not replace teaching.”

Joyce Taylor, Director of Web and Application Development at CSI Technology Services, explained the chatbot, the first-ever developed by a CUNY college, noting that “We developed multiple chatbots on the CSI website, which include the Registrar, Financial Aid, Bursar, Admissions, and the Academic directories to better assist visitors coming to the site for information. Since the first release, we added a chatbot for the IT Helpdesk and the next section is Student Life. Also, we implemented multilingual support.”

When asked why she believed these two innovations were selected by CDE for recognition, Dr. Kahn said, “The chatbot adds to the AI ecosystem and provided for a significant cost savings to the College at $20,000 annually. The CSI LinkedIn AI Module offers a scalable, sustainable framework for AI integration in public higher education. This project is a holistic approach to the question of AI within academia. Our Task Force is leveraging assets that are available as an open educational resource to be made available across higher educational institutions. The project is designed for long-term sustainability through integration with existing institutional infrastructure, including LinkedIn Learning, faculty for professional development programming, and ongoing AI Task Force initiatives. Because the modules are asynchronous and designed for broad institutional use, the materials may continue to be updated and expanded as AI technologies, institutional policies, and instructional practices evolve. The project also establishes a foundation for future student-facing AI literacy modules and broader instructional resource development across CUNY.”

Reacting to the news of CSI’s two EdX Awards, Dr. Kahn underscored CUNY’s significant investments in AI initiatives and the groundwork it has laid to encourage its colleges to adopt the technology. She added, “To be recognized for the hard work the Task Force and IT programmers performed in order to establish an AI ecosystem for the College is amazing. Not to mention that we are in the same playing field as Columbia feels amazing.”

By Terry Mares