Jefferson to Launch AI Modules for Students and Colleagues

Artificial intelligence will permeate all facets of life in the future. Jefferson has the responsibility to ensure students understand AI’s potential and risks and, importantly, how they will use the tool in their careers, says University President Dr. Susan Aldridge.

“Where else will they get honest, credible opportunities to test, try and experiment with AI?” she says. “This is our role. We won’t be reticent, but we will lead with a healthy skepticism around the ethical challenges and the potential for bias based on the data sources used to build the algorithms.”   

Programs across the University—from fashion design technology to nursing to radiation oncology—already feature AI in the coursework, and Dr. Aldridge anticipates that all Jefferson colleges will soon incorporate AI into their curricula.

“We’re going to lead ahead of the change,” she says, noting the University launched four AI-centric programs last year: MS in Business Analytics, MS in Data Analytics, MS in Computational Biology and Medicine and AI in Health Analytics Leadership Advanced Practice Certificate.

Plus, the College of Population Health will offer an MS in Health AI this fall to prepare students to responsibly leverage AI to solve clinical problems, improve outcomes and increase healthcare efficiency.

Now comes the next step in Jefferson’s embrace of AI. This semester, the University will launch two free optional online modules on AI basics for all students and, eventually, colleagues.

“I wanted to create a springboard,” Dr. Aldridge says. “Everyone is curious about AI.”

That includes Dr. Billy Oglesby, Jefferson’s associate provost for strategic initiatives. Until about a year ago, he remained skeptical of AI, calling out its accuracy and dubbing it a “glorified copy-and-paste machine.”

Then, this past summer, he immersed himself in AI, soaking up all he could about the technology and its exponential growth.

“The field is now light-years ahead of where it was,” says Dr. Oglesby, the Humana Dean of the College of Population Health. “If you use it the right way, it’s highly reliable and accurate and extremely useful in a variety of cases. It has passed my test. AI is no longer hype.”

He’s leading the charge in rolling out the online AI modules to the Jefferson community. The two student programs, which should take about 30 minutes each to complete on Canvas, will explore the basics of AI—including terminology—and then take a deeper dive into large language models (LLMs), such as Microsoft Copilot.

The modules will guide users on prompt engineering—the practice of crafting clear, specific instructions to get the best possible results from an AI system.

“If you understand how LLMs work, you’re in a better position to know what inputs to use to make sure what you get out is accurate and what you’re actually looking for,” Dr. Oglesby says.

Similar foundational courses will be designed for colleagues, providing a universal introduction to AI fundamentals while embracing a nimble, forward-facing approach to preparing students for the future of work.

More modules will be added over time, but first, the University will collect feedback to see what students and colleagues found most useful to guide future content, says Dr. Oglesby, adding Jefferson’s “all-in approach” to AI differs from other schools.

“We’re offering fundamental introductory content at the university level, while simultaneously our colleges are creating content at the program level and standalone degree programs in AI,” he says. “Other colleges tend to do one of these. For us, it’s a full strategy.”

Dr. Oglesby wants Jefferson students to be ready for the future of work and to distinguish themselves from other students competing for the same jobs by demonstrating their fluency in AI.

While some universities have opted for a more cautious, go-slow approach with AI, Jefferson plans to lead the discussions, Dr. Aldridge stresses.

“We’re very much aligned with industry—that’s why 98% of our recent graduates are employed or enrolled in graduate school,” she says. “We need to prepare our students. We want them to contribute from a knowledge perspective to employers and be able to say, ‘We studied AI at Thomas Jefferson University. We have some ideas about how we can use it in an ethical, responsible way for the future.’”