AI + AU: How Alvernia is incorporating the technology
Alvernia’s implementation of artificial intelligence aims to teach students to think critically about the technology while producing graduates prepared for the future of work.
Pope Leo XIV commanded attention in May when he published his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, in which he laid out the importance of making artificial intelligence “human-friendly and restoring it to the plurality of human cultures and ways of life.” As a Franciscan university, Alvernia is heeding the advice.
“Our goal is not AI adoption for every student, it’s AI literacy for every graduate,” said Chief Academic Officer and Provost Mary Ellen Wells, JD, LLM. “We want students to think critically about AI rather than simply consume it.”
But just because the university is implementing it with care doesn’t mean it is taking it lightly. Just a few examples already in place:
- AI is integrated into all Computer Science and Technology programs.
- Over a dozen other courses have AI components, heavily involve AI or focus on AI as a concept when discussing the human mind and brain.
- Ashlee, Alvernia’s AI recruiter, allows the university’s admissions teams to engage with a significantly larger pool of prospective students, providing 24/7 communication.
“We don’t have to make AI the center of the student experience, but we can’t pretend it doesn’t exist,” Wells said. “Our goal is to help students develop the judgment, critical thinking, and ethical reasoning that will help them decide when AI should be used, when it shouldn’t, and how it can be used responsibly.”
A newly formed AI committee will aid in that cause, according to Alvernia President Glynis A. Fitzgerald, Ph.D.
“Universities have a responsibility to lead thoughtful conversations about emerging technologies,” Fitzgerald said. “This committee will bring together faculty and staff from across disciplines and functions to shape a shared vision for how we embrace AI — ethically, responsibly and with humanity at the center. Rather than approaching AI one department at a time, we are creating a university-wide conversation about how this technology can strengthen
teaching, learning, research and service while ensuring people remain at the heart of every decision.”
While AI is most prominent in Alvernia’s Computer Science and Technology majors — artificial intelligence, data science and cybersecurity — its implementation throughout the university’s curriculum goes beyond the technical side, according to David Shoup, Ph.D., dean of the College of Innovation, Discovery and Enterprise.
“The future of work is not one in which people are simply replaced by AI; rather, it is one in which individuals who understand how to use AI effectively will be better positioned to succeed,” Shoup said. “Students must learn not only how to leverage AI tools, but also how to contribute the creativity, critical thinking, empathy and ethical reasoning that machines cannot replicate.”
Changing Perception
AI’s critics condemn its environmental impact and its role in the spread of disinformation. But it isn’t wise to simply take the position that AI is bad,
according to Wells.
“There are elements to AI that have negative impacts, but you can’t put the genie back in the bottle. It’s out,” she said. “Producing graduates who don’t have an understanding of how AI is shaping their professions, industries, and communities they serve doesn’t make sense.”
It’s also helpful to view AI not as a tool but as a system, according to Professor of Philosophy Bongrae Seok, Ph.D. In November, Seok presented at the AI-themed 8th World Humanities Forum in Andong, South Korea, discussing the prospects of AI advancing to the point where it can be considered a moral agent, an entity capable of discerning right from wrong and being held accountable for its choices.
“If we understand AI simply from the perspective of a machine, then we may deal with some problems, because it is not just a machine,” Seok said. “AI is a nonliving thing but it’s part of our society. We make decisions together. We need to change our perception and follow certain types of observation and understanding so we put AI in the right spot in our system and plan ahead to deal with any issues.”
Ashlee
Not only is AI being incorporated into current students’ academic journeys, it’s also helping to recruit future students. Working with the CollegeVine platform, Alvernia’s admissions teams curated Ashlee. The multilingual AI recruiter streamlines the recruiting process, increasing the pool of students to cultivate.
“Ashlee provided the ability to connect with students at a scale that was previously not possible with existing staff capacity,” said Associate Vice President of Admissions Bret Krotee.
Ashlee’s knowledge database was built through conversations with staff and faculty and hundreds of webpages uploaded to an online vault. The admissions teams manage the system by adding contact populations to the database, creating custom “missions” that determine which students are contacted and what type of communication they receive. The impact has been significant, most notably during the hours of the day that had been an issue due to lack of staffing.
“Approximately 66% of interactions occur outside normal business hours,” said Krotee, who noted that Alvernia’s AI advancements were spotlighted in an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. “Since implementation, the AI recruiter has delivered more than 550,000 emails and placed over 65,000 phone calls.”
Keeping Them Honest
As with every other technological advance, AI is raising concerns about the potential for students to have work performed for them. Wells believes the way to minimize that is to focus on offerings that AI can’t replicate while reiterating to students that cutting corners now will paint them into a corner later.
“Education is about developing capabilities, not simply learning a credential. Getting that credential without the development of capabilities and relying on AI does not support them later on when they’re working and need to think critically, problem-solve and be good citizens,” Wells said. “We’ve always been an experiential learning institution, so we’re leveraging that as much as possible to enhance student learning along with more writing, internships and apprenticeships.”
AI can make mistakes, Seok says. So it’s imperative to teach students to double-check any answer obtained from AI, often achieved by asking more questions.
“We need to ask the right kind of questions,” he said. “And not just once, but several times. Let the AI run its reasoning but ask follow-up questions. Make your questions sharp and really clear so you get the answer that you want. Otherwise, AI’s just throwing out some generic answers.” Professor of History Kevin Donnelly, Ph.D., is less concerned about students using AI to cheat than he is about the homogenized content it produces when they use it to
help them write a paper or email.
Donnelly recently released “The Descent of Artificial Intelligence: A Deep History of an Idea 400 Years in the Making.” In the book, Donnelly traces AI’s origins to 17th century Europe, where mechanical philosophy imagined that humans were subject to scientific understanding, and that experiments, quantification and scientific methods could be applied to people. The book, published by the University of Pittsburgh Press, was named one of 2025’s Outstanding Academic Titles in the Technology, AI, and Misinformation category by the American Library Association.
“What’s so striking is the slopification of everything,” he said. “It’s just so incredibly boring. And it takes away one of the great joys of learning and education. People will say, ‘Well, I’m just going to use AI to create my outline,’ but creating the outline is a creative act. You don’t know what you’re writing until you’ve scripted the outline yourself. It just doesn’t create a real opportunity for individual human creativity, which is the whole point.”
Serving, Not Replacing
As technology continues to evolve at breakneck speed, Alvernia’s goal is to equip students with the adaptability and foundational understanding needed to thrive in whatever comes next.
“By fostering both technical proficiency and a mindset of continuous learning, we ensure that our graduates remain well-positioned to pivot alongside future developments and lead in the next phase of AI innovation and adoption,” Shoup said.
Because the goal for AI, like all technology, should be to serve people, not replace them, according to Wells.
“Human dignity can be enhanced by technology, because it enables people to focus on the work that requires judgment, creativity and human connection while AI supports certain routine tasks,” Wells said. “AI creates new possibilities, but our values are what guide how we use it and ensure it serves people rather than the other way around."