<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3BU5pd_1Gzu6AtE00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3BU5pd_1Gzu6AtE00" width="2048" height="1365" >Portland State University has received a nearly $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Labor through the Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP). The grant funds will be used for PSU’s Project Student AI for Learning (SAIL) to “improve retention, workforce readiness and course completion,” according to a press release from the university.Project SAIL is an initiative through Student Academic and Support Services (SASS) to increase existing tutoring support in academic programs with high drop, fail and withdrawal rates and implement new coursework in artificial intelligence literacy. The grant will fund SASS resources and the development of artificial intelligence (AI) centered modules in career readiness courses to coincide with PSU’s new General Education model next fall. Students who are currently enrolled at PSU or starting before Fall 2028 will not be affected.“The first piece of Project SAIL is being able to embed more academic support in the classroom … and what we’re looking at are high enrollment gateway and high drop, fail, withdraw (DFW) courses, where we know getting that support to students in real time is really important,” said Shoshana Zeisman-Peyero, executive director of SASS.In addition to hiring another progression specialist at SASS with the grant, a new chatbot will be introduced at the course level. While PSU already has the Victor E. Bot, the goal of the new chatbot is to connect students with specialists and other resources during times of academic stress.“We wanted to have something similar [to Victor E. Bot],” Zeisman-Peyero said. “We wanted to be able to have these check-ins at the course level and say, ‘Hey, how’s it going?’ It will probably be more targeted than that, but if a student responds, if it is a content-related issue they’re having, we will connect them with an embedded tutor.”In a proposal submitted to the Department of Education, PSU wrote that it has experienced a 17% decrease in student enrollment over the past four years. A 23.7% DFW rate in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and business courses has prevented low-income and first-generation students from accessing career pathways that earn higher wages.“Think about your fellow students that are in class and also work, or have families, and don’t have the time to also be a student and to be able to seek out all the resources,” Zeisman-Peyero said. “And so what we’re trying to do is respond to that by embedding that chatbot at the course level, and then having a human respond by connecting you with a progression specialist or embedded tutor.”In 2026, the SIP particularly focused on the AI Literacy Framework outlined by the Department of Labor in a Training and Employment Notice to Institutions of Higher Education in February. The proposal submitted by PSU stated that the university will implement six “credit-bearing AI literacy modules” that build “student competencies in algorithmic bias identification, ethical prompt engineering, and data privacy” in STEM and business courses.“Throughout this grant, we have set aside resources for faculty stipends to help develop and create those [AI literacy] modules that we can put in the career readiness courses that will start to get rolled out with the new general education model that is coming down the pipe,” Zeisman-Peyero said.According to Zeisman-Peyero, many students attend PSU for socioeconomic mobility, which has led the university to identify the changing skills employers are seeking in recent graduates. Understanding the basics of AI eases some of that stress.“Fundamentally, this grant is not trying to replace any jobs with AI, but we are hoping to give students some baseline AI competencies for the workforce, and that’s it,” Zeisman-Peyero said. The Project SAIL webpage, which is still in development, acts as a resource for PSU students inquiring about AI at the university, according to Iris De Lis, assistant director of academic testing services. There, students can find guides on AI, the AI tools that are available and an FAQ page answering common questions about PSU and AI.“We agreed that the site would be the starting place for students who are curious about AI at PSU,” De Lis said. “What is allowed, what tools are available from the university, what are the expectations around AI at PSU, what conversations are being had [and] what policy documents have been published. That site is kind of a one-stop for all of that, and that was in planning before the grant.”Alongside new coursework and academic support, PSU is developing resources to help students navigate AI’s growing ubiquity. “AI is just increasingly compulsorily present in our students’ lives … but we just want to take what we’ve been doing to the next level and say, ‘How can this be a net positive for our students?’ De Lis said. “The best way that [students] can ensure that they’re making informed decisions, and maybe even avoiding AI use, is knowing where it shows up and how it works.”</div></body>

Block Source: psuvanguard.com

Misinformation

Clickbait

Old or repetitive news

Explicit content

Location not relevant

Portland State University has received a nearly $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Labor through the Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP). The grant funds will be used for PSU’s Project Student AI for Learning (SAIL) to “improve retention, workforce readiness and course completion,” according to a press release from the university.

PSU gets $3 million for AI

NewsBreak

Portland State University has received a nearly $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Labor through the Strengt

PSU gets $3 million for AI

Comments