The strategic and responsible integration of AI is a signature priority of the Office of the Provost. By deploying AI as an accelerant, WashU will drive academic innovation within and across disciplines, deepen teaching and learning, and create impact in our region.
To fully integrate AI into the teaching, research and regional missions of WashU, balance is essential.
We must prepare graduates to deploy world-leading creative technologies for field-specific applications and protect them against over-reliance and mental shortcuts. We must accelerate discovery with advanced tools and protect research integrity. We must build appropriate governance and empower experimentation in our community. And in doing all this, we must act as a valuable partner to our region.
This work will also require adaptive operating capacity across the research and educational enterprise. We will proceed through rapid experimentation, tolerance for iteration, and the willingness to pivot based on technology evolution and the responsible use of resources.
Faculty Leadership
Provost West has prioritized faculty leadership by appointing Betsy Sinclair as Vice Provost of Innovation and Nathan Jacobs as Vice Provost of AI. Along with insights and perspectives of the faculty community, they have led the AI initiative since January 2026.
Progress
The WashU Board of Trustees approved the Provost’s AI strategy in December 2025. In the months that followed, the faculty-led initiative introduced tools, resources, and community and capacity-building opportunities to the academic community.
The collaborative efforts of DI2, CTL, and WUIT resulted in:
AI Literacy Module Launch
A foundational learning module was introduced to provide students with a shared understanding of effective and ethical AI use.
- More than 1,000 undergraduate students completed the AI Literacy module, resulting in increased confidence in using AI effectively and ethically. Of those who completed the pre/post survey, students cited a 30% increase in their understanding of the responsible use policy and a 32% increase in their confidence to evaluate AI outputs for accuracy and bias. 99% of students reported they understand the WashU AI responsible use policy.
AI Curriculum Corps (AICC) Pilot
A signature program that enabled faculty to redesign courses and assignments to thoughtfully incorporate or critically examine generative AI tools.
- The AICC pilot engaged 82 faculty across eight schools, resulting in the creation of 55 new assignments and 23 new courses. The initial AICC offering was well received with 95% of faculty reporting they would recommend the program to a colleague. Thanks to the AICC experience, 86% of faculty reported they were moderately or very confident about integrating AI into their teaching in ways that are effective.
Regional Impact
Made possible by a Spark grant, the AI Curriculum Corps (AICC) hosted local K-12 teachers and ISP partners, with the goal of responsibly adapting the lessons developed through the AICC to a K-12 context in ways that are developmentally appropriate.
Digital Transformation Research Corps (DTRC) Expansion
The ten-week summer program paired student developers with faculty PIs to accelerate AI-driven research projects.
- The 2026 DTRC cohort supported 21 research projects involving 46 faculty PIs and more than 50 student developers.
Community Engagement
Held in March, AI Perspectives Week featured 12 curated events, including an Assembly Series talk by Nicholas Thompson, to foster dialogue on the prospects and perils of AI.
- ~1,000 members of the WashU community joined the conversation about AI and higher education.
AI Technology Use: Initial Rollout of Enterprise Tools
Throughout the ’26 spring semester, a suite of enterprise tools was introduced (Gemini Edu, Chat GPT Edu, Claude Edu). Between Jan – June, more than 5,800 faculty and students (undergraduate and graduate) actively used the available tools. This total represents 15% of the faculty community, 13% of the undergraduate student body, and 13% of the graduate student body who actively used the initial tech offering between Jan -June.
Faculty Engagement
Faculty Insight Groups were established to provide feedback and shape the initiative’s future direction.
- More than 150 faculty engaged in insight groups and participated in pilot programming.
Plans
In FY27, WashU will scale pilot programming, expand offerings, and build institutional capability and reputation.
Prioritized activities will:
- Build fluency: Completion of the AI Literacy module is required for all AY26-27 incoming students, and a new AI Fluency module will be introduced for deeper engagement. Learning modules will also be offered to graduate and medical students.
- Expand access to tools: WashU will provide subsidized, frictionless access to a suite of advanced tools, with Claude EDU as the preferred platform for general and specialized research needs.
- Build community: Scheduled for September 17–30, 2026, AI Perspectives Week will offer more than 30 events from partners across both campuses and will feature notable external speakers such as Eric Horvitz (Microsoft) and Shiv Rao (Abridge). WashU will offer forums for connection and capacity building through communities of practice.
- Hire field-leading talent: Coordinated investment over three years will recruit faculty in four key areas; (1) Agentic AI- Governance, Society, and Institutions (2) Human Values, Creative Practice, and AI (3) AI- Driven Imaging Science- Molecules to the Universe, and (4) AI for Science and Engineering- Modeling the Physical World.
- Create regional impact: Funded through the NSF FINDERS foundry award, collaboration between DI2 and the Institute for School Partnerships will focus on supporting K-12 teachers to plan lessons that connect ideas across different school subjects.
- Provide governance: The AI Governance Committee, co-chaired by Philip Payne and Betsy Sinclair, will develop a comprehensive and dynamic AI policy framework, based upon a durable set of principles.