According to a news release this week, the establishment of the National Applied Artificial Intelligence Consortium (NAAIC) will be a joint effort between Miami Dade College, Houston Community College (HCC) and Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) to build a community of educators and industry leaders, as well as a repository of resources on applied and responsible AI.
The National Science Foundation (NSF), which issued a $2.8 million grant for the project, said in the award abstract that an estimated 50 percent of businesses have adopted AI since 2022. This rapid adoption will require the entire workforce to learn new skills, the website says.
“AI is integral to our nation's industries — from health care and finance to manufacturing and education — and so are the technicians trained to support the growing demand for AI expertise,” Rosalyn Hobson Hargraves, Miami Dade College's division director for undergraduate education, said in a public statement.
According to language in the award abstract, the NAAIC will train or hire faculty to teach about AI in two-year colleges. It will also build technician-level AI courses, certificates and degree programs for those faculty to use.
To inform the NAAIC educational resources, consortium members will form a team of tech professionals to identify the ever-evolving knowledge and skills that will be required of workforce-ready graduates.
Big names in the tech industry have already started lending advice, according to the news release. Intel, AWS, Microsoft, Dell, IBM and NVIDIA, among others, will continue to provide AI resources to schools in the consortium through the Business and Industry Leadership Team.
NSF issued the grant through its Advanced Technical Education program, which supports education for high-technology fields that drive the U.S. economy, with a special focus on two-year institutions. In fiscal year 2025, the program expects to fund new awards totaling $69 million.
Houston Community College Chancellor Margaret Ford Fisher said in a public statement that the consortium is a continuation of the school’s commitment to prepare students for tech jobs. In 2020, HCC was the first community college in Texas to launch an AI associate degree program, and in 2023, the school was the first in the nation to launch a Bachelor of Applied Technology degree in AI and robotics.
Similarly, the Maricopa County Community College District started an AI associate degree program in 2020 thanks to a partnership with Intel.
“Collaboration among the three institutions will allow us to bridge the AI skills gap and develop transformative learning opportunities for our students,” Steven Gonzales, chancellor of MCCCD, said in a public statement. “By embedding advanced AI training into our curriculum, MCCCD will equip the next generation of professionals with the experience needed to drive innovation and spur economic growth, creating both a national and global impact.”
