SC State students shine in artificial intelligence conference at MIT Innovation Headquarters

 

ORANGEBURG, S.C. – Four South Carolina State University computer science and cybersecurity students participated in a recent national artificial intelligence (AI) conference at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Tellajah Jon'Nae Chalk, Chester, South Carolina; Dierra Jasmine Haynes, Orangeburg; Keshawn Jamal Burns,  Graniteville, South Carolina; and Joshua Jiles Taylor, Columbia were selected to attend “AI & Education: Inclusive Innovation for Student Success.”

The conference was a chance for the students to network with industry leaders and peers while discussing AI and its emerging capabilities and ethical standards that must be considered in using the technology.

“Part of our mission is to give our students the best tools to make an impact, and that includes the ability to build their professional networks while they are still enrolled,”  SC State President Alexander Conyers said. “Our students can hold their own with any students in the country given the right opportunities and motivation.

“Ms. Chalk, Ms. Haynes, Mr. Burns and Mr. Taylor represented the power of an SC State education at a national level during this conference,” he said. “They certainly made us proud beyond measure.”

SC State is designated as an Academic Center of Excellence in Cyber Defense Education for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency. The program is led by Dr. Nikunja Swain, chair of SC State’s Department of Computer Science and Mathematics.

The trip was coordinated by SC State’s Enrollment Management Division through its partnership with Ed Advancement. Along with Conyers, the SC State students were joined on the Nov. 14-15 trip by Dr. Manicia Finch, vice president for enrollment management; Dr. John M. Lee Jr., vice president for institutional advancement; and Matthew Wade, admissions counselor.

Upon learning about the event, Finch immediately advocated for the participation of the students and other team members.

“Because SC State is a designated Academic Center of Excellence, I knew our students needed to be represented and have a voice during this discussion,” Finch said. “The students and Dr. Swain were so excited that they were chosen they selected a five-hour course for the students to take prior to the event to ensure they felt comfortable amongst Harvard and MIT professionals.”

The conference explored where generative AI could lead to transformative improvements in teaching and learning, student support, and career access and success. It also addressed such critical topics as mitigating bias, lack of access, and governance challenges. By working together, educational leaders and students can shape AI-based innovations to focus on the needs of under-resourced students and institutions.

At the MIT Innovation Headquarters, Conyers was featured in the panel discussion, “Ready or Not, Here AI Comes: Building Tech Readiness for AI-enabled Insights.” The panel shared lessons from two institutions and what precursors to AI are necessary for institutional readiness.

The panel’s concept:

• When cell phones proliferated globally, some countries used the new technology as a way to leapfrog. They skipped the arduous process of running copper phone lines across the landscape and went right to a mobile-enabled age. It may be possible for the same to happen with higher education when it comes to student support technologies.
• AI-enabled analytics that take in data from myriad on- and off-campus sources can help with student recruitment, persistence, and graduation. But leapfrogging doesn’t mean skipping investments in infrastructure completely, it just means jumping right to the most modern ones.
• For higher education, this includes digitizing any remaining analog processes, developing a data lake or similar structure to combine data sources, and creating the guardrails and governance systems to protect it.  

 
The conference was sponsored by Ed Advancement in collaboration with Axim Collaborative, Berkman Klein Center, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Khan Academy, MIT Media Lab, and MIT Open Learning.