MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University invites the campus community to the official launch of the Grad-AI initiative, a university-wide effort focused on advancing applied, ethical AI integration across graduate programs at MTSU.

The kickoff event will be held from 2 to 3 p.m. Thursday, April 30, in Room 105 of the School of Concrete and Construction Management Building. 

Provost Mark Byrnes and David Butler, vice provost of research and dean of the College of Graduate Studies, will provide a strategic overview of MTSU’s AI evolution in research and teaching, followed by Racha El Kadiri, associate dean of the College of Graduate Studies, who will share information about faculty support, and a cross-disciplinary faculty panel about applied AI in practice and what that looks like in graduate education.

Panelists include Josh Phillips, Computer Science; John Wallin, Physics and Astronomy; Paul Griswold, Media Arts; Carter Smith, Criminal Justice Administration; Sam Zaza, Information Systems and Analytics; Keith Gamble, Economics and Finance; and Rajah Smart, College of Education.

“Grad-AI brings together efforts across colleges to support meaningful AI engagement in teaching and student preparation,” said El Kadiri, who’s also an associate professor of hydrology in the Geosciences Department. “The initiative also introduces a Grad-AI course designation, which will appear in the catalog and schedule, informing students and employers how our graduate programs are adapting to AI across disciplines.”

The mission of the initiative is to “prepare graduate students across all disciplines with applied, ethical, and discipline-relevant AI capabilities that support career readiness and long-term professional adaptability.”

Organizers emphasize that Grad-AI is not limited to tech fields and is designed for all graduate disciplines, including the humanities, social sciences, education, sciences, and professional programs. Faculty stipends from $1,000 to $3,000 for AI integration will be available for qualifying applications.

El Kadiri previewed the Grad-AI launch recently as a speaker and panelist at this year’s Tech Vision conference at the Miller Education Center.

“AI is already shaping how we work, create, and solve problems across disciplines, from healthcare and business to media, science, and beyond,” she told attendees. “At MTSU, we recognize this is not a passing trend, but structural shifts, potentially comparable in scale to the rise of the internet and how it reshaped society. However, what we often emphasize in conversation about AI is job displacement. What is discussed less frequently is the scale of the new roles and opportunities it is expected to create.”

El Kadiri cited the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, which projected that about 92 million jobs would be displaced globally by 2030, while roughly 170 million new roles are expected to emerge, resulting in a net positive shift in the global workforce. 

“Our responsibility is to prepare our students to be on the right side of that transition, not only fluent in AI, but able to work with it, evaluate its outputs, and use it to amplify their impact. That is where universities today have a responsibility, but also an opportunity,” she said.

Learn more about MTSU’s Grad-AI initiative at https://www.mtsu.edu/graduate/grad-ai/.

— Jimmy Hart (Jimmy.Hart@mtsu.edu)