National Applied AI Consortium

Three years ago, few people would have bet that a community college could help someone land a job in AI. On the latest episode of The Ongoing Transformation from Issues in Science and Technology, NAAIC Founder Antonio Delgado Fornaguera joins host Sara Frueh to talk about why that bet is paying off. "It's applied AI. You don't need an advanced degree," Antonio says. "You come to learn skills, and then you can go back to apply those skills." Antonio traces how Miami Dade College's applied AI associate degree grew from about 30 students in its first class to nearly 2,000 learners last academic year. He also explains how that model, alongside parallel work at Houston City College and Maricopa Community Colleges, became the foundation for NAAIC: a national consortium helping any community college build applied AI pathways without starting from scratch. Today, NAAIC has trained more than 3,000 faculty and supported over 900 institutions nationwide. The model works. What comes next depends on whether colleges have the faculty, funding, and infrastructure to scale it. 🎧 Listen to the full episode: https://lnkd.in/ee4KDqSB #NAAIC #AppliedAI #AIWorkforce #CommunityColleges #AIEducation #WorkforceDevelopment #HigherEd #NAAICInTheNews

NAAIC turns two today, and we are so ready for our third year. In the coming year, we will:  👉 Welcome a new mentorship cohort of 16 community colleges building Applied AI programs 👉 Grow faculty professional development and industry-recognized certifications with AI leading companies 👉 Strengthen industry partnerships that bring AI into fields from manufacturing and healthcare to business and IT 👉 Develop a national dual enrollment pathways guide connecting high school students to community college and transfer 👉 Expand experiential AI learning for high school students, with a playbook to share what works nationally 👉 Host two NAAIC National AI Summits: a sold-out summit at Maricopa Community Colleges, October 14–16, and Houston City College in April 2027 That work builds on two incredible years of results. In that time, NAAIC grew from a planned set of targeted activities into national infrastructure for applied AI education. We have trained 3,597 faculty and staff from higher education, plus 671 high school teachers. We have engaged 481 community colleges through our training, mentorship and events. In Year 2 alone, our mentorship program expanded from 3 colleges to 13. Thank you to every college, educator, and partner who built this with us. We're especially grateful to Miami Dade College, the National Science Foundation (NSF), Google and Microsoft for supporting NAAIC since day one. Their investment made everything above possible. We invite foundations, companies, and philanthropic partners to invest in NAAIC's next phase, bringing applied AI education to more educators and students nationwide and helping build America's AI workforce. On to the year ahead. #NAAIC #AppliedAI #AIWorkforce #CommunityColleges #AIEducation #WorkforceDevelopment #HigherEd #K12Education

Ready to bring Generative AI and Microsoft Copilot into your daily work? NAAIC and Microsoft are hosting two free training sessions this October, one for community college staff, and another for community college faculty. Each is a 90-minute webinar combining 101 and 102 in one evening: 🤖101 (Both Staff & Faculty): Get grounded in the fundamentals of Generative AI, responsible AI use, and effective prompting techniques 🛠️102 (Staff): Apply Copilot to daily workflows, communication, and administrative tasks 💡102 (Faculty): Apply Copilot to lesson planning, curriculum design, and discipline-specific use cases Whether you're teaching in the classroom or managing the workflows that keep everything running, this is a practical way to put Copilot to work in your day-to-day. Select the session below that fits you: Community College Staff — Thursday, Oct 1, 6:30–8:00 PM ET Register: https://lnkd.in/eTRtC6fb Community College Faculty — Friday, Oct 2, 6:30–8:00 PM ET Register: https://lnkd.in/evJd6eHG #NAAIC #AppliedAI #AIWorkforce #CommunityColleges #AIEducation #MicrosoftCopilot #GenAI #GenerativeAI

We're excited to welcome 16 institutions to this year's NAAIC Institutional Mentorship Program! Over the coming year, these colleges will work alongside experienced peer mentors to develop, approve, and launch industry-aligned applied AI credentials, helping expand access to AI education and prepare students for an evolving workforce. Please join us in welcoming: 🏛️Blue Ridge Community and Technical College (WV) 🏛️Columbus State Community College (OH) 🏛️Glendale Community College (AZ) 🏛️Greenville Technical College (SC) 🏛️Guilford Technical Community College (NC) 🏛️Harper College (IL) 🏛️Lake Washington Institute of Technology (WA) 🏛️Lone Star College-North Harris (TX) 🏛️Long Beach City College (CA) 🏛️Metropolitan Community College (NE) 🏛️Metropolitan Community College-Kansas City (MO) 🏛️Northcentral Technical College (WI) 🏛️Riverside City College (CA) 🏛️Southeast Community College (NE) 🏛️UCNJ Union College of Union County, NJ (NJ) 🏛️WSU Tech - WSU Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology (KS) We're looking forward to another year of shared progress across the network! Interested in what it takes to join a future cohort? Learn more about NAAIC's Institutional Mentorship Program at naaic.ai or comment below. #NAAIC #AppliedAI #AIWorkforce #CommunityColleges #AIEducation #InstitutionalMentorship #HigherEd

Progress moves faster when institutions don't have to build alone. That's the throughline of NAAIC's 2025-2026 Institutional Mentorship Program. Over the past year, mentee colleges were paired with experienced mentor institutions to launch new AI degrees, certificates, and pathways, reaching thousands of students nationwide. Here's just a glimpse of what that mentorship made possible: 🎓NorthWest Arkansas Community College already delivered 200+ AI training badges and developed customized training for local employers 🎓Florida State College at Jacksonville already enrolled 25+ students in three brand-new AI programs 🎓Ivy Tech Community College built a statewide AI curriculum committee across all 19 campuses 🎓Laurel Ridge Community College helped secure system-wide AI course approval across Virginia's 23 community colleges 🎓Isothermal Community College already has its intro AI course adopted by business and agriculture programs, as its new AI degree launches this fall 🎓Fullerton College rolled out three new AI credentials, with a bachelor's degree in the works 🎓Moraine Park Technical College is launching four new AI courses this fall 🎓El Camino College built a new AI Practitioner certificate and already competed in the U.S. Cyber Games 🎓City Colleges of Chicago is opening a new Center for Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology 🎓Laramie County Community College built a remote-first AI program to reach students across Wyoming 🎓Grand Rapids Community College created a new Spanish-language AI certificate, with recruitment underway for its fall cohort Last year's mentorship cohort shows what's possible when colleges learn from one another instead of starting from scratch, building real momentum along the way. Read the blog for the complete story, including insights from the educators leading this work: https://lnkd.in/eVpxXkrG A new cohort of mentee colleges is about to begin their own mentorship journey. Stay tuned to see who's joining the network next. #NAAIC #AppliedAI #AIWorkforce #CommunityColleges #AIEducation #InstitutionalMentorship #HigherEd

Looking for a practical way to bring hands-on AI and data science into your courses without adding software or infrastructure costs? Join NAAIC on September 16 for a free info session featuring faculty from University of California, Berkeley to explore NSF CloudBank Classroom, a lightweight, no-cost JupyterHub platform that helps educators bring interactive, open-source AI and data science learning into the classroom while reducing financial and infrastructure barriers for students. What the session will cover: ☁️ How to use a lightweight, cloud-based JupyterHub platform without software or infrastructure costs 🎓 Insights from UC Berkeley faculty on successfully integrating NSF CloudBank Classroom into AI and data science curricula 💻 How to deploy open-source tools and hands-on modules designed to support interactive learning and student engagement 🌐 How to give students immediate browser access to high-level computing environments without complicated setup 📅 Wednesday, September 16, 2026 🕑 2:00 PM ET 💻 Zoom Explore an accessible way to expand hands-on AI and data science learning in your classroom. Register here: https://lnkd.in/eZE6DGTc #NAAIC #AppliedAI #AIWorkforce #CommunityColleges #AIEducation #DataScience #CloudBank #OpenSourceEducation

How can faculty design assessments that encourage responsible AI use while still supporting meaningful student learning? Join NAAIC's next Community of Practice on September 11 for an interactive course design walkthrough led by Ivy Tech Community College Professor Pam Schmelz. The session will unpack a ready-to-adapt course model built around Learning-Centered Assessments, alternative grading strategies, and the AI Assessment Scale. What you'll see: 👉 A shareable syllabus and weekly module structure 👉 Laboratory sequences and the course's assessment model 👉 The AI Assessment Scale in practice 👉 Structured metacognitive reflection prompts designed to support responsible AI use 👉 Practical considerations for adapting elements of the course to your own program or campus 👉 Live Q&A and implementation discussion with Professor Schmelz Attendees will also receive access to the shareable syllabus and selected instructional resources to support implementation at your own institution. 📅 Friday, September 11, 2026 🕐 1–2 PM ET 💻 Zoom Free and open to community college faculty and staff. Register here: https://lnkd.in/edNStJjY #NAAIC #ResponsibleAI #AIEducation #CommunityColleges #HigherEd #FacultyDevelopment #AlternativeGrading #CommunityOfPractice

AI isn’t just changing how cybersecurity work gets done. It’s reshaping the threat landscape itself. As an advisor to the Cisco-led AI Workforce Consortium, NAAIC collaborated on its latest spotlight report, “AI Agents and the Impact on Cybersecurity”, exploring what the rise of agentic AI means for cybersecurity, the workforce and the way we prepare future talent. Three takeaways especially relevant for educators and workforce leaders: 🛡️ The threat landscape is accelerating. Agentic AI is increasing the speed, scale and sophistication of cyber activity, expanding capabilities for both attackers and defenders. 💼 Cybersecurity roles and skills are evolving. As AI agents take on more execution, people are increasingly setting objectives and guardrails, supervising agents and remaining accountable for outcomes. 🛠️ Education must keep pace. The report calls for hands-on learning with AI-enabled tools, curricula aligned with evolving workforce needs, stronger industry connections and continuous faculty development NAAIC’s participation brings the community college perspective into these industry-led workforce conversations, helping strengthen the connection between emerging employer needs and the institutions preparing tomorrow’s talent. Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/ePT2MNug #NAAIC #AIEducation #CommunityColleges #AIWorkforce #Cybersecurity #WorkforceDevelopment #Cisco

A major step forward for AI dual enrollment: NAAIC has received new NSF funding to help turn successful local models into pathways that can scale nationwide. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded NAAIC $324,326 in supplemental funding to develop a National AI Dual Credit Pathways Playbook, creating a practical framework to help community colleges and K-12 school districts build and expand AI dual enrollment programs. In partnership with Education Strategy Group, NAAIC will build on the successful collaboration between Miami Dade College and Miami-Dade County Public Schools to develop a model institutions across the country can adapt to their own communities. The goal is to create clearer pathways that connect high school AI learning with college degrees, stackable credentials, and future workforce opportunities. And we are asking educators and institutional leaders to share their experience and perspectives as we develop this national framework. Read the full announcement and learn how to contribute to the playbook through NAAIC’s national survey: https://lnkd.in/erx8p-aN #NAAIC #AIEducation #DualEnrollment #CommunityColleges #K12Education #AIWorkforce #WorkforceDevelopment #NSF

Ready to build an AI agent you can actually use in your day-to-day work? Join NAAIC and Microsoft on August 28 for a free, hands-on workshop designed specifically for community college and high school educators and staff: Building Copilot Agents with Microsoft. During this interactive session, you’ll learn how Copilot Chat agents differ from traditional prompting, when an agent is the right tool for the task, and how to design one around real teaching, administrative, and research workflows. Using Microsoft Copilot’s Agent Builder, you’ll build, test, and refine a working agent while learning how to define its purpose, instructions, knowledge sources, tone, and guardrails. 👉 What you’ll walk away with: A working Copilot agent you built yourself A practical framework for identifying where agents can support your workflows Hands-on experience with Agent Builder you can apply immediately 📅 Friday, August 28, 2026 🕐 3:30–5:00 PM ET 📍 Microsoft Teams Free and open to community college and high school educators and staff. Register here: https://lnkd.in/ewgrCC7t #AppliedAI #AIWorkforce #CommunityColleges #AIEducation #Microsoft #Copilot #AIAgents #FacultyDevelopment #HigherEd