No-cost artificial-intelligence training available to faculty, staff, and students through the HawkAI program is helping people like Marissa Green-Francescon take their work in new directions. 

Green-Francescon, assistant director of institutional research and assessment for the Office of Assessment, credits the program with enriching her perspective on analytical AI, in particular. 

“The HawkAI 105 course helped me think of new ways to use machine learning, and I’m looking forward to building on this knowledge in Level 2 courses this spring,” she says. “It could help us find ways to identify students who need extra support in specific majors and courses.”  

The HawkAI curriculum is a project of the Iowa Initiative for Artificial Intelligence (IIAI). It aims to build an AI-ready talent pool, no experience required. 

Enrollees can complete individual short courses or finish a sequence and earn a certificate. The Level 1 sequence launched last fall, focusing on generative AI—tools to create text, images, computer code, and other content—and ethical considerations. 

“We cover foundations of generative and analytical AI in a way that’s accessible to a broad audience,” says Milan Sonka, professor of electrical and computer engineering and IIAI director. “Level 1 courses aim to elevate AI understanding across the university.” 

The Level 2 courses first offered this spring delve into machine learning (ML) methods especially valuable in data-driven research. Level 3, which will debut later this year, targets enrollees with technical backgrounds who want to develop AI/ML methods and applications. The IIAI also offers experiential courses that connect students with researchers for practical experience on interdisciplinary projects. 

So far, HawkAI has drawn more than 1,200 participants and awarded 553 certificates, says Manda Marshall, AI Support Team manager for ITS Enterprise Services.  

Her team helps develop the courses and supports instructors during online sessions, fielding questions about ethics, use cases, specific tools, and other topics. They also manage course enrollment in partnership with Learning and Development, a unit of University Human Resources. 

The program recognizes the rapid pace of change in AI and the ethical questions it can raise. “We expose participants to different tools but try to focus on enterprise-supported services like Microsoft Copilot that everyone can access,” Marshall says. “We emphasize data security and privacy, as well as ethical considerations for different contexts.”  

Attracting both curious novices and seasoned users, HawkAI is one element in a plan to expand AI-driven research and graduate students schooled in AI/ML methods. Sonka points out that the university’s AI/ML research portfolio is steadily growing. 

“In the past five years, the IIAI has supported more than 80 interdisciplinary pilot projects, many of which have yielded grant submissions and external funding,” he says. “We want to prepare researchers for the AI/ML era, and the HawkAI courses are bringing the entire university community closer to that goal.” 

Green-Francescon encourages campus colleagues interested in AI to consider the program. 

“I suggest having a clear goal about what you want to learn and how you might apply it,” she says. “Enrolling and attending the courses is easy, but you will get more out of the experience if you know what you want to achieve.”