Associate Professors of English Travis Maynard and Li Li presented “The AI-Infused Curriculum: A Scalable Model for Integrating Generative AI across Programs” at the Association of American Colleges and Universities’ inaugural Conference on AI and Higher Education, held Oct. 28–30 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Their presentation highlighted an approach developed by PWR faculty to connect emerging writing practices with the program’s commitments to rhetorical thinking, ethical inquiry and adaptability.

Rather than focusing on a single AI assignment, course or technology, the program has developed four interconnected initiatives:

• Curriculum mapping: Identifying how AI-related learning develops across courses, with attention to students’ functional, critical and rhetorical AI literacies.
• Course revisions: Updating course titles and descriptions to make emerging writing technologies and practices more visible to students.
• Microcredentialing: Creating the AI and Professional Writing Digital Badge, which connects coursework, professional development opportunities and reflective portfolios.
• Institutional partnerships: Developing a writing-focused track within �鶹��Ƶ’s AI Scholars Program, extending AI literacy through interdisciplinary engagement, student leadership and community-based projects.

Together, these initiatives reflect an effort to integrate emerging technologies into existing disciplinary and institutional structures.

In the presentation, Li emphasized that students are already encountering AI in many aspects of their lives. She argued that educators have a responsibility to help students examine AI tools critically and prepare for workplaces increasingly shaped by AI.

Maynard added that PWR integrates AI intentionally across the curriculum while helping students develop the judgment to decide if, how, and when to use these tools, rather than encouraging routine use of particular technologies.

The initiatives also draw on ongoing research into how �鶹��Ƶ alumni use generative AI in their professional and personal writing, helping faculty connect curricular decisions with graduates’ changing communication practices.

The presentation prompted discussion among faculty and higher education administrators. Attendees asked practical questions about implementing AI microcredentials and conducting alumni research. Maynard and Li also shared curriculum-mapping and action-planning resources for participants to consider in their own programs and institutions.

Li said conversations with colleagues from across the country inspired her and reassured her that educators are taking meaningful steps to revise and update their teaching for the AI era.

The work reflects �鶹��Ƶ’s broader commitment to advancing thoughtful, ethically informed AI education while preparing students to navigate changing professional environments.

The presentation draws on a forthcoming article, “The AI-Infused Curriculum: Enhancing Professional Writing Programs for the Generative AI Age,” by Maynard, Li, Paula Rosinski and Jessie L. Moore. Accepted for publication in “Writing Program Administration”, the article examines how PWR’s coordinated initiatives offer an adaptable model for integrating generative AI into academic programs while preserving disciplinary values and ethical responsibility.

By building on existing curricular strengths and university initiatives, PWR offers an example of how academic programs can respond to technological change while keeping educational values in view.

Many high-profile discussions about GenAI in higher education focus on the extremes—avoiding all AI or adopting AI for all activities. However, GenAI use falls along a more complex spectrum, and disciplinary standards should inform students’ development of critical GenAI literacy. Across disciplines, novice users initially might understand GenAI as a neutral tool. As engaged learners develop more expertise with GenAI, they might critically reflect on how GenAI could augment their work—or even view GenAI as a collaborator. Given this complex context, research on GenAI��in��higher education engaged learning must attend to GenAI use��beyond��higher education to prepare students to apply critical GenAI literacy in their professional, civic and personal lives. Together, we’ll investigate:

• What higher education learning entails in the age of GenAI;
• GenAI’s (potential) role as a collaborator in teaching and learning;
• Decision processes for when and how to use GenAI as a collaboration partner;
• Assessing learning in an age of GenAI support; and
• Professional learning needs and strategies for students, faculty, and staff to support critical GenAI literacy.

Accepted CEL Student Scholars will collaborate with three �鶹��Ƶ faculty –��Amanda Sturgill, Aaron Trocki and��Jessie L. Moore to��lead��international, multi-institutional research on this engaged learning topic.

Eligibility

The CEL Student Scholar program is open to current �鶹��Ƶ first-year students (during the 2025-26 academic year) from any major. Applicants should have an interest in engaged learning in higher education (broadly) and in the 2026-2029 research topic—Rethinking Engaged Learning in the Age of GenAI.

First-year students apply in spring (Spring 2026) to begin the program in the summer between their first and second years (Summer 2026).

What Will CEL Student Scholars Do?

Accepted CEL Student Scholars will collaborate on a three-year research project with �鶹��Ƶ faculty and staff and with��CEL Research Seminar��participants from colleges and universities around the world.

Read more about the CEL Student Scholar experiences from current and past scholars .

During three consecutive summers (e.g., 2026, 2027, 2028), CEL Student Scholars will:

• Co-lead the 2026-2029 research seminar on Rethinking Engaged Learning in the Age of GenAI, providing the student perspective in sessions with seminar participants;
• Receive a $3,000 summer stipend as compensation for the Student Scholar’s work during the summer;
• Have access to double or single-occupancy, on-campus, summer housing;
• Participate in a week-long research seminar meeting with faculty and staff from �鶹��Ƶ and other colleges and universities around the globe, with all meals provided throughout the week;
• Attend (and during second and third summers, present at) the��;
• Collaborate in weekly meetings with the seminar co-leaders and/or the CEL Director to advance the research project, collaborate on resources and learn about strategies for studying engaged learning;
• Join other CEL Student Scholars and the CEL Director for weekly meetings to discuss student-faculty partnership, engaged learning research and practices, strategies for studying engaged learning, and other cross-seminar topics; and
• Have opportunities to attend events with other undergraduate researchers and other CEL research seminar teams, often with meals provided.

During their second, third, and fourth academic years (e.g., 2026-2027, 2027-2028, 2028-2029), CEL Student Scholars will…

• Receive a $1,000 stipend each semester as compensation for the Student Scholar’s work during the academic year;
• Participate in two meetings a week, scheduled to accommodate CEL Student Scholars’ availability during the day:
  • Collaborate in one-hour meetings every week with the seminar co-leaders;
  • Join other CEL Student Scholars and the CEL Director for a one-hour meeting every week to discuss engaged learning research and practices, strategies for studying engaged learning, and other cross-seminar topics;
• Check in with research seminar teams via Zoom a few times each year; and
• Spend an additional 1-2 hours a week completing research tasks.

Typically, two students will be accepted as CEL Student Scholars each year. Accepted scholars can discuss with the CEL Director and their advisor whether they wish to register for 4999 undergraduate research credit during one or more of their semesters as a CEL Student Scholar. Acceptance as a CEL Student Scholar also does not preclude participation in other �鶹��Ƶ experiences like study away and internships.

Application Guidelines

To apply, submit the following materials by April 6, 2026:

• A letter of application, and
• A supporting letter of recommendation from an �鶹��Ƶ faculty or staff member.

Letter of Application

Your letter of application (approximately two pages) should:

• Describe your interest in the research topic—Rethinking Engaged Learning in the Age of GenAI—and in collaborating with faculty to lead international research about engaged learning;
• Briefly introduce your major (and any minors), as well as other campus, community, or workplace activities that shape who you are; and
• Reflect on what you would hope to gain from this three-year research collaboration.

Submit an electronic copy of your letter of application to CEL Director, Jessie L. Moore (jmoore28@elon.edu), by April 6, 2026.

Supporting Letter of Recommendation

Your supporting letter of recommendation should come from an �鶹��Ƶ faculty or staff member who can speak to:

• Your preparation for undertaking this mentored research opportunity; and
• Contributions you might make to the program, through both your collaboration with CEL’s research seminar participants and your interactions with other CEL Student Scholars.

The �鶹��Ƶ faculty or staff member writing your supporting letter of recommendation should submit an electronic copy of the letter to CEL Director, Jessie L. Moore (jmoore28@elon.edu), by April 6, 2026.

Learn More

Learn more about the CEL Student Scholars program . Please direct questions about the program to CEL Director, Jessie L. Moore (jmoore28@elon.edu).

Myers is a freelance health writer and content strategist. While at �鶹��Ƶ, she studied professional writing and rhetoric, worked in the writing center, and conducted a rheotrical analysis of sexual violence prevention communication on campus. Since graduating, her writing has been published in outlets like Forbes,��AARP and Healthline. She also consults for leading healthcare startups, helping them craft content strategies that get their brands featured in Google searches, on social media, and in AI-powered search. While most of her clients are US-based companies, she currently lives in London and spent three years traveling to over 20 countries as a digital nomad.

Myers will share strategies for freelancing, how she built her business while exploring the globe, and how professional writing & rhetoric prepared her for what she’s doing now.

The event is co-sponsored by the professional writing & rhetoric major, the professional writing studies interdisciplinary minor, the AI and professional writing Badge, and the Center for Writing Excellence (�鶹��Ƶ Alumni Writers Grant).

Accepted CEL Student Scholars will collaborate with three �鶹��Ƶ faculty:

• Lauren Kearns (professor of dance),
• Phillip Motley (professor of communication design and director, graduate programs for the School of Communications)
• Jessie L. Moore (director of the Center for Engaged Learning and professor of English)

They also will work closely with two additional, international scholars:

• Ashley J. Holmes, associate vice provost for teaching and learning at Oregon State University
• Susan Hrach, director of the Faculty Center and professor of English at Columbus State University in Georgia.

.

Eligibility

is open to current �鶹��Ƶ first-year students (during the 2024-25 academic year) from any major. Applicants should have an interest in engaged learning in higher education (broadly) and in��the 2025-2028 research topic ��– ��Learning on Location: Place-Based Pedagogies in Higher Education.

First-year students apply in spring (Spring 2025) to begin the program in the summer between their first and second years (Summer 2025).

What Will CEL Student Scholars Do?

Accepted CEL Student Scholars will collaborate on a three-year research project with �鶹��Ƶ faculty and staff and with CEL Research Seminar participants from colleges and universities around the world.

During three consecutive summers (2025, 2026, 2027), CEL Student Scholars will…

• Receive a $3,000 summer stipend as compensation for the Student Scholar’s work during the summer;
• Have access to double- or single-occupancy, on-campus, summer housing;
• Collaborate in weekly meetings with the seminar co-leaders and/or the CEL Director to advance the research project, collaborate on resources and learn about strategies for studying engaged learning;
• Participate in a week-long research seminar meeting with faculty and staff participants from colleges and universities around the globe (July 13-18, 2025; July 12-17, 2026; and July 11-16, 2027);
• Attend (and during second and third summers, present at) the��Conference on Engaged Learning; and
• Have opportunities to attend events with other undergraduate researchers.

During the academic years (2025-2026, 2026-2027, 2027-2028), CEL Student Scholars will…

• Receive a $1,000 stipend each semester as compensation for the Student Scholar’s work during the academic year;
• Participate in weekly meetings: Collaborating in one-hour meetings every other week with the seminar co-leaders, and joining other CEL Student Scholars and the CEL Director for a one-hour meeting during the alternate weeks to discuss engaged learning research and practices, strategies for studying engaged learning, and other cross-seminar topics; and
• Spend an additional one to two hours a week completing research tasks.

CEL Student Scholars will have opportunities to present and publish on their research and will join an international community of scholars interested in engaged learning.

Two students will be accepted as CEL Student Scholars each year. Accepted scholars can discuss with the CEL Director and their advisor whether they wish to register for 4999 undergraduate research credit during one or more of their semesters as a CEL Student Scholar. Acceptance as a CEL Student Scholar also does not preclude participation in other �鶹��Ƶ experiences like study away and internships.

Application Guidelines

To apply, submit the following materials by April 7, 2025:

• A letter of application
• A supporting letter of recommendation from an �鶹��Ƶ faculty or staff member.

Letter of Application

Your letter of application should:

• Describe your interest in the research topic ��– ��Learning on Location: Place-Based Pedagogies in Higher Education – and in collaborating with faculty to lead international research about engaged learning;
• Briefly introduce your major (and any minors), as well as other campus, community, or workplace activities that shape who you are; and
• Reflect on what you would hope to gain from this three-year research collaboration.

Submit an electronic copy of your letter of application to CEL Director Jessie L. Moore (jmoore28@elon.edu), by April 7, 2025.

Supporting Letter of Recommendation

Your supporting letter of recommendation should come from an �鶹��Ƶ faculty or staff member who can speak to:

• Your preparation for undertaking this mentored research opportunity
• Contributions you might make to the program, through both your collaboration with CEL’s research seminar participants and your interactions with other CEL Student Scholars.

The �鶹��Ƶ faculty or staff member writing your supporting letter of recommendation should submit an electronic copy of the letter to CEL Director Jessie L. Moore (jmoore28@elon.edu), by April 7, 2025.

Learn more about the Center for Engaged Learning Student Scholar Program.

Questions? Contact Jessie L. Moore, director of the Center for Engaged Learning, at��jmoore28@elon.edu.

��edited by Nancy K. Turner, Nick Baker, David J. Hornsby, Aline Germain-Rutherford, David Graham and Brad Wuetherick,��inspires readers to integrate equity and openness in online learning, ensuring and enabling inclusive and high-quality education in the future.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education systems and institutions around the world rapidly moved significant portions of their learning to a variety of remote learning models. These shifts to online learning impacted how institutions support equitable student access and success and intersected with other key initiatives to support the transition to open and agile educational approaches. Questions of equity and openness have pervaded higher education systems worldwide for decades, and this volume seeks to document, analyze, and share pedagogical practices adopted in response to the global pandemic, providing new frameworks and advancing the conversation around online, open and equitable educational practices.

Read this forward-looking collection for free at .

The Center for Engaged Learning Open Access Book Series features concise, peer-reviewed books for a multi-disciplinary, international, higher education audience interested in research-informed engaged learning practices. The series is edited by Jessie L. Moore and Peter Felten. The Center��is committed to making these publications freely available to a global audience at no cost to authors under a��CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.

The National Advisory Board:

• Provides advice to the Howe Center for Writing Excellence to advance the mission and values of Miami University and meet the intended purposes of its gift endowment for writing, and
• Assists the Howe Center for Writing Excellence to position writing as one of the signature components of the Miami undergraduate experience.

The National Advisory Board consists of six members who are prominent experts in the field.

Moore will serve a four-year term on the advisory board.

Eligibility

is open to current �鶹��Ƶ first-year students (during the 2023-24 academic year) from any major. Applicants should have an interest in engaged learning in higher education (broadly) and in

First-year students apply in spring (Spring 2024) to begin the program in the summer between their first and second years (Summer 2024).

What Will CEL Student Scholars Do?

Accepted CEL Student Scholars will collaborate on a three-year research project with �鶹��Ƶ faculty and staff and with CEL Research Seminar participants from colleges and universities around the world.

During three consecutive summers (2024, 2025, 2026), CEL Student Scholars will…

• Receive a $3,000 summer stipend as compensation for the Student Scholar’s work during the summer;
• Have access to double- or single-occupancy, on-campus, summer housing;
• Participate in a week-long research seminar meeting with faculty and staff from �鶹��Ƶ and other colleges and universities around the globe;
• Attend (and during second and third summers, present at) the ;
• Collaborate in weekly meetings with the seminar co-leaders and/or the CEL Director to advance the research project, collaborate on resources, and learn about strategies for studying engaged learning; and
• Have opportunities to attend events with other undergraduate researchers.

During their second, third, and fourth academic years (2024-25, 2025-26, 2026-27), CEL Student Scholars will…

• Receive a $1,000 stipend each semester as compensation for the Student Scholar’s work during the academic year;
• Collaborate in 1-hour meetings every other week with the seminar co-leaders;
• Join other CEL Student Scholars and the CEL Director for a 1-hour meeting every other week to discuss engaged learning research and practices, strategies for studying engaged learning, and other cross-seminar topics; and
• Spend an additional 1-2 hours a week completing research tasks.

Two students will be accepted as CEL Student Scholars each year. Accepted scholars can discuss with the CEL Director and their advisor whether they wish to register for 499 undergraduate research credit during one or more of their semesters as a CEL Student Scholar. Acceptance as a CEL Student Scholar also does not preclude participation in other �鶹��Ƶ experiences like study away and internships.

Application Guidelines

To apply, submit the following materials by March 22, 2024:

• A letter of application, and
• A supporting letter of recommendation from an �鶹��Ƶ faculty or staff member.

Letter of Application

Your letter of application should:

• Describe your interest in the research topic ��– ��Affirming and Inclusive Engaged Learning for Neurodivergent Learners – and in collaborating with faculty to lead international research about engaged learning;
• Briefly introduce your major (and any minors), as well as other campus, community, or workplace activities that shape who you are; and
• Reflect on what you would hope to gain from this three-year research collaboration.

Submit an electronic copy of your letter of application to CEL Director Jessie L. Moore (jmoore28@elon.edu) by March 22, 2024.

Supporting Letter of Recommendation

Your supporting letter of recommendation should come from an �鶹��Ƶ faculty or staff member who can speak to:

• Your preparation for undertaking this mentored research opportunity; and
• Contributions you might make to the program, through both your collaboration with CEL’s research seminar participants and your interactions with other CEL Student Scholars.

The �鶹��Ƶ faculty or staff member writing your supporting letter of recommendation should submit an electronic copy of the letter to CEL Director Jessie L. Moore (jmoore28@elon.edu), by March 22, 2024.

. Questions? Contact Jessie L. Moore, Director of the Center for Engaged Learning, at jmoore28@elon.edu.

In addition to her disciplinary research, including �����Ի� ��(both published by Rowman & Littlefield), Sturgill has contributed to scholarship of teaching and learning on community-based learning and study away. She co-led the center’s 2015-17 research seminar on�������Ի� co-edited�� (published by Stylus).

The review committee noted that Sturgill’s��experience across engaged learning contexts and her expertise in journalism, communication and AI make her the right scholar to do this work at this time. Sturgill’s application reflected a strong alignment between the center’s goals and her own professional trajectory. This synergy will positively inform Sturgill’s contributions to the center’s open-access resources via blog posts, an annotated bibliography and other online resources.

During a two-year appointment,����develop expertise in a specific aspect of engaged learning and create resources on that topic to be shared��through��CEL’s website�����Ի� in other scholarly venues. The CEL Scholar position is an opportunity for an �鶹��Ƶ faculty member to develop and advance a professional development trajectory that includes scholarly activity on an engaged learning topic.

Sturgill is the seventh �鶹��Ƶ faculty member to be named a��CEL Scholar. Current and past CEL Scholars include��David Buck, Caroline Ketcham, Ketevan Kupatadze,��Buffie Longmire-Avital,��Phillip Motley, and Aaron Trocki. A call for applications for the 2025-27 CEL Scholar will be released in fall 2024.

�鶹��Ƶ was selected to join the network’s inaugural First Scholars cohort in 2020 after demonstrating a commitment to advancing the outcomes of first-generation students through improving both first-generation student success initiatives and institution-wide approaches. Due to COVID-19, the recent academy in Boston was the first time representatives from the inaugural cohort have met in person.

First Scholars supports the institutional desire to scale programmatic initiatives to support first-generation students throughout the student lifecycle and beyond. First Scholars draws upon carefully crafted institution-focused and student-centered actionable outcomes designed to deliver these results and provides tools and guidance designed to work within �鶹��Ƶ’s specific environment.

�鶹��Ƶ’s team spent two intensive days engaged in strategic planning and will work with campus partners and students to complete a comprehensive needs assessment and data mapping this spring.

Gnep and Moore also attended a “Creating Sustainable Institutional Structures to Advance First-Generation Student Success” workshop hosted by NASPA’s Center for First-Generation Student Success on April 2.

At �鶹��Ƶ, a student is a first-generation college student if neither parent(s)/legal guardian(s) has earned a bachelor’s degree (four-year degree). A student is still considered to be a first-generation college student even if a sibling has already completed a four-year college degree.

To learn more about first-generation efforts at �鶹��Ƶ visit��First-Generation Student Support Services, housed in the Center for Access and Success.

Applications are due March 24, 2023.

Eligibility

The CEL Student Scholar program is open to current �鶹��Ƶ first-year students (during the 2022-2023 academic year) from any major. Applicants should have an interest in engaged learning in higher education (broadly) and in��the 2023-2026 research topic ��– ��Mentoring Meaningful Learning Experiences.

First-year students apply in spring (Spring 2023) to begin the program in the summer between their first and second years (Summer 2023).

What will CEL Student Scholars do?

Accepted CEL Student Scholars will collaborate on a three-year research project with �鶹��Ƶ faculty and staff and with CEL Research Seminar participants from colleges and universities around the world.

During three consecutive summers (2023, 2024, 2025), CEL Student Scholars will…

• Receive a $3,000 summer stipend as compensation for the Student Scholar’s work during the summer;
• Have access to double-occupancy, on-campus, summer housing;
• Participate in a week-long research seminar meeting with faculty and staff participants from colleges and universities around the globe;
• Attend (and during second and third summers, present at) the��Conference on Engaged Learning;
• Collaborate in weekly meetings with the seminar co-leaders and/or the CEL Director to advance the research project, collaborate on resources, and learn about strategies for studying engaged learning; and
• Have opportunities to attend events with other undergraduate researchers.

During the academic years (2023-2024, 2024-2025, 2025-2026), CEL Student Scholars will…

• Receive a $1,000 stipend each semester as compensation for the Student Scholar’s work during the academic year;
• Participate in weekly meetings with the research seminar co-leaders, other CEL Student Scholars, and the CEL Director; and
• Spend an additional 1-2 hours a week completing research tasks.

CEL Student Scholars will have opportunities to present and publish on their research and will join an international community of scholars interested in engaged learning.

Two students will be accepted as CEL Student Scholars each year. Accepted scholars can discuss with the CEL Director and their advisor whether they wish to register for 4999 undergraduate research credit during one or more of their semesters as a CEL Student Scholar. Acceptance as a CEL Student Scholar also does not preclude participation in other �鶹��Ƶ experiences like study away and internships.

��Questions? Contact CEL’s Director, Jessie L. Moore, at jmoore28@elon.edu.