GVSU’s Board of Trustees approved programs in AI and software engineering as an expansion of its College of Computing, designed to meet the demands of industry partners for graduates in the tech sector.
Dean Marouane Kessentini notes input from 165 area companies showed great interest in smart manufacturing and healthcare technology.
“They also mentioned that it's important to train people on the ethics and bias in AI, about responsible use of AI, about the business application of AI, about the legal application of AI.”
Kessentini says the college is also responding to the request for training people in building secure software that can evolve quickly because technology is changing every day. Classes focus on experiential learning, going beyond internships or co-op studies to focus on entrepreneurship and research. Companies want to hire people with both skills and adaptability.
“That agility, that mindset to grow and to also basically be flexible and that’s actually what the future of work is, what’s actually needed. It's because we don’t even know what would be the job of the future.”
GVSU is aligning the programs with its Blue Dot Initiative focusing on digital literacy, applied research and workforce development.
