Pedagogical Innovation Pilot
Eight undergraduate courses piloting course-grounded Alkimi AI Learning Assistants. Each assistant operates within an isolated knowledge workspace trained strictly on the instructor's verified syllabus, lecture notes, and assignments.
Fall 2026 Pilot
During the Fall 2026 semester, Alkimi University is evaluating an innovative instructional initiative: embedding private, course-grounded Alkimi Learning Assistants directly into eight pilot undergraduate courses spanning history, biology, chemistry, mathematics, literature, computer science, economics, and nursing.
Unlike generic commercial chatbots, each course assistant is housed in its own isolated Alkimi workspace. The agent's knowledge is bounded strictly to the instructor's verified syllabus, weekly lecture summaries, assignment guidelines, and course FAQs. The assistant reinforces faculty expectations and never hallucinates requirements from other institutions.
Students enrolled in pilot courses access their assistant through Canvas course navigation or through these spotlight pages by signing in with their official AlkimiID credentials. Only registered students and course faculty have access.
Pilot Roster
Select a course below to review the complete syllabus, weekly lecture schedule, and interactive course assistant.
Work, workers, and labor movements in the United States from industrialization to the present, with emphasis on primary sources.
Prof. Ellen Whitaker
Associate Professor of History
MWF 10:00–10:50 a.m., Lovell Hall 210
Policy: Permitted with Disclosure for Specified Tasks
AI tools may be used for brainstorming, outlining, and feedback on drafts. All submissions must include an AI disclosure statement.
Cells, genetics, evolution, and ecology, with a weekly three-hour laboratory.
Dr. Martin Osei
Professor of Biology; Chair of the Department of Biology
Lecture TTh 9:30–10:45 a.m., Meridian 120; labs weekly
Policy: Permitted with Disclosure for Specified Tasks
AI tools may be used for brainstorming, outlining, and feedback on drafts. All submissions must include an AI disclosure statement.
Atomic structure, bonding, stoichiometry, gases, thermochemistry, and solutions.
Dr. Daniel Kim
Associate Professor of Chemistry
Lecture MWF 9:00–9:50 a.m., Meridian 140; labs weekly
Policy: AI Not Permitted for Graded Work
AI may not be used to produce any work submitted for a grade. The course assistant operates strictly as a Socratic conceptual tutor.
Limits, derivatives, applications of differentiation, and an introduction to integration.
Dr. Anika Sharma
Assistant Professor of Mathematics
MTWF 11:00–11:50 a.m., Ashby Hall 105
Policy: Permitted with Disclosure for Specified Tasks
AI tools may be used for brainstorming, outlining, and feedback on drafts. All submissions must include an AI disclosure statement.
American fiction, poetry, and essays from the early republic to the present.
Dr. Leila Haddad
Professor of English; Chair of the University Curriculum Committee
TTh 1:00–2:15 p.m., Lovell Hall 305
Policy: AI Not Permitted for Graded Work
AI may not be used to produce any work submitted for a grade. The course assistant operates strictly as a Socratic conceptual tutor.
Problem solving, data types, control flow, functions, and testing in Python.
Dr. Tomás Rivera
Assistant Professor of Computer Science
MW 2:00–3:15 p.m. + lab F 2:00–3:50 p.m., Ashby Hall 220
Policy: Permitted Broadly with Disclosure
Broad integration into problem solving, debugging, and experimentation. Submissions must document tool usage and prompt strategies.
Supply and demand, consumer and firm behavior, market structures, and public policy.
Dr. Claire Donovan
Associate Professor of Economics
TTh 11:00 a.m.–12:15 p.m., Tidewell Hall 110
Policy: Permitted with Disclosure for Specified Tasks
AI tools may be used for brainstorming, outlining, and feedback on drafts. All submissions must include an AI disclosure statement.
Mechanisms of disease across body systems, as a foundation for nursing assessment and care.
Dr. Janelle Price, RN
Clinical Associate Professor of Nursing
MW 8:00–9:15 a.m., Calder 150
Policy: AI Not Permitted for Graded Work
AI may not be used to produce any work submitted for a grade. The course assistant operates strictly as a Socratic conceptual tutor.
Rigorous Governance
In accordance with AI Advisory Council action and the Comprehensive Fall 2026 Pilot Evaluation Plan (AIAC-PLAN-2026-F), the university is gathering empirical evidence across five core dimensions before considering broader adoption:
Student conversations are treated as Confidential Education Records protected under FERPA. The platform operates under a Zero Data Retention (ZDR) agreement: student prompts and faculty course materials are never used to train public commercial AI models.
Faculty Policy
Every syllabus at Alkimi University explicitly designates one of three Generative AI Levels.
AI may not be used to produce any work submitted for a grade. The course assistant operates strictly as a Socratic conceptual tutor.
What the Assistant Will Do:
What the Assistant Will NOT Do:
AI tools may be used for brainstorming, outlining, and feedback on drafts. All submissions must include an AI disclosure statement.
What the Assistant Will Do:
What the Assistant Will NOT Do:
Broad integration into problem solving, debugging, and experimentation. Submissions must document tool usage and prompt strategies.
What the Assistant Will Do:
What the Assistant Will NOT Do:
