What happens when you invite a group of staff members to spend an hour talking about AI?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Harvey Mudd College, the answer has been: curiosity, collaboration, and a lot of thoughtful questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As generative AI tools become increasingly common in higher education, many staff members are wondering how these tools fit into their day-to-day work. Some are eager to experiment. Others are cautious. Most are somewhere in between – curious, but unsure where to begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s where AI Dips<\/strong> comes in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hosted by the Computer & Information Services (CIS) department, AI Dips is an informal, bi-weekly series designed to give staff a low-pressure space to explore AI topics together. The idea is simple: take a small \u201cdip\u201d into a focused AI concept or tool, share experiences, and leave with something practical to try.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so far, it\u2019s working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Each AI Dip session starts with a quick lightning presentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Past lightning presentations have included topics like introductions to NotebookLM, Nano Banana Pro, Suno, Copilot agents, Gemini Gems, and tips for writing effective prompts. After the presentation, the conversation opens up: participants ask questions, share experiments, compare notes, and sometimes discover entirely new use cases from colleagues across campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sessions are intentionally lightweight, approachable, and easy to join, no prior experience required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When AI tools began showing up everywhere, from email drafting to meeting summaries to brainstorming assistants, it became clear that staff needed opportunities to learn together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AI can feel exciting, overwhelming, useful, confusing\u2026 sometimes all at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather than offering one-time training or formal workshops, CIS wanted to create something more conversational and sustainable: a recurring space where staff could explore questions like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n AI Dips gives staff a place to ask those questions openly and learn from one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AI Dips grew out of another CIS initiative: Summer of Curiosity: AI<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Launched in Summer 2025, Summer of Curiosity: AI was a weekly 90-minute professional development series focused on collaborative learning and experimentation. Sessions featured presentations, peer sharing, and guided exploration of tools and best practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To keep the momentum going between meetings, participants connected through Google Chat and Google Classroom, creating an ongoing learning community of 22 staff members across academic support, administration, and IT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AI Dips became a natural next step: shorter, more frequent sessions that fit easily into the rhythm of the academic year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the most exciting parts of AI Dips has been seeing how quickly curiosity spreads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few lessons have stood out so far:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Consistency builds confidence.<\/strong> Peer learning works.<\/strong> Small experiments matter.<\/strong> The conversation is bigger than the tools.<\/strong> As AI tools evolve, so will the conversations. Future sessions may explore emerging technologies, policy implications, and new ways AI can support teaching, learning, and administrative work at Harvey Mudd College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For now, AI Dips remains what it was meant to be from the start: a small, approachable space for big ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes all it takes is one small dip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What happens when you invite a group of staff members to spend an hour talking about AI? At Harvey Mudd […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arcs","category-from-cis"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/cis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/cis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/cis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/cis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/cis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7440"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/cis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7440\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7441,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/cis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7440\/revisions\/7441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/cis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/cis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hmc.edu\/cis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}A Small Dip Into AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Why We Started<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
From Summer Curiosity to Year-Round Conversation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What We\u2019re Learning<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Regular conversations make AI feel less intimidating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Some of the most valuable insights come from hearing how colleagues are using AI in their own roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Trying one prompt or one tool in a low-stakes environment can open the door to bigger ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>Questions about ethics, privacy, and responsible use are part of the discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat\u2019s Next?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Academic and Research Computing Services (ARCS)<\/em>
<\/em> Harvey Mudd College<\/p>\n\n\n\n