Permanent link for Meeting -001: I+R launches AI Collective on May 7, 2026

Introducing the AI Collective

On Friday, April 17, the Innovation + Research team at GVSU launched the  AI Collective!

The kickoff meeting was held in the Grandview Collaboration Hub located in the futurEDlab on the City Campus.

The inspiration for this initiative came to life after Joseph Van Harken, Innovator in Residence, witnessed the success of the XR Collective that was established by the I+R team to focus on immersive learning experiences leveraging virtual and augmented reality. With a similar purpose, the AI Collective is focused on connecting, discovering, discussing, exploring, and experimenting with artificial intelligence at GVSU.

Eric Kunnen, Senior Director, Innovation + Research, co-led the first meeting with Joseph which included over 30 attendees from a wide array of GVSU departments including: Financial Aid, Institutional Analysis, Brooks College, eLearning Technologies, School of Interdisciplinary Studies, University Libraries, University Communications, University Marketing, Physician Assistant Studies Program, Statistics Department, Department of Writing, Health Compliance, Finance, School of Interdisciplinary Health/Medical Dosimetry, Johnson Center for Philanthropy, Annis Water Research Institute, Modern Languages and Literatures, and the School of Communications.

Meeting Overview

This first meeting marked the launch of the AI Collective, transitioning from an idea into a monthly “community of practice” meetup. Modeled after the successful XR Collective, this group aims to serve as a cross-disciplinary meetup, where faculty and staff can work to break down silos, share diverse AI use cases, and explore the future of AI at GVSU.

Key Discussion Themes

A few key discussion themes emerged from the first meetup, including:

• Surfacing Current Usage
  • Attendees shared a wide array of applications currently in use at GVSU, including using AI for productivity (grading prep, rubrics, meeting notes), generating teaching and work-related support materials, as well as data and research synthesis. Additionally, specific examples were shared in fields such as Medical Dosimetry and Physician Assistant programs, where AI is being used in CT scans and medical dictation. 
• Town Hall and AI Survey Highlights
  • An overview of GVSU’s recent AI Town Halls as well as results of the AI Surveys of faculty, staff, and students were shared. The highlights included the importance of “walled gardens” to help ensure data privacy and protected use through guidelines and guardrails, environmental/sustainability impact of AI, ethical and responsible use of AI with the “human in the lead”, AI as a digital literacy coupled with training and tool access, maximizing the current use (opportunities) balanced with cautions.
• Elevating Experimentation
  • A demo was provided of an experimental AI Directory. This proof-of-concept tool is being evaluated to help  provide a centralized, GVSU-vetted resource for AI applications. Additionally, a future extension in envisioned to  allow faculty to share, review, and “remix” effective AI prompts for classroom and administrative use.

Summary

The initial AI Collective Meetup was high energy and generated all sorts of ideas and opportunities, including future “show and tells” presentations by local businesses, industry experts, and even “vibe coding jams” by which GVSU faculty, staff, and students can build tools together.

See you at our next AI Collective meeting to be held in May!

Posted by Joseph Van Harken on Permanent link for Meeting -001: I+R launches AI Collective on May 7, 2026.