This certificate equips graduate students with practical and ethical skills to use artificial intelligence in academic and professional settings. Through required courses, readings, and research in AI foundations and productivity, plus an elective in student use or AI-enabled project management, participants learn to apply AI responsibly to enhance learning, decision-making, efficiency, and workplace innovation. Students must complete ECAI 500 and 501, and either ECAI 502 or 503, to earn a certificate.

ECAI 500

This graduate course introduces foundational concepts, history, vocabulary, and applications of artificial intelligence (AI). Students explore modern AI systems, including generative models, and examine how these tools can augment human capacity across professional and organizational domains, including education. Particular emphasis is placed on responsible AI use in areas such as design, analysis, communication, decision-making, and workflow development. Students analyze AI tools, evaluate outputs, design human–AI workflows, and engage in research-informed critique and revision of AI practices and artifacts while articulating ethical standards related to AI use in professional, institutional, and organizational contexts.

ECAI 501

This graduate course focuses on the strategic and ethical use of generative AI to streamline personal and professional tasks. Students explore how AI can function as a productivity partner in writing, document preparation, communication, planning, organization, and media design across educational and workplace settings. Emphasis is placed on human oversight, academic integrity, privacy safeguards, responsible prompting, verification of outputs, and transparency practices that uphold professional standards and trust.

ECAI 502

This graduate course focuses on guiding students in the ethical, informed, and effective use of artificial intelligence tools to support learning, creativity, reflection, inquiry, and research. Participants will analyze educational opportunities and risks associated with student AI use, including digital citizenship, verification, integrity, equity, responsible disclosure, privacy, data ethics, bias, and intellectual honesty. Students will design instructional supports, resources, learning activities, guardrails, and implementation plans that empower students to use AI as a thoughtful, critical, and ethical partner in academic work.

ECAI 503

The purpose of this course is to equip project managers with strategies to integrate AI responsibly and effectively into project planning, execution, communication, and decision-making. Participants will develop AI literacy related to project contexts, including ethical reasoning, responsible verification practices, transparency expectations, and thoughtful decision-making around AI-supported work. Students will develop project-ready resources, team-facing tools, workflows, safeguards, and implementation plans that align with organizational goals, professional standards, and institutional expectations. Module activities should be completed in the order listed each week.