A new degree in Artificial Intelligence is being developed at Hallmark University, which will become the second institution in San Antonio to add an AI degree pathway this fall.
Hallmark University is already enrolling students in a Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence to begin an accelerated program in August. Like all of Hallmark’s offerings, this new pathway promises a fast-paced, hands-on and hybrid degree path.
Described as the process of developing computer systems that can mimic human intelligence to then learn, make decisions and identify solutions, AI has both been feared and welcomed across colleges and universities.
AI had a less-than welcoming arrival across education, with educators fearing it would be used a tool to do and learn less. But over the years it has transformed into a necessary skill, a tool that professionals are expected to know how to leverage in the workplace and apply to solve real-world issues.
“When you really think about what AI is doing for us, it’s not what it used to be six months or a year ago when I was typing in, ‘Make this email sound nicer,’ Not even close,” said Sandi Wolff, Hallmark University’s vice president of community engagement. “What we need is the next generation of it. How do we augment what we’re doing in our business to make it better?”
This is the second AI focused degree plan in San Antonio, with the University of Texas at San Antonio, offering an Artificial Intelligence Multidisciplinary Studies Degree, in which students can merge multiple fields of study such as mathematics, computer engineering and information systems. This degree was launched in the fall of 2020 and runs at a more traditional pace, with students expected to graduate in four years.
Hallmark University officials used Information Technology as the foundation to build the AI pathway, said Taylor Mercier, senior vice president of university operations.
Hallmark officials are leveraging some of the existing faculty to teach the foundation courses, such as introduction to computer programming and fundamentals of information security, then building up as the cohorts move forward.
“We have a lot of those foundational IT courses already architected, as we get into the more advanced, that’s when we’re going to start recruiting more of the advanced faculty to carry out the specializations,” Mercier said. “The students enrolling in August won’t get some of those advanced courses for another 18 months potentially, in an accelerated program.”
This is an area of expertise that is quickly evolving, Mercier said, so developing those higher level courses now might not translate into what students must know in 18 months.
Mercier likened the challenges of developing such a quickly-evolving program to cybersecurity, where platforms, threats and vulnerabilities are ever changing, but the fundamentals remain true.
“We’re teaching the foundation of how it works,” he said. “If you understand how machine learning works and how neural networks work and how those processes work, then you can apply it.”
Students are expected to also acquire certifications along the way, as a means to better position students for the job search. These certifications include data analytics, machine learning and cloud-based AI platforms.
Feedback from industry partners, and possible future employers, is key in the ongoing development of this pathway, Mercier said, to continue building a degree path that answers to their needs.
“Our students ultimately are coming here because they’re wanting a lasting career,” Mercier said. “So by designing and partnering with industry … We have an advantage of being able to build that in our curriculum and tailor that to the needs as long as it’s a need that serves more of the community at large and not just one business.”
The San Antonio Report partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.
