2026-2027 Programming Calendar
Fall 2026
Thursday, September 17
IMPORTANT DEADLINE
USM Boosting Course Accessibility Faculty Fellows Acceptance Notifications
Audience: Fellowship applicants
Acceptance notifications will be sent to fellowship applicants.
Monday, September 21, 2:00 PM-3:00 PM ET
OPEN TO ALL
AI Amplified: Showcase Spotlights, "LLMs in English Departments: Teaching Rhetoric as AI Literacy"
Format: Virtual | Audience: Maryland faculty & staff | Speaker: Dr. Tanya Olson, Teaching Professor, Department of English, UMBC
This session reframes interactions with generative AI as a rhetorical act within language-driven systems. In UMBC's ENGL 211, students apply audience, purpose, tone, and revision principles to AI interactions, learning to treat models as thinking partners rather than text generators. Participants will examine course-based assignments that position AI as a process-oriented tool, helping students critically shape and evaluate AI output across disciplines.
Tuesday, October 13, 1-2 PM ET
OPEN TO ALL
Generative AI Pedagogy in Practice: Evidence-Informed Teaching Cases from Maryland Higher Education Information Session
Audience: Maryland faculty
Join us for an Information Session to learn more about the Generative AI Pedagogy in Practice OER Collection and how to submit your work.
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Monday, October 19, 2-3 PM ET
OPEN TO ALL
AI Amplified: Showcase Spotlights, "AI as a Design Thinking Partner: Enhancing Empathy and Customer Discovery in Business and Information Systems Education
Format: Virtual | Audience: Maryland faculty & staff | Speaker: Dr. Andrew Mangle, Associate Professor, Management Information Systems, Bowie State University
Students often miss opportunities for deeper inquiry during interviews. This session explores a course-specific AI tool that provides structured feedback on student interviews, highlighting assumptions and missed follow-ups. Participants will learn how AI can function as a feedback partner to strengthen empathy, listening, and reflective practice across project-based courses.
Friday, November 6, 11:59pm ET
IMPORTANT DEADLINE
Generative AI Pedagogy in Practice: Evidence-Informed Teaching Cases from Maryland Higher Education Abstract Submission Deadline
Audience: Maryland faculty
Submit your abstract for our upcoming collection of evidence-informed teaching cases featuring generative AI in higher education.
Tuesday, November 10 & Thursday, November 12, 12-2 PM ET
OPEN TO ALL
Working with Neurodivergent Learners Workshop
Format: Virtual | Audience: Maryland faculty & staff | Speaker: Dr. Sarah Silverman, Educator and Consultant: Accessibility, Faculty Development, Neurodiversity, and Instructional Design
Details coming soon.
Register for the workshop. Registration is limited. If registration is closed, Maryland faculty and staff may sign up to receive the recording.
Monday, November 16, 2-3pm ET
OPEN TO ALL
AI Amplified: Showcase Spotlights, "Designing Trustworthy AI-Supported Virtual Teaching Assistants: The JAIMIE Framework"
Format: Virtual | Audience: Maryland faculty & staff | Speakers: Dr. Charlotte Seckman & Dr. Cory Stephens, University of Maryland School of Nursing, UMB
How can faculty use generative AI to extend instructional support without replacing human judgment? This interactive session introduces the JAIMIE Framework, a model for designing trustworthy AI-supported virtual teaching assistants in higher education. Using JAIMIE’s evolution from a course-embedded assistant to a broader ecosystem of specialized AI personas, Cory Stephens and Charlotte Seckman will demonstrate how purpose-built assistants can be grounded in approved course materials, bounded by clear guardrails, and evaluated for educational value. Participants will see live examples of text, voice, and avatar-based interaction and consider how a similar approach could support their own courses and institutional priorities.
Monday, December 7
OPEN TO ALL
Generative AI Pedagogy in Practice: Evidence-Informed Teaching Cases from Maryland Higher Education Acceptance Notifications
Audience: Abstract submitters Authors will be notified of acceptance decisions for the teaching cases collection.
Spring 2027
Monday, January 18, 2-3 PM ET
OPEN TO ALL
AI Amplified: Showcase Spotlights, "Using Generative AI to Teach Case Conceptualization Skills in Clinical Psychology"
Format: Virtual | Audience: Maryland faculty & staff | Speaker: Dr. Amanda Draheim, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Goucher College
Case conceptualization requires synthesis, judgment, and feedback—skills that are difficult to scale. This session explores how generative AI was used to scaffold readings, simulate role‑plays, and provide structured feedback while maintaining ethical boundaries. Participants will learn adaptable strategies for positioning AI as a developmental support tool that strengthens reasoning, reflection, and professional identity across applied disciplines.
Registration Opening Soon
Friday, February 12, 11:59pm ET
IMPORTANT DEADLINE
Generative AI Pedagogy in Practice: Evidence-Informed Teaching Cases from Maryland Higher Education Manuscript Deadline
Audience: Accepted authors
Final manuscripts for the teaching cases collection are due. Authors should submit their completed case studies following the provided guidelines.
Monday, February 15, 2-3pm ET
OPEN TO ALL
AI Amplified: Showcase Spotlights, "Using Generative AI to Explore Journalism Archives: Opportunities, Limits, and Verification"
Format: Virtual | Audience: Maryland faculty & staff | Speaker: Dr. Derek Willis, Lecturer, Data and Computational Journalism, University of Maryland
This session examines how journalism students used generative AI to surface insights from large archives of local reporting while documenting AI limitations such as hallucinations and classification errors. By treating AI output as a starting point rather than an authority, students learned about transparency, verification, and responsible use. Participants will gain transferable approaches for teaching AI‑assisted analysis, documentation, and ethical disclosure in research‑based courses.
Registration Opening Soon
Friday, April 2, 9 AM-3 PM ET
OPEN TO ALL
Stories that Spark Change, Cultivate Connections, and Advance Learning: A Celebration of Academic Innovation across USM
Format: In-Person | Audience: USM faculty, staff, & students | Location: Towson University
Innovation is often sparked through the stories we share: a new teaching approach, a successful student support initiative, a partnership that created unexpected opportunities, or a lesson learned through experimentation. This celebration of academic innovation brings together champions of innovation among faculty, staff, students, and institutional leadership from across USM. Participants will explore how cultivating meaningful connections—in classrooms, throughout departments, and across the institution—advances learning and transforms educational experiences and beyond. 
Call for Presenters Coming Soon. Registration Coming Soon.
Monday, April 19, 2-3pm ET
OPEN TO ALL
AI Amplified: Showcase Spotlights, "Generative AI in Social Sciences"
Format: Virtual | Audience: Maryland faculty & staff | Speaker: TBA
Details coming soon.
Registration Opening Soon
Friday, April 30, 11:59pm ET
IMPORTANT DEADLINE
Generative AI Pedagogy in Practice: Evidence-Informed Teaching Cases from Maryland Higher Education Final Manuscript Deadline
Audience: Accepted authors Final manuscripts for the teaching cases collection are due. Authors should submit their completed case studies following the provided guidelines.
Monday, May 17, 2-3pm ET
OPEN TO ALL
AI Amplified: Showcase Spotlights, "Ungrading in the Age of AI: Formative Feedback as a Mechanism for Growth"
Format: Virtual | Audience: Maryland faculty & staff | Speaker: Zia Hassan, Instructor, Anne Arundel Community College and PhD Student, School of Education, Johns Hopkins University
Generative AI has broken the assumption that a written artifact reflects a student's own thinking, which undercuts traditional grading. Ungrading solves that problem with mastery-based feedback loops instead, and students can use this feedback to grow theirskills rather than calculating how many points are needed to get an A, and potentially using AI as a “shortcut."
Registration Opening Soon
Questions? Contact: cai@usmd.edu
