The University of South Florida is officially planning a new artificial intelligence (AI)-dedicated college that would offer new undergraduate and graduate programs, certifications, and other academic options that focus on AI, cybersecurity, and computing.
The announcement is reportedly an attempt to establish Florida and the Tampa Bay area as national leaders in AI, implying it as a remedy to the ongoing shortage of AI skills. The University is set to be one of the first colleges in the country and the first in Florida.
(Photo : MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images) A photo taken on March 31, 2023 in Manta, near Turin, shows a computer screen with the home page of the artificial intelligence OpenAI web site, displaying its chatGPT robot.
The college's vision is to provide undergraduate and graduate programs that are in line with the state's Programs of Strategic Emphasis and USF's strategic plan, thereby preparing students for careers in high demand, enabling faculty to conduct creative research that results in discoveries or technological advancements, developing industry partnerships, and fostering ethical considerations and trust throughout society's ongoing digital transformation.
To establish the new college, the university intends to bring together faculty members with specialized knowledge now spread across other schools.
According to the university's news release, the need for AI capabilities in the workforce has increased five-fold in the United States, while over 40% of businesses facing a cybersecurity skills gap report that they are unable to find enough competent candidates.
Read Also: Newly-Found Cyberattack Can Set Your Smartphone on Fire
USF as a Leader in AI
The establishment of a new college would reportedly take use of USF's current connections and strengths in computing, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence in addition to its location in the Tampa Bay area, a center for the defense and technology sectors.
About 200 faculty members at USF are claimed to be presently working on relevant research projects like AI, cybersecurity and computing.
The USF Board of Trustees must approve the creation of a new college and maintain ongoing faculty consultation through shared governance procedures. An internal task group has been assessing USF's faculty capabilities and looking into ways to improve interdisciplinary collaboration in order to further USF's academic and research success in computing, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence in recent months.
World's First AI Degree
Back in February, University of Pennsylvania's Engineering and Applied Science Department, announced that it would be offering the first AI degree for an institution of its caliber, dubbed as Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence Engineering.
The degree is the first of its sort among Ivy League universities and among the earliest AI undergraduate engineering programs in the United States. The initiative is funded by Rajendra and Neera Singh, two digital visionaries and philanthropists.
Robert Ghrist, the Undergraduate Dean of Penn Engineering, claims that as the school has been progressively incorporating AI into a number of its course offerings, the majority of the new AI degree courses are already preexisting.
Along with the mathematical and computational foundations of AI methodologies, UPenn's AI degree includes practical programming, AI tools, and foundation model usage skills.
Related Article: AI-Centered Learning on the Horizon as Accenture Acquires Udacity
(Photo : Tech Times)
