AI Initiatives

The Division of Information Technology’s AI site will help the UMBC community with information on using artificial intelligence (AI), especially generative AI (GenAI), to support UMBC’s Administrative, Instructional, and Research efforts. This site has been created to help employees advance their use of GenAI. We recommend that our UMBC community begin by visiting GenAI Tools, this page will highlight what free resources are available to use and what options exist to use GenAI while safeguarding UMBC institutional data safely.

For staff providing support, we encourage people to look at Administrative AI, as a starting point. Our goal is to save folks time and improve the quality of their work, thus increasing productivity. We highlight some tools that DoIT is providing for support.

Additionally, we have launched an AI-supported search bar called myUMBC Answers.  We are seeking partners to work with DoIT to expand myUMBC Answers. The key to your office leveraging myUMBC Answers is providing validated and accurate content, such as FAQs or a handbook produced annually.

For faculty, we encourage you to also explore instructional AI and research AI. An excellent resource in the College of Engineering is the UMBC Center for AI.  You can follow news about the UMBC Center for AI on social media through its sites on LinkedIn, Bluesky, X, and Facebook. Members of the UMBC community can subscribe to the UMBC AI Group to receive email about AI-related news and events. If you have news to share with the UMBC AI community or suggestions or comments on the site, please send them to umbc-ai@cs.umbc.edu.

 

AI News

Showing items tagged ultra-update. Show All

Gain insights on student engagement during Collab session

Also discover student views of Collab recordings

While teaching a synchronous session using web conferencing tools, instructors juggle content, conversation, and context. Engaging participants and maintaining a high level of interaction is an...

Posted: April 11, 2022, 3:30 PM

Six assessment & grading updates for Ultra courses in April

Review upcoming change & plan a course migration over summer

Beginning in late spring and moving into summer, faculty will see extensive upgrades to Ultra courses, particularly in the areas of assessment and grading. This focus aligns with feedback from...

Posted: April 1, 2022, 9:56 AM

Prevent late assessments after due date in Feb Ultra update

Copy Original content into Ultra, name pronunciation support

Robust assessment settings are necessary to support a range of different scenarios. Assessment settings are also important for academic integrity and honesty in courses. Ultra courses currently...

Posted: January 24, 2022, 9:40 AM

Point-based rubrics arrive to Ultra courses in December

Accessibility, groups & grading enhancements also available

Point-based and point-range rubrics will be available to Ultra courses in the December update, providing extended flexibility for grading and assessment and marking a major milestone in meeting...

Posted: November 30, 2021, 11:56 AM

Course banners & table enhancements coming in November

New progress tracking improvements in Ultra courses

Customizing the course interface creates a visual identifier in a Blackboard course. In the next phase of the Ultra course's improved navigation and aesthetic redesign, course banners will be an...

Posted: November 8, 2021, 9:04 AM