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, a page that highlights free resources and provides guidance on using GenAI while safeguarding UMBC institutional data safely.

For staff seeking support, we encourage people to look at Administrative AI, as a starting point. Our goal is to save folks time, improve the quality of their work, and increase productivity. We showcase tools that DoIT provides to support these objectives.

We have launched myUMBC Answers, an AI-supported search bar. We are seeking partners to expand this tool. The key to leveraging myUMBC Answers is providing validated and accurate content, such as annual FAQs or handbooks.

Faculty, are encouraged to explore Instructional AI and Research AI. The UMBC Center for AI in the College of Engineering is an excellent resource for AI-related research and innovation.  Stay informed by following the center’s social media chnnels 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-experience. Show All

Dec adds unique group due dates, more sort controls in Ultra

Features authentic discussion opportunities using AI tools

As 2023 comes to a close, the December Ultra update brings several features to enhance group functionality and gradebook management. With this update, instructors can assign a unique due date to...

Posted: November 30, 2023, 2:58 PM

Sorting & submission enhancements for Ultra gradebook in Nov

Search & use stock images in Ultra docs, discussions, etc.

Continued enhancements to the Ultra gradebook provide greater flexibility and usability. In the November update to Ultra courses, additional sorting controls allow instructors to sort grade...

Posted: October 23, 2023, 12:56 PM

October brings delegated grading to Ultra courses

Gradebook reminders, SafeAssign Direct Submit & more

The October update to Ultra brings a new grading workflow to large Ultra courses, allowing instructors to distribute grading for an assessment to multiple graders. Instructors can assign graders...

Posted: October 3, 2023, 11:27 AM

62% of Fall 2023 Blackboard Courses Now Using Ultra

9 of 10 UMBC students are enrolled in an Ultra course

As UMBC finalizes its migration to Ultra, more faculty opted to use the new course experience during FA2023. Specifically, of 1588 total available Blackboard shells, faculty have enabled 991 using...

Posted: September 20, 2023, 2:55 PM

Improved course management tools for Ultra in September

Preview new AI course design assistant tools also coming

As the fall semester starts, the next update for Ultra courses brings improvements to the course management tools and a new stock image resource for course banners. Additionally, faculty will also...

Posted: August 31, 2023, 1:37 PM