Q&A
Use of technology and AI in the transfer credit process
0:55:53
·
11 min
CUNY officials discuss their plans to use artificial intelligence and other technologies to streamline the transfer credit process and improve student communication. They highlight the development of an AI tool by a CUNY faculty member for course equivalency.
- CUNY is exploring the use of AI to scan syllabi and populate course equivalencies across the system
- A CUNY faculty member has developed an AI tool for course equivalency, which is being tested and evaluated
- The use of chatbots and targeted communication is discussed as a solution to reduce information overload for students
Alicia Alvero
0:55:53
Yes.
0:55:53
But we are going to be we've been talking about using artificial intelligence to help scan.
0:55:59
So if there's a brand new course, let's say, and I want to know which course equivalencies already exist across the system.
0:56:06
Artificial intelligence can review that syllabus and populate all of that.
0:56:10
So decrease is a manual effort.
0:56:12
THERE'S No REPLACEMENT FOR FACULTY AND FACULTY GOVERNANCE IN HAVING TO REVIEW.
Eric Dinowitz
0:56:17
I AGREE.
0:56:18
No REPLACEMENT FOR PEOPLE.
0:56:19
Or human power.
0:56:20
Yeah.
0:56:22
Have you do you have a contract with an AI company or an organization to actually do that work?
Wendy Hensel
0:56:28
We have a number.
0:56:29
We have a number of them in different spaces.
0:56:31
EAB Navigate is is the AI Tech issue in in student success.
0:56:38
We are using core stock as it relates to scheduling and the issues that the council person brewer brought up.
Eric Dinowitz
0:56:46
I meant for transferring credits for for doing exactly what you said.
0:56:51
Is there a contract
Alicia Alvero
0:56:52
Faculty member who has not develop something on their own, and it's pretty good.
0:56:59
So I think we might want to it's a CUNY faculty member, and I'll leave it at
Eric Dinowitz
0:57:03
You must be very proud.
Alicia Alvero
0:57:04
Very.
Eric Dinowitz
0:57:05
Does it have a clever name like all these other contracts you
Alicia Alvero
0:57:08
have?
0:57:09
No.
Eric Dinowitz
0:57:09
No.
0:57:10
It's just
Alicia Alvero
0:57:10
Yeah.
0:57:10
Not yet.
0:57:11
It's
Eric Dinowitz
0:57:12
gotta gotta you know, no.
0:57:15
Once we get a get a patent or whatever you do for that, So the goal is to use that CUNY per faculty member's
Gale Brewer
0:57:25
algorithm.
Eric Dinowitz
0:57:26
Algorithm AI program.
Alicia Alvero
0:57:28
Embed it within transfer explorer to allow for that automated course equivalency.
Eric Dinowitz
0:57:33
And it's been tested.
0:57:35
It's evaluated.
Alicia Alvero
0:57:36
Being tested and evaluated correctly.
0:57:39
By evaluated
Gale Brewer
0:57:39
by who?
Alicia Alvero
0:57:39
By a group of developers from transfer explorer who have expertise in this area.
Eric Dinowitz
0:57:45
And professors?
Gale Brewer
0:57:46
Yes.
Eric Dinowitz
0:57:47
Okay.
0:57:48
I'm interested to know how often you were talking to students and a student experience because We do have a snapshot survey.
0:57:58
That was one time federal funding, and we also don't have anything systemic taking in student experience.
0:58:07
But what is in place beyond the the automated, you know, looking at data, to understand where student is academically, what is in place now to understand a student experience.
Alicia Alvero
0:58:21
Conversations, very close conversations with the student senate.
0:58:26
They are integral members of this conversation and have been involved from the very getting.
Eric Dinowitz
0:58:32
And and is there any are there any metrics that you measure to to reach conclusions about the needs of students.
Colin Chellman
0:58:45
We have a biannual student experience survey.
0:58:49
It gives us broadly a sense of how satisfied students are with particular services, across CUNY, we don't get into a ton of detail.
0:58:58
But, yes, we do have a biannual student experience survey.
Eric Dinowitz
0:59:03
Biannual twice a year?
Colin Chellman
0:59:04
Oh, sorry.
0:59:04
Every 2 years.
Eric Dinowitz
0:59:05
Okay.
0:59:06
Who is this semiannual buying?
0:59:08
Always.
0:59:09
Yeah.
0:59:11
Nobody knows what those words mean.
0:59:13
We include.
0:59:14
And And so so you you're collecting data, and I think you said before it is, I guess, voluntary.
0:59:21
What do the students complete the survey?
0:59:24
But when you face challenges, you are developing all of these systems for transfer of recognizing a transfer credits and transferring from associates to 4 year is a challenge.
0:59:39
Are you updating your survey to reflect what you know to be a challenge to a student focused data to reflect the needs of the student body and and inform your decisions.
Colin Chellman
0:59:51
Absolutely.
0:59:52
Every 2 years, we we send the draft survey to our campus representatives and to Wendy's excuse me, EVC Henssel's cabinet in order to update to make sure we're covering the issues that are on everyone's plate top of mind.
Eric Dinowitz
1:00:11
And that includes the student senate?
Colin Chellman
1:00:14
Students we do not include student senate specifically.
1:00:17
No.
Alicia Alvero
1:00:18
We use data from previous years.
Eric Dinowitz
1:00:20
I'm I'm interested to know more about that decision why not to include the student senate.
Colin Chellman
1:00:30
Well, so the student senate, we tap in particular.
1:00:35
And so look, Excuse me.
1:00:39
Alicia.
1:00:40
Alicia.
1:00:40
Oh my heavens.
1:00:44
Speaks to representatives of the student senate.
1:00:46
We work most efficiently through Alicia to update the survey.
Eric Dinowitz
1:00:53
I wonder how your survey questions would be different if they included direct I believe that you relay the messages very well.
1:01:03
But I wonder how your questions would be different if they include a direct communication with students.
1:01:11
And to just harken back to something I said just, you know, a little while ago, we've heard numerous hearings here.
1:01:17
And since before I was chair, other council members talk about the problems with transferring credits from their students.
1:01:27
They heard directly from their students.
Wendy Hensel
1:01:30
Yeah.
1:01:30
We I Both of us have experienced it as parents, and that experience
Eric Dinowitz
1:01:36
is different.
Wendy Hensel
1:01:37
Right?
1:01:37
Then as an administrator, and it gives you a different understanding, and, frankly, an emotion level as it relates to lost lost credits.
Eric Dinowitz
1:01:46
Not to mention the impact on your wallet.
Wendy Hensel
1:01:50
Believe me.
Eric Dinowitz
1:01:50
And their students, by the way.
1:01:52
Yes.
Wendy Hensel
1:01:53
We coordinate with USS all of the time.
1:01:57
I think your points are well taken, and it's certainly something that we could add them to this conversation.
1:02:02
I'm learning things about process.
1:02:04
Sitting here as are you.
1:02:06
And we are continually identifying new ways to engage students at a more meaningful level in the changes that we're making.
1:02:13
So I that's a good suggestion and one that we can look into.
Sangeeta Bishop
1:02:17
I just wanna can may I add one thing to that?
Eric Dinowitz
1:02:19
Of course.
Sangeeta Bishop
1:02:20
Definitely, a student voice is very important.
1:02:23
But I think the people who know most about loss of credit, about difficulties that students face.
1:02:31
Are the department chairs because this is what we I've been department chair for 9 years.
1:02:36
I've been doing this on a daily basis with my students.
1:02:40
Sending contacting to senior colleges on their behalf, finding out why their credit didn't transfer.
1:02:48
Speaking with the students one on one and finding out, well, I wanted to do this major, but I heard my friends say that maybe that major is better.
1:02:58
And that's what they are doing.
1:02:59
And so, you know, maybe that's what I want to do.
1:03:03
My daughter's boyfriend changed his major from music to psychology because he spoke to her.
1:03:11
So does this happen all the time?
1:03:13
It happens all the time.
Eric Dinowitz
1:03:15
You know, there are some people in this room who've done pretty well from themselves with the music community.
Sangeeta Bishop
1:03:19
I know.
1:03:20
And I think he would have done pretty well, and I think he thinks too because now he's not interested in psychology anymore.
1:03:26
So okay.
1:03:27
So yeah.
1:03:28
But students do this.
1:03:29
So, yes, student voice is very important, but at the same time, I think that chair voice is really important, just like parent voice is important.
1:03:39
You know, they're as they're saying, they've dealt with this for as parents.
1:03:44
I've dealt with it as a parent as well, but I think that it's important to involve all these different voices in trying to get data.
1:03:54
And I'm pretty sure that Alicia and the contribution that she makes when she talks from students is also coming from the chairs for a point of view because I know that I've been talking to Alicia for years on this topic.
1:04:07
And on several other topics that pertain to this.
1:04:10
So we do take it into account.
1:04:11
Maybe we don't have a student sitting there saying, you know, oh, can you add question x and can you add question y?
1:04:18
Can students really do that?
1:04:20
I don't know.
1:04:22
I I have you know, yeah, student voice is very, very important, but a lot of times students don't know what they are looking for, and they need guidance.
1:04:31
And that guidance comes from faculty, from department chairs, from administration, from advisors.
1:04:40
And I think that's where CUNY needs most assistance is getting the students the support that they need.
1:04:50
So they don't go and take, you know, change their major to psychology just because their girlfriend told them that that's what she's doing.
Eric Dinowitz
1:04:57
They could just double major.
Sangeeta Bishop
1:05:00
Well, you know, if he had talked to me about it, that's what I would have told him to do, but he didn't come to me.
1:05:05
He changed his major.
Eric Dinowitz
1:05:06
A lot of people have done very well double majoring.
Sangeeta Bishop
1:05:09
Exactly.
Eric Dinowitz
1:05:09
In music and something else.
Sangeeta Bishop
1:05:11
Exactly.
1:05:12
That's my point.
Eric Dinowitz
1:05:14
I I would just I would just share that I often find a disconnect between the student experience and the levels of bureaucracy that it takes to get up to things like a survey.
1:05:26
Mhmm.
1:05:27
And I I value that you are recognizing the need for a to address transfer credits.
1:05:34
But again, it is something that has been here for for years, a problem, for years.
1:05:39
And so to to not recognize the voice of the students doesn't discount the voices of the advisers, which we recognize don't always talk to the students who have the most need.
1:05:50
Right?
1:05:50
That's what
Alicia Alvero
1:05:51
And we
Wendy Hensel
1:05:52
have spoken and we'll continue to do so because of the value of the student voice.
1:05:57
So, yeah, please know that that is a priority of the office of academic affairs, and we worked very closely with the student senate with these issues.
Eric Dinowitz
1:06:05
I'll never forget a couple years ago when we were talking about students with disabilities on community campuses.
1:06:11
And there were there was there's a lot that CUNY does for students' disabilities.
1:06:18
They testified, if it was great.
1:06:20
And then afterwards, we had a student testify They didn't even know they couldn't even find the office for students' disabilities.
1:06:29
Alright?
1:06:29
And this was they they were able to figure out how to come to a hearing and testify to New York City Council here but couldn't navigate the system acuity.
1:06:40
Which is always a reminder to me that the things that we see as People who look at data and are consolidating information from various places are not always the experiences we directly hear from the students.
1:06:56
That was a long way of saying, talk to more students.
1:07:00
And so once that student transfers from a community college to a 4 year institution.
