SUNY Chancellor King Highlights AI in Action Fellows as AI Literacy Requirement Begins Across the System

September 7, 2026

Spotlights Faculty AI in Action Fellows During Visit to SUNY Brockport

Student Led, ACM SIGAI, Club Advances Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Research

Albany, NY – State University of New York Chancellor John B. King Jr. highlighted SUNY's AI in Action: Transforming Higher Education through AI fellowship during a recent visit to SUNY Brockport. As part of the fellowship, which is made possible by a SUNY initiative to support the responsible use of AI across the System, SUNY Brockport faculty members are receiving training to advance AI literacy.

SUNY Brockport is one of 11 campuses partnering with the State University of New York at Buffalo through the Empire AI Campus Partnerships announced by SUNY earlier this year. Other campuses include — Alfred State College, SUNY Buffalo State University, SUNY Fredonia, SUNY Geneseo, SUNY Oswego, SUNY Erie, Genesee Community College, Jamestown Community College, Monroe Community College, and SUNY Niagara — across Central and Western New York. Twenty-five fellows were selected from participating campuses to participate in workshops that focus on curricular development and include important overviews related to ethics, compliance, and accessibility.

The Empire AI Campus Partnerships link SUNY's University Centers, university colleges, technology colleges, and community colleges to advance AI research and education for the public good. The partnerships leverage Empire AI to increase research experiences, professional development, and other opportunities for SUNY students and faculty.

During his visit, Chancellor King also emphasized SUNY Brockport's Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Artificial Intelligence (ACM SIGAI) student chapter, which was the first one established in western New York. The program bridges the gap between academic theory and real-world application, while creating a space for collaboration, innovation, and cutting-edge research.

"SUNY is on the move and leading the way on initiatives that advance responsible artificial intelligence use for the public good," said SUNY Chancellor King. "With strong support from Governor Hochul and the State Legislature, campuses like SUNY Brockport are supporting students and faculty and bolstering innovation and transformative research."

The SUNY Board of Trustees said, "Across the SUNY System, we are committed to increasing the responsible use of artificial intelligence through education, collaboration, and research. By placing faculty and students at the forefront of cutting-edge programs, we are preparing the next generation to use artificial intelligence to strengthen communities across New York."

SUNY Brockport President Dawn Meza Soufleris said, "SUNY Brockport is committed to engaging with artificial intelligence ethically, thoughtfully, and proactively. We are so pleased that we are able to partner with the University at Buffalo through SUNY's AI in Action initiative. Our fellows are participating in workshops that not only enhance their own skills, but make it possible for them to return to campus and pass that information on to students and faculty across our university."

State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, Chair of the Internet & Technology Committee, said, "An often-overlooked component of AI literacy and higher education is accessibility. The Empire AI Campus Partnership with SUNY has been a fantastic effort to increase technological accessibility and use AI for public good among students. I am pleased to hear about SUNY Brockport's AI in Action Fellowship to continue and expand this good work by promoting AI literacy and responsible use among faculty and staff. Thank you to Chancellor King and all SUNY faculty for their commitment to leveraging our state's Empire AI initiatives."

State Assemblymember Steve Otis, Chair of the Assembly Science and Technology Committee, said, "Congratulations to the SUNY system that makes today's announcement possible. SUNY embraced AI as a tool for innovation and research years before the rapid growth of AI crossed the nation and the globe. New York's focus on AI for the public good is only achieved by matching the growth with careful implementation when integrated into the curriculum and used throughout SUNY. This will be the centerpiece of the Fellows program. Special credit goes to Chancellor John King who has partnered with AI leaders throughout the SUNY system to ensure thoughtful public purpose driven AI development."

SUNY Brockport's AI in Action fellows are Dr. Jack Peltz, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology, Philosophy, and Neuroscience and Keith Weber, Lecturer in the Department of Business Administration. They are part of a team that is organizing a campus-wide "AI for Education Forum" on Friday, September 4, where students and faculty will discuss the latest AI technology and how it can be positively and ethically incorporated into academic work. Both fellows are integrating AI modules into their classes this year and coaching faculty colleagues on using various AI tools.

SUNY is committed to using thoughtful and responsible artificial intelligence integration to benefit students, faculty, and staff. Artificial intelligence initiatives include:

  • SUNY's FACT2 Advisory Council established the Optimizing AI for Teaching and Learning Task Group to share findings related to best practices for AI usage, teaching opportunities connected to AI usage, how students might use AI, and related considerations. 
  • Naming the inaugural SUNY AI for the Public Good Fellows, made up of 20 SUNY faculty and staff across disciplines ranging from health sciences to sustainable resources management. The Fellows serve as a resource to colleagues working to update courses and learning activities to incorporate AI literacy, including the effective and ethical use of AI and teaching students to critically evaluate AI-generated content.
  • Updating SUNY's General Education Framework core competency in information literacy in order to reflect the rise of emerging technologies and AI. As a result of this change, all students will develop skills to evaluate information from a variety of sources, with an awareness of authority, validity, bias, and origin, and demonstrate an understanding of the ethical dimensions of information use, creation, and dissemination.
  • Hosting Governor Hochul's Empire AI consortium, which provides supercomputer access to researchers working to advance the public good. Empire AI is housed at the State University of New York at Buffalo and includes the State University of New York at Albany, Binghamton, and Stony Brook, along with the state's other leading research institutions.
  • Launching the nation's first independent AI research center at a public university. The Center for AI Responsibility and Research at the State University of New York at Binghamton will be the nation's premier academic hub for creating the science and engineering of responsible, repeatable, and transparent artificial intelligence.
  • Launching Departments and Centers of AI & Society across eight SUNY institutions – which foster collaboration across disciplines to provide inclusive AI research, address ethical concerns in the use of AI, and advance responsible data use.

About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state's only college of optometry, 12 Educational Opportunity Centers, over 30 ATTAIN digital literacy labs, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.7 million students across its portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2025, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and annually one in three New Yorkers who earn a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit suny.edu.

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