From Grant to Playbook: A Replicable AI Literacy Framework for Rural Colleges

Friday, October 02, 2026 | 9:15AM–10:00AM MT
Session Type: Breakout Session
Delivery Format: Presentation
Many AI literacy initiatives are built for institutions with resources, infrastructure, and technical staff that rural community colleges simply don't have. This session offers a different model. Presenters will share the full arc of a four-year federal initiative designed to build AI literacy across faculty, staff, students, and the regional workforce at a rural community college in the American Southwest. From writing a successful federal grant proposal to developing the Foundational vs. Scalable Skills framework, launching a four-level faculty development pathway, and designing a parallel staff capacity program, this session walks through every decision that shaped the work: what to build, what to avoid, and what to package as open educational resources so any resource-constrained institution can replicate the model without starting from scratch. If your institution is wondering how to fund AI literacy work, design faculty development that actually changes practice, or build a framework other colleges can adopt without starting from scratch, this session is for you.

Presenters

  • Wendy Ashby

    Instructional Designer/Faculty Developer, Cochise County Community College District
  • Martin Versluis

    FIPSE Grant Project Director, Cochise County Community College District