When technology giant Google offered an artificial intelligence partnership, the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and Arkansas State University in Jonesboro quickly agreed.
The two universities are among the more than 300 nationwide participating in Google’s AI for Education Accelerator program. The free program, part of the company’s $1 billion investment in artificial intelligence, gives public universities access to AI training and resources through Google’s platform.
The universities’ participation in the cohort was made public in early October when Google announced its plan to invest $4 billion in a data center in West Memphis.
At the UA, Google’s artificial intelligence offer was welcomed by engineering professor Chase Rainwater, who is the head of the university’s AI Task Force. The Task Force was created in 2024 to analyze how the university could best use AI tools and resources in higher education.
Rainwater, who is the head of the industrial engineering department, is the UA’s Provost Fellow for AI.
“Google’s expanding their infrastructure with an AI data center in northeast Arkansas,” Rainwater said, referring to the West Memphis project.
“As part of those efforts, they began connecting with the state, and with that came a contact about becoming an academic partner within the AI space. We were lucky enough to be able to go over to their launch event this fall, and they were able to announce us as one of the — and the only R1 partner [the highest tier of research institution] in Arkansas — in this [cohort].
“There’s multiple layers here. This is going to be something that we can make available to all our faculty, students and staff. This isn’t limited to one component, and there’s no cost to the university for this outside of our IT maintenance, which is unique.”
Arkansas State officials praised the opportunity to work with Google.
“A-State is proud to join Google’s AI for Education Accelerator, advancing our commitment to integrating artificial intelligence into every aspect of teaching, learning, and workforce development,” said Chris Boothman, A-State’s vice chancellor for distance education and technology and its chief information officer. “Building on our partnership through [Google’s] Coursera Career Academy, this collaboration expands access to Google certifications for students, faculty, and staff, equipping our campus community with the skills and credentials that drive innovation and economic growth across northeast Arkansas, the Delta, and beyond.”
AI-Certified
The Google AI program offers training and instruction to students, faculty and staff at public universities.
The offerings include certificates through three to six months of online study in numerous fields that include cybersecurity, data analytics, digital marketing and IT support. Rainwater said there are three specific courses: AI essentials, which Google describes as learning to use generative AI tools; prompting essentials, which teaches how to direct generative AI for specific results; and agile essentials to learn how to boost efficiency.
“You’re talking about training that can extend across students from any background,” Rainwater said. “Really, for the foundational courses in this there’s no prior knowledge [required]. What that does is it provides the provost office and our faculty flexibility to implement this however they see best. These courses can exist as standalone courses for credit.”
Boothman agreed that the Google AI courses will be beneficial to all students, not just those in computer fields, for example. A Google certificate can be an added boost to a student’s traditional learning portfolio in the eyes of potential employers.
“It also becomes a credentialing opportunity,” Boothman said in an email to Arkansas Business. “With Google certifications and advanced tracks in AI, students can complement their degree discipline with industry-aligned credentials.
“The increasing availability of ‘AI literacy’ courses means that more students across various fields, not just computer science, will graduate with a meaningful foundation in AI. AI is predominantly about prompt engineering and the use of natural language, and so can be beneficial for students in all disciplines, and something all students can learn without needing a technical background.”
Rainwater said the course certifications hold extra weight because employers such as Google, Dell Computers, AT&T, Ford Motor Co. and Southwest Airlines have contributed to the curriculum. Those companies know what AI skills they would like their employees to have.
“They agreed when they became a partner with Google to inform the content of these materials, but they also agreed to those that are a part of this, from our side of the fence, that students will have access to job boards that are specific to these partners,” Rainwater said. “It’s an opportunity for our students to have another avenue for employment. We have some of those places that we already have partnerships with, but this is going to add a lot.”
Teaching Aid
Boothman said the Google AI cohort won’t just help students learn, but also will help teachers teach.
“Professors will increasingly integrate AI tools into their pedagogy, both to enhance student learning and to reflect contemporary skills required,” Boothman said. “We already have policy guidance at A-State that provides sample syllabus statements and ethical guidelines around AI use. Research and interdisciplinary work will increasingly involve ‘AI + domain’ combinations — AI in agriculture, health care, engineering, education, business, public policy, etc. A-State will soon be launching an AI Center of Excellence, focused on developing research initiatives leveraging AI at the heart of this.”
Rainwater said that during his research while leading UA’s AI Task Force, he learned numerous professors wanted training in AI.
“Frankly, as this kind of AI movement continues to grow, we have a lot of needs to train our faculty and staff,” Rainwater said. “It’s not cheap to develop your own training. This is going to give us something to be able to, kind of overnight, turn the switch on and to at least have a great starting place.
“For those teachers who want to incorporate AI, this is a way for this. They don’t have to go back to school. The majority of faculty we talked to want something that they could use to skill up so that the students aren’t ahead of them.”
No Shortcuts
One of the concerns about AI is its unethical use. There are always going to be students who look for the easy way out, using AI as a replacement for study or research rather than as a complementary tool.
Rainwater said he spoke with a colleague who recently had a job posting result in 65 identical submitted resumes. The resumes had all been generated by people entering the same search parameters — the job description — into an AI program, which spit out the same result each time.
“You can use this AI to shortcut your education process, in which case that’s not the outcome that would be great,” Rainwater said. “Or you could use this to have a tremendous, tremendous amount of access to tutoring and studying support that you never had. It gives you a 24/7 tutor that can be personalized to you.
“If [students] use it in that way and still hold themselves accountable to knowing and learning it, this is going to be huge.”
Boothman agreed the ethical use of AI is a concern.
“Like many industries, higher education is facing significant ethical and security challenges with the rise of AI,” Boothman said. “At Arkansas State, we’re proactively addressing these issues by setting clear guidelines for classroom use and establishing policies to protect institutional and personal data.
“Our goal is to empower students, faculty, and staff to use AI responsibly within secure, approved platforms, maximizing innovation while safeguarding privacy and integrity.”
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