VCU news

By VCU News staff

In his annual State of the University address today, Virginia Commonwealth University President Michael Rao, Ph.D., said that VCU has a vital responsibility to prepare students for the “lifetime of changes” that await them in a rapidly evolving, technologically sophisticated world.

Rao, who spoke to an in-person audience in the lecture hall of James Branch Cabell Library and to those watching via livestream, emphasized that transformative innovations are altering how people live in previously unthinkable ways. That presents a wealth of opportunities for universities such as VCU to contribute to society’s newest advances.

“The pace of human technological innovation has increased dramatically,” he said. “Think about it. Our ancestors could live their entire short lives using the same kinds of tools and technologies that were available when they were born and when their grandparents were born. That’s not the case today. Many of us in this room were alive before the Internet and cell phones became even close to popular, and now they’ve changed our world. What will change by the time a child born today becomes old enough to go to college? And what will change by the time this year’s freshmen become seniors and graduate in four years?”

In light of that uncertain landscape, Rao said, “VCU is adapting to changes — and even creating the changes we see in our society and our technology.”

Rao pointed to three major areas of impact during his address:

• How VCU’s research drives innovation.
• How students get professional experiences that help prepare them for their careers.
• And how VCU is preparing students for a world driven by emerging technologies.

As a major public research university, VCU contributes research that helps advance needed changes, Rao said. The impact of that research on people’s lives and society is what gives it meaning – and the influence of the university’s faculty-led discoveries is at an “all-time high,” he said.

“We owe it to all of the people who benefit from our research to push to the next level,” Rao said. “And that’s a big message that I’m sending today. What that means is that focusing and prioritizing appropriate resources for our research mission is critical. It’s supporting our faculty’s role in research, innovation and creativity – all of the ways that we perform what we call research – and conscientiously attracting more of the world’s top researchers to VCU.”

Rao said it is imperative to integrate students at all levels of the university’s research mission. Through the “Every Ram’s a Researcher” initiative, VCU now has about 5,500 undergraduates and 2,250 graduate students participating in research at some level. Rao said that’s just a starting point.

“Research experience benefits students in so many aspects of their careers and their lives,” he said. “We’re developing the next generation of great thinkers, inventors, innovators and problem-solvers. And that is exactly what our country and the world need.”

Similarly, Rao said it will continue to be essential to help students gain professional experiences while in college to prepare them for their careers. VCU’s transformative learning initiative requires all VCU students to have at least one learning experience – working in an internship, a faculty-led research project or problem-solving with industry partners – by the time they graduate.

Rao said VCU is working to ensure that there is greater alignment between the university and employers to identify opportunities for students in workplaces, such as internships.

“Going forward, we’ll use VCU’s position in the state and throughout the Mid-Atlantic to connect with employers of all sizes and engage them in supporting professional experiences for our students,” Rao said.

Preparing students for the future also means preparing them for the technological landscape that awaits them, Rao said. Perhaps the biggest headliner of technological progress today is artificial intelligence, and its impact has been embraced at VCU.

“Artificial intelligence is here, and it will continue to evolve,” Rao said. “As a research university, we have the ability to help drive this new technology and be part of the process as it grows. Additionally, we have a responsibility to help our students understand its impact and give them the tools they need to work with this new technology as it evolves. And, finally, we have lots to learn from our students about AI. We find that out every day.” 

Rao noted that VCU has launched a minor in artificial intelligence that allows students, no matter their level or major, to access coursework to help them understand AI.

“Many of our students may never need to write code or understand the mechanics that underlie AI programs, but they’re going to live in a world with it, which means they need to understand it and how it can be helpful in automating tasks and the challenges that come with it,” Rao said.

In addition to creating an undergraduate minor, VCU faculty are using or talking about AI in a range of courses. For instance, Rao cited William Song, Ph.D., who runs the medical physics program in the School of Medicine and uses AI to develop algorithms to solve specific problems in medicine, such as generating medical treatment plans.

The Convergence Labs @VCU are powerful transdisciplinary units designed to support research while creating experiential learning opportunities for students. Rao said that the university is creating a lab focused on AI –  Convergence Labs @VCU - AI+ – that will be ready to launch this spring.

Going forward in 2025, Rao said VCU will continue to prioritize its core missions: 

• Student success at every level. This includes recruiting, preparation for a changing future, graduating on time, and launching them into their careers.
• Supporting and recruiting faculty to advance more research that impacts people’s lives.
• Providing complex care driven by advanced research and innovation that saves and improves lives, and promotes human health.
• And preparing the VCU community for ongoing changes and challenges throughout their lives.

“VCU is absolutely uncommon,” Rao said. “It is a major public research university that is made for people from all backgrounds who are motivated and willing to do the work that we need to be successful as a society and, of course, individually – people who are driven to innovate and invent. … I see people who are thinking all the time about how to make the world a better place. People who are willing to use their ingenuity and passion to achieve not just their goals but goals that we all share. People who never stop being curious. … These are the things that really matter. That’s who we are at VCU.”

AI and the curriculum

Following the State of the University address, Frank Faries, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy, and Elaine Reeder, Ph.D., director of curriculum development for VCU Online, joined Rao for a discussion about AI and how VCU is incorporating it into its curriculum.

Reeder noted that interest in AI is extremely high among both students and faculty – and that interest is not limited by discipline. In fact, VCU’s emphasis on extending AI into all learning experiences distinguishes it among its peers, Reeder said.

“If you ask most people where AI should be in a university, they’ll say computer science and engineering, but that’s not the world we’re living in – AI is everywhere,” Reeder said. “It’s in health care. It’s in business. It’s everywhere. So we need to infuse AI into every learning experience so that every student has an opportunity to get their hands on it.”

In light of AI’s rapid evolution, VCU’s approach is designed to “future-proof our students,” said Faries, who is among the instructors of an Ethics in AI course at VCU that goes beyond existing AI technologies to prepare students for what lies ahead. Putting philosophy at the core of VCU’s AI initiative helps students understand AI beyond the technical components of its practical applications, Faries said.

“We can’t predict change,” he said. “All we can do is cultivate a foundation that will prepare students regardless of what the future looks like.”