Developing an AI Competencies Workshop Certificate Series for Graduate Students
Start Date
3-18-2026 3:00 PM
End Date
3-18-2026 3:30 PM
Keywords
artificial intelligence, ACRL AI Competencies, workshop certificate series
Description of Proposal
This presentation will describe the process used to create an AI Competencies Workshop Certificate Series for Graduate Students, modeled on the ACRL Competencies for Academic Library Workers (2024) that features a series of seven online workshops on academically relevant AI topics. The aim was to create a scalable, certificate-bearing program that equips graduate students with foundational, analytical, applied, and ethical literacies necessary for navigating AI in research, scholarship, and professional practice.
The ACRL framework identifies four key competency domains that academic communities need in order to engage responsibly and effectively with AI technologies: Knowledge and Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation, Use and Application, and Ethical Considerations. The author created a series of seven workshops that map closely onto these domains, demonstrating the feasibility of adapting these domains to a formalized workshop series leading to a certificate.
For example, the "AI Awareness: Keeping Up with AI" workshop that begins the series directly supports the Knowledge & Understanding competency by helping students identify and follow current trends and emerging AI developments. Similarly, workshops such as “Streamlining Research & Lit Reviews Using AI” and “Using AI in Grant Preparation” advance skills in Analysis & Evaluation by teaching students to critically assess and strategically incorporate AI tools within scholarly workflows.
The Use & Application domain is addressed through the workshop “Garbage In, Garbage Out: AI Prompt Engineering,” which gives students practical techniques for constructing effective inputs to optimize outputs of generative AI systems. The Ethical Considerations domain, central to the ACRL Competencies, is fulfilled through workshops such as “AI, Ethics and Social Justice,” “AI Evasion and Detection,” and “Who Owns AI? Artificial Intelligence & Copyright,” providing students with a grounding in algorithmic fairness, responsible use, academic integrity, and intellectual property in the age of AI.
The series requires students to complete one workshop in each competency area in order to be eligible for the certificate, mirroring the structure of the ACRL Competencies and ensuring balanced, comprehensive skill development. Offered online, free of charge, and scheduled consistently on Thursdays from 3–4 p.m., the proposed certificate program is designed to ensure accessibility and ease of participation for graduate students across disciplines.
By formalizing the workshop series into a certificate pathway aligned with the ACRL Competencies, the library has been able to empower graduate students with critical and transferable skills, position itself as a leader in AI literacy on campus, and promote responsible, ethical engagement with AI across the university. Although specifically targeted to graduate students, faculty in variety of disciplines have also enrolled in the workshops and participated enthusiastically.
The workshop certificate series has been surprisingly successful, registering over five hundred attendees during the initial 2025 fall semester rollout. Graduate students who have enrolled in the series feel that AI fluency is increasingly essential in research, teaching and the workplace. Several have said that they believe that the AI Competencies certificate will give them a competitive edge in an increasingly tight job market
Developing an AI Competencies Workshop Certificate Series for Graduate Students
This presentation will describe the process used to create an AI Competencies Workshop Certificate Series for Graduate Students, modeled on the ACRL Competencies for Academic Library Workers (2024) that features a series of seven online workshops on academically relevant AI topics. The aim was to create a scalable, certificate-bearing program that equips graduate students with foundational, analytical, applied, and ethical literacies necessary for navigating AI in research, scholarship, and professional practice.
The ACRL framework identifies four key competency domains that academic communities need in order to engage responsibly and effectively with AI technologies: Knowledge and Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation, Use and Application, and Ethical Considerations. The author created a series of seven workshops that map closely onto these domains, demonstrating the feasibility of adapting these domains to a formalized workshop series leading to a certificate.
For example, the "AI Awareness: Keeping Up with AI" workshop that begins the series directly supports the Knowledge & Understanding competency by helping students identify and follow current trends and emerging AI developments. Similarly, workshops such as “Streamlining Research & Lit Reviews Using AI” and “Using AI in Grant Preparation” advance skills in Analysis & Evaluation by teaching students to critically assess and strategically incorporate AI tools within scholarly workflows.
The Use & Application domain is addressed through the workshop “Garbage In, Garbage Out: AI Prompt Engineering,” which gives students practical techniques for constructing effective inputs to optimize outputs of generative AI systems. The Ethical Considerations domain, central to the ACRL Competencies, is fulfilled through workshops such as “AI, Ethics and Social Justice,” “AI Evasion and Detection,” and “Who Owns AI? Artificial Intelligence & Copyright,” providing students with a grounding in algorithmic fairness, responsible use, academic integrity, and intellectual property in the age of AI.
The series requires students to complete one workshop in each competency area in order to be eligible for the certificate, mirroring the structure of the ACRL Competencies and ensuring balanced, comprehensive skill development. Offered online, free of charge, and scheduled consistently on Thursdays from 3–4 p.m., the proposed certificate program is designed to ensure accessibility and ease of participation for graduate students across disciplines.
By formalizing the workshop series into a certificate pathway aligned with the ACRL Competencies, the library has been able to empower graduate students with critical and transferable skills, position itself as a leader in AI literacy on campus, and promote responsible, ethical engagement with AI across the university. Although specifically targeted to graduate students, faculty in variety of disciplines have also enrolled in the workshops and participated enthusiastically.
The workshop certificate series has been surprisingly successful, registering over five hundred attendees during the initial 2025 fall semester rollout. Graduate students who have enrolled in the series feel that AI fluency is increasingly essential in research, teaching and the workplace. Several have said that they believe that the AI Competencies certificate will give them a competitive edge in an increasingly tight job market
What takeaways will attendees learn from your session?
1. How the ACRL AI Competencies Framework Can Be Operationalized
Attendees will learn how the four ACRL competency areas—Knowledge & Understanding, Analysis & Evaluation, Use & Application, and Ethical Considerations—can be translated into a practical, scalable workshop series for graduate students.
2. A Model for Structuring an AI Certificate Program
They will discover how to design a certificate system requiring graduate students to complete one workshop from each competency area, ensuring balanced skill acquisition and alignment with national academic library standards.
3. How to Map Workshop Topics to AI Competency Domains
The session will demonstrate how specific workshop subjects—AI awareness, research applications, prompt engineering, ethics, detection, and copyright—map neatly onto the ACRL AI competencies and support targeted learning outcomes.
4. Insights on Marketing, Accessibility, and Implementation Logistics
Attendees will leave with practical considerations for scheduling, advertising, and delivering the series (e.g., offering workshops online, one-hour format, consistent weekly scheduling) to maximize graduate student participation.