Learning Together: How Students and Educators are Harnessing AI for Success - Ep. 279

Hello, and welcome to the NVIDIA AI podcast. I'm your host, Noah Kravitz. In 2018, our guest became the youngest California community college president when she took over the presidency at Los Angeles Southwest College. Four years later, doctor Saharah Wan became president of Mission College, a public community college in Santa Clara, California, just a few miles down the road from NVIDIA headquarters. In just a few short years since then, doctor Awan has led Mission College to an increase in the number of degrees and certificates awarded to students, as well as sustained post pandemic enrollment increases. She's also worked to build strategic partnerships across the Silicon Valley community and taken a thoughtful and inclusive approach to the role of technology, including AI, in higher education. It's that last bit, the role of AI in the future of education, the workforce, and lifelong learning, that made us think we should invite doctor Awan onto the podcast to explore all this stuff together. And we're so glad she accepted. Doctor Sahair Awan is president of Mission College, and she's here with us now to talk about technology, AI, and the roles of community college and higher education in our society. Doctor Awan, thank you so much for joining, and welcome to the NVIDIA AI podcast. Thank you so much, Noah. I'm so excited to be here. We're very excited to speak with you. Maybe we can start you can start by telling the audience just a little bit about Mission College. We know it's in Santa Clara. We know you're in the heart of Silicon Valley. Tell us a little more beyond that. Absolutely. So Mission College is, I feel like, a a hidden gem of Santa Clara and the Silicon Valley. I would say we're our premier community college in the area. We've been here for fifty years, and we just are celebrating our fifty year anniversary this year. Oh, amazing. No. I think one of the things that makes mission so special has been the inception of this college really came from centering the students in our work even fifty years ago and wanting to create a safe space for individuals from every background, you know, refugees, you know, single parents, underprivileged populations, to come and find a place where they could feel supported, a sense of belonging, and to really bring their full authentic selves to the experiences of education so that they could go and become change makers in our community. So Mission is a really special place, and we've been educating, the Silicon Valley for over fifty years now. Incredible. And so I think you spoke and maybe hinted at it a little bit, just now, but what inspired you to take the role to lead Mission College, and how does your own journey influence, you know, the way you lead and your vision for the institution? Sure. So I was a community college student myself. Was not that great of a student in …