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

What It Covers

Doctor Saharah Awan, president of Mission College in Silicon Valley, discusses how the community college integrates AI into curriculum and operations while serving 7,000 predominantly underrepresented students through equity-centered technology adoption and workforce partnerships.

Key Questions Answered

• •AI Certificate Program: Mission College became the first California community college to partner with NVIDIA, certifying faculty to teach AI curriculum mapped to NVIDIA content while offering free tuition and meals to remove access barriers for underrepresented populations in their service area.
• •Agentic AI for Student Services: Mission automated student support triage using agentic AI, reducing response time from days to instant for crisis situations like housing insecurity. Students now receive immediate resources upon form submission rather than waiting for manual manager review and spreadsheet coordination.
• •Hybrid Learning Infrastructure: Post-pandemic enrollment stabilized at 60% in-person and 40% online classes. The college invested in Zoom pods on campus to support students taking mixed schedules, providing private spaces for remote learning between in-person classes without additional costs.
• •Paid Internship Model: Mission partners with Stanford University, Applied Materials, and other Silicon Valley companies to provide paid internships rather than unpaid positions, recognizing that 75% of students work full-time and cannot afford to donate labor while supporting families and paying rent.