In her annual President’s Address to officially welcome the 2024-25 school year, Elon University President Connie Book announced a partnership with the American Association of Colleges and Universities to publish a student guide to artificial intelligence, which will act as a primer to AI.
The guide, titled “AI-U/v1.0,” is offered free to colleges and universities to distribute and adapt under the Creative Commons license and was developed by faculty, students and academic leaders at universities around the world.
During her speech, Book also highlighted progress at the midpoint of Boldly Elon — the university’s 10 year strategic plan with the themes of learn, thrive, connect and rise — which includes the development of the EcoVillage Living Learning Community in Loy Farms opening this fall, Health EU building opening in spring 2025 and daycare for staff, faculty and students starting 2025.
“Now more than ever, we need to be bold in our efforts to support student success,” Book said. “We need to be confident that Elon's mission is crucial, that the work we do does change lives and that we will continue to press forward with excellence in higher education.”
Book also discussed the new additions in majors and minors throughout the schools, including a major in neuroscience, a minor in cybersecurity management and a graduate certificate in healthcare and analytics.
Book commemorated the 30th anniversary of the Elon core curriculum, which was announced by former university President Fred Young in 1994, including shifting to a four credit hour curriculum, introducing the experiential learning requirement and launching the Elon 1010 course for freshmen.
“Elon’s story of transformation and impact is a continuing one, unfolding through the work each of you do every day,” Book said. “Our future and our ability to rise and keep our mission vibrant depend on our ability to tell Elon's story of student impact and transformation in a way that resonates with future students, alumni and other stakeholders.”