Rebel Spark AI Showcase

Responsible and Ethical Use of AI Throughout the Research Lifecycle

Presenter: Julie Bertoia, Research Integrity and Compliance Officer

This session will provide faculty and students with an overview of the ethical considerations in using AI for research. It will explore the current status of AI in research, where it is accepted, and how to use it ethically. The UNLV Research Integrity Officer will host the session, which will focus on responsible conduct of research with AI.

You Are Not Alone: Responsible Use of AI

Panelists:

• Melissa Morris, Professor-in-Residence, Mechanical Engineering and Faculty Director of the Teaching and Learning Commons
• Bob Cornell, Associate Professor, Accounting
• Dustin Davis, Assistant Professor-in-Residence, Anatomy and Physiology

Moderator: Beth Barrie, Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning Innovation

The panelists will provide information to help attendees create their own decision tree on the responsible use of AI. Questions will focus on why and how to use AI.

AI for Everyday Use

Panelists:

• Steve Ochsner, Endpoint Services Manager, Information Technology
• AJ Angulo, Student Workforce Development Coordinator, Information Technology
• Bob Soulliere, Assistant Vice President for Digital Services and Solutions, Information Technology

Moderator: Bob Soulliere, Assistant Vice President for Digital Services and Solutions, Information Technology

Practical AI. Immediate impact. See how AI can make everyday work easier, faster, and more effective. These sessions focus on approachable, real-world uses, from brainstorming and writing to organizing information, learning, analysis, and creating materials. Whether you’re just getting started or already using AI regularly, you’ll leave with ideas you can put to work right away.

The question we’re exploring: What could AI do for me?

The Future of Work: Life Design and Career Skills in the AI Era

As artificial intelligence reshapes how work gets done, students and faculty alike face a pressing question: how do we prepare for careers that may look very different from those we imagined? Panelists will discuss the skills that remain distinctly human, as well as new transferable skills to succeed in the AI era.

The conversation will address what this shift means for faculty as they prepare students, rethink curricula, and model lifelong learning. Attendees will leave with practical strategies for building resilient, purpose-driven career paths in an economy where the only constant is change.

Co-Moderators:

• Kass Moore, Director of Career Services and Workforce Development
• Kate Korgan, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs

Faculty Panelists:

• Ashlee Frandell, Assistant Professor, Public Administration, Public Policy
• Greg Moody, Lee Professor, Management Information Systems and Services
• Julian Kilker, Associate Professor, Journalism
• Yingtao Jiang, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs, Howard R. Hughes Engineering

Student Panelist:

• Remi Turok, Undergraduate Student, Applied Health Sciences
• Ashley Ramirez, Undergraduate Student, Business
• Argona Bytyqi, Doctoral Student, Teaching and Learning

An Introduction to AI Projects Using Claude

Presenter: Jonathan Hilpert, Assistant Vice President for Research Engagement

This session will focus on building and using prompts, defining an AI agent for different tasks, and evaluating outputs for authenticity. The session is meant to give students and faculty a strong foundation in using AI for research from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives.

Building Student Understanding of the Use of AI in the Classroom

Panelists:

• Nicholas Barron, Assistant Professor-in-Residence, Anthropology of Race and Racism
• Brett Detken, Lecturer/First Year Seminar & Business Communication Coordinator, Lee Business School
• and Catie Nielson, Assistant Professor-in-Residence, Psychology

Moderator: Beth Barrie, Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning Innovation

UNLV Online will discuss the framework its foundational and applied primers fit into and how the primers are created. Faculty members will share how they use the framework.

AI for Bigger Projects

Panelists:

• Bob Soulliere, Assistant Vice President for Digital Services and Solutions, Information Technology
• Pravin Kotadiya, Associate Director of Business Applications, Information Technology
• Alethea Inns, Senior Instructional Technology Innovation Support Specialist, Information Technology

Moderator: Bob Soulliere, Assistant Vice President for Digital Services and Solutions, Information Technology

Moving from a prompt to a process.

What happens when AI becomes more than a tool for answering a single question? These sessions explore how to use AI for larger, more complex work: working across collections of information, building repeatable workflows, analyzing data and documents, creating specialized assistants, connecting tools, and automating multi-step tasks.

From academic and creative projects to research, content creation, administration, and institutional work, this track explores how AI can help us tackle challenges differently and at a scale that wasn’t previously practical.

The question we’re exploring: How could AI change the way we do this?

Disrupting Learning: Student Experiences and AI Inside the Classroom and Beyond

This panel invites faculty and students to examine the opportunities and tensions that emerge as AI tools reshape education. Panelists will explore new models of teaching and assessment, the transparent and ethical use of AI, and what critical thinking and educational experiences look like in the Gen AI Era.

Students will share their thoughts and experiences about AI and their educational journeys, as well as what they need to successfully navigate AI-fueled change. Attendees will leave with concrete ideas for experimenting with AI, along with a shared sense of the questions worth pursuing together as lifelong learners.

Co-Moderators:

• Melissa Morris, Professor-in-Residence, Mechanical Engineering and Faculty Director of the Teaching and Learning Commons
• Kate Korgan, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs

Faculty Panelists:

• Matt Waid, Interim Director, Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities
• Kendall Hartley, Professor, Teaching and Learning
• Joseph Kevin Sebastian, Teaching and Learning Librarian for Online Education, UNLV Libraries

Student Panelists:

• Colin Covitz, Master’s Student, Business Administration
• David McGraw, Doctoral Student, Learning Sciences

How to Use AI in Research: Tools, Tips, and Lessons Learned

Panelists:

• Kavita Batra, Associate Professor and Executive Director of Medical Research and Scholarly Activities, Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine
• Monika Neda, Interim Dean, College of Sciences
• Nadia Pomirleanu, Professor, Marketing and International Business
• David Jackson, Professor and Chair, Obstetrics And Gynecology

Moderator: David Hatchett, Vice President for Research

This panel brings together perspectives from the humanities and social sciences, health, and sciences. Panelists will discuss how researchers in different fields use AI, including the tools they have identified, how they use them, and considerations for AI use in each field.

Applied Examples of AI in Teaching: 3 Examples From Faculty Incorporating AI in Their Teaching

Panelists:

• Jon Hilpert (Easy Implementation), Assistant Vice President for Research Engagement
• Brock Casselman (Medium Implementation), Assistant Professor-in-Residence, Chemistry
• Tony Ferrar (Advanced Implementation), Associate Professor-In-Residence and Chair, Applied and Interdisciplinary Engineering Department

Moderator: Melissa Morris, Professor-in-Residence, Mechanical Engineering and Faculty Director of the Teaching and Learning Commons

Panelists will provide examples of how they incorporated AI into teaching and discuss lessons learned and best practices.

The teaching and learning sessions aim to help attendees develop syllabus language, use a decision tree, and identify approaches to AI expectations for courses and assignments.

AI on the Edge: How One Colleague Used AI to Build an App to Help Teach His Native Language

Presenter: Rakitha Perera, Media Application Developer, Information Technology

Experiments, innovations, and a glimpse at what’s next.

This session showcases unconventional, emerging, and advanced uses of AI, including experiments, prototypes, and ideas that push beyond everyday applications.

The question we’re exploring: What becomes possible next?

An Era of Superintelligence? Civic Responsibility and Ethical Use of AI

As generative AI systems grow more capable, some researchers and commentators argue we are approaching an era of superintelligence, while others caution that such predictions outpace the evidence. Whatever the trajectory, the choices made today by universities, companies, policymakers, and individuals will shape how these tools affect public life, individual experiences, and our common future.

This panel invites students and faculty to examine what civic responsibility looks like at this moment: how to weigh the benefits of AI against risks. Panelists will discuss ethical frameworks that universities could use to guide responsible use in research, teaching, and learning, as well as the role of academic institutions in shaping public understanding and policy.

Attendees will leave with a clearer sense of the questions that matter most and practical ways to engage with AI thoughtfully, whether in a classroom, lab, library, or in the community.

Co-Moderators:

• Matt Waid, Interim Director, Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities
• Kate Korgan, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs

Faculty Panelists:

• Jesse Fitts, Assistant Professor in Residence, Department of Philosophy
• Soon Cho, Postdoctoral Scholar Researcher, Couple and Family Therapy

Student Panelists:

• Peter Quigley, Doctoral Student, Physics and Astronomy
• Lauren Oliver, Undergraduate Student, Music Performance and Information Systems