AI Steering Committee

The UNM AI Steering Committee was established to define an institutional approach to AI. The committee is responsible for examining issues around how to integrate AI across UNM’s academic, research and administrative domains.

Committee Charge

The University of New Mexico is focused on human-centered, trustworthy, and sustainable AI strategies that support innovation and advance the peoples of New Mexico. This central site for AI information will connect students, staff, faculty and partners with the University’s ethical AI use framework, policies, tools, and other resources that increase AI literacy and understanding.

Committee Focus

This will include establishing evaluation processes and providing a clear pathway for scaling successful pilot projects.
This will involve grounding AI use in UNM’s mission, values, and commitments while prioritizing fairness, transparency, academic integrity, privacy, academic freedom, intellectual property, autonomy and environmental sustainability.
This will include leading communication and coordination among colleges and various administrative units and student groups.
  • Teaching and learning: This will span collaborative integration of AI through conducting a campuswide inventory of AI practices and needs, and developing ethical guidance for AI use that is pedagogically sound.
  • Research, scholarship and creative works: This will involve supporting research innovation by mapping AI-related research practices, needs and gaps across disciplines and AI professional development.
  • Administrative and operational applications: This will focus on advancing AI use in administrative functions by creating partnerships with UNM IT to take into account data privacy and compliance, efficiency, transparency and staff support.
This area will include governance and compliance; operational and human resource support; technology infrastructure; funding and sustainability; evaluation and transparency; and external partnerships and community engagement.

Committee Members

The committee includes representatives from all facets of the University, including academic units, research, information technology and student leadership.

  • Chair – Mark Emmons, Dean, College of Libraries and Learning Sciences
  • Co-Chair – Victor Law, Professor, Organization, Information and Learning Sciences Program
  • Soraya Abad-Mota, Senior Lecturer III, Department of Computer Science
  • Elisha Allen, Director, Online Strategies & Academic Technologies, Information Technologies
  • Manuel Cisneros, ASUNM Senator
  • Erin Duddy, Instructional Media Specialist, UNM-Taos
  • Grace Faustino, Information Technology Services Manager, Office of the Vice President for Research
  • Sonia Gipson Rankin, Professor, School of Law
  • Laura Hall, Lecturer III; Division Head, Resources, Archives and Discovery, Health Sciences Library & Informatics Center
  • David Hurley, Associate Dean, University Libraries
  • Eva Lipton-Ormand, UNM AI Project Manager
  • Irina Meier, Senior Lecturer, Russian, Languages, Cultures and Literatures
  • Stephanie Moore, Associate Professor, Organization, Information and Learning Sciences
  • Melanie Moses, Distinguished Professor, Department of Computer Science, School of Engineering
  • Ethan Rule, Director of Marketing, University Communication & Marketing
  • Stephanie Spong, Director, Teaching Support and Digital Learning, Center for Teaching & Learning
  • Alesia Torres, Director of Applications, Information Technologies
  • Fan Xu, Assistant Professor, Educational Technology, College of Education & Human Sciences