How can institutions light the path toward digital fluency for faculty, not as a one-time workshop, but as a meaningful, year-long journey? In this session, Dr. Troy Hicks and Katie Edmiston of Central Michigan University share the guiding principles and hard-won lessons behind their Digital Learning & Leadership Faculty Fellows program, a structured initiative that empowers a cross-disciplinary cohort of faculty to explore, implement, and reflect on creative and technology-enriched teaching.

You'll hear how Hicks and Edmiston approached faculty development as a thoughtful, iterative process — one grounded in real pedagogical challenges and refined through peer collaboration and reflection. From facilitating a series of inspiring, discussion-based trainings to building a sharable gallery of remixable multimedia assignments, they will show how intentional program design can spark meaningful learning experiences for faculty and students alike. 

Attendees will leave with practical frameworks and tangible examples to cultivate similar communities of practice at their own institutions.
 

• Katie Edmiston | Arts, Media, and Design Librarian & Assistant Professor, Central Michigan University.
• Dr. Troy Hicks | Acting Associate Dean & Professor of English and Education, Central Michigan University.

• Dr. Melissa Vito | Vice Provost of Academic Innovation, University of Texas at San Antonio.
• Dr. Todd Taylor | Adobe Pedagogical Evangelist & Professor of English, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Join this session to explore how Auburn University integrates AI-powered Adobe tools into engineering and cross-disciplinary courses to enhance student engagement and creativity. You’ll discover how tools like Adobe Podcast and Adobe Express support accessible, high-quality podcast production while reducing technical barriers for students. Through real course examples, this session highlights strategies for designing engaging assignments that build communication skills, creativity, and career-ready digital portfolios. 

Leave with practical ideas to implement AI-enhanced podcasting workflows in your own curriculum—no matter your discipline

• Dr. Chelsy Hooper | Instructional Technology Coordinator, Auburn University.
• Dr. Erin Garcia | Lecturer, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Auburn University.
• Dr. Sam James | Assistant Professor, Communication and Journalism, Auburn University.

• Dr. Melissa Vito | Vice Provost of Academic Innovation, University of Texas at San Antonio.
• Dr. Todd Taylor | Adobe Pedagogical Evangelist & Professor of English, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.