2026 AI Summit for Smarter Learning

Join us for a full-day summit on Teaching and Learning with AI for UNC Charlotte!
May 13, 2026 (WEDNESDAY) | 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM | DUBOIS CENTER

Call for Proposals and Registration is opens November 5, 2025!

The Charlotte AI Summit for Smarter Learning is a FREE event.

Building Momentum with Generative AI at UNC Charlotte

In its 4th year, the 2026 Charlotte AI Summit for Smarter Learning drives digital transformation and leads the responsible and innovative integration of AI across the curriculum. It has served as a campus roadmap for the UNC Charlotte community, showcasing innovative and practice-based approaches to the use of AI both within and across disciplines.

Through knowledge sharing, hands-on demonstrations, and bold discussions with colleagues, the summit continues to examine the impact of AI and pave the way forward to leverage AI in ways that transform the ways we teach and the ways our students learn.

2026 Summit Focus:

At the 4th Charlotte AI Summit for Smarter Learning, we’ll explore how AI can become—or is already becoming—a transformative learning partner, fostering collaboration and deeper learning outcomes across disciplines.

The collaboration between humans and AI is reshaping teaching and learning and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. We can reimagine learning environments where human creativity and AI intelligence work seamlessly together. With Human-AI partnerships, we expect co-creation and collaborative intelligence to occur, aimed at harnessing the unique strengths of both.

As we navigate the challenges and ethical considerations associated with this collaboration, we have the opportunity to design how humans and AI work together in education. We aim to prepare for a future built on effective, responsible, and transformative Human-AI partnerships..

Why Attend

Convene as a community of educators to explore how AI can help meet student success goals
Explore AI fundamentals, ethical considerations, and practical applications of AI in teaching and learning
Elevate your knowledge and skills to comfortably navigate how to integrate AI into the curriculum
Gain hands-on practice with generative AI tools
Listen to campus stories, experiences, challenges, solutions from faculty, staff, and administrators
Engage in bold discussions to pave the way forward for our campus
Collaboratively network among attendees to stay ahead in a rapidly changing landscape of AI

Who Should Attend

This Charlotte AI Summit is for anyone at UNC Charlotte interested in learning more about generative AI tools for higher education. Whether you are a faculty, administrator, staff, or just someone who is curious about the possibilities of AI, this Summit is perfect for you!

Schedule and Venue

The 2025 CharlotteAI Summit is a full-day, in-person event, to be held on Wednesday, May 13th, 2026 at the Dubois Center.

SUMMIT THEMES

Towards Human-AI Partnerships in Teaching and Learning

Proposals should be specific to AI in teaching and learning and align to the following themes:

AI Literacy and Competence: Concept and skill frameworks, curriculum mapping, learning outcomes, career paths
Disciplinary Use-Cases: Use-cases of AI in teaching and learning that are specific to the discipline and/or reflect industry standards and expectations for AI use
Classroom Experiences: Teacher roles, student perspectives, classroom engagement
Instructional Creativity: Design of course content, materials, lessons, and assessments
Assessments: Academic Integrity policies, grading, and feedback
Systems Innovation: Adaptive learning, AI assistants, intelligent agents, chatbots, analytics, visual media, audio
Student Support: Student preparation, perspectives, advising, communication
Ethics: Frameworks, transparency, ethical use, responsible practices, critical evaluation of AI
Campus Engagement: Campus initiatives, partnerships, and collaborations
AI Futures: Speculative exploration, visionary thinking, next generation of AI in higher education

Important Dates

Call for Proposals Opens	November 5, 2025
Registration Opens	November 5, 2025
Call for Proposals Closes	February 5, 2026 at 11:59 PM
Notice of Acceptances	March 25, 2026
Registration Closes	April 22, 2026 at 11:59 PM
Conference Day	May 13, 2026

Call For Proposals

The Call For Proposals is CLOSED.

TOWARDS HUMAN-AI PARTNERSHIPS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING

We encourage proposals that bring critical insights, experiences, challenges, actionable data, or collaborative partnerships on using AI effectively and responsibly in higher education. Proposals should be specific to AI in teaching and learning and align to the summit themes listed.

Eligibility

Lead presenters must be UNC Charlotte faculty, administrators, and academic staff (i.e., advisors, teaching assistants, librarians, technology support, etc.).
Supporting presenters may include UNC Charlotte faculty, administrators, academic staff, graduate and undergraduate students, K-12 teachers, or other external collaborators.

Session Formats

Please select a session format for your proposal.

5-minute | Speak-Up Story

This format is a 5-minute presentation to share a personal classroom story related to AI in teaching and learning. These stories are intended to be told by a single presenter, or by a pair of presenters offering multiple perspectives on a topic or experience (e.g. faculty with a student). Stories will be presented in sequence with other story presenters. Stories may include emotional dialogues, classroom humor, fun, and bloopers!

Download Proposal Template for a Story

15-minute | Lightning Talk with Q&A

This format is a 15-minute practice-based or research-based presentation in a format that is engaging and reflective. These presentations should focus on a well developed topic on AI that supports innovation and provides resources for audience take away. Proposals must align with the Summit themes.

Download Proposal Template for a Lightning Talk

30-minute | Lesson Simulation

This format is a 20-minute simulation of a lesson segment that was delivered in class, highlighting the effective use of AI tools. Presenters should prepare a lesson plan, conduct the lesson simulation with participants, and debrief on the instructional strategies used. In this session, the participants take on the role of the instructor and the audience take on the role of students.

Download Proposal Template for a Lesson Simulation

30-minute | Active Workshop

This format is a 30-minute professional development session for faculty or administrators aimed at developing an AI competency. These workshops should focus on teaching a skill through concrete examples, hands-on activities, and resources for audience take away. Proposals must align with the Summit themes.

Download Proposal Template for an Active Workshop

Registration

Registration opens November 5, 2025!

The Charlotte AI Summit for Smarter Learning is a FREE event.

PAST SUMMITS

ICYMI: Catch Up on Past Conferences

Explore archives that capture two years of insightful and valuable conference experiences.

2023 AI Summit

2024 AI Summit

Photo Gallery

For Questions

Please direct questions to Kiran Budhrani (kbudhran@charlotte.edu), Director of Teaching and Learning Innovation in the Center for Teaching and Learning.