The Institute has implemented an AI initiative for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and is centered around a consortium of five HBCUs in Florida, Georgia, Texas, and Virginia. Our goal is to increase the number of minorities in field of AI. We help STEM faculty from the consortium to offer AI and data science courses that can be assembled in major/minor AI programs. The Institute assists STEM faculty in the consortium in setting up these degree programs. Our current work consist of:

• The Institute hosts training sessions for HBCU faculty every summer so that they can offer the above-mentioned courses and participate in research activities.
• AI4OPT has organized workshops, courses, and seminars on topics such as linear programming, network optimization, and machine learning, with the goal of introducing students to the basic concepts and tools of AI during the fall-spring semesters for HBCU faculty.
• We offered our Faculty Training Program to our first cohort of five partnering HBCUs and HSIs.

Following two years of coursework, participants will have acquired sufficient AI knowledge to join regular courses offered at AI4OPT institutions, such as the University of Southern California, UC Berkeley, and Georgia Tech.