Two Northwest employees among Mississippi AI Fellows
Photo: Northwest Mississippi Community College Librarian Maya Berry and Administrative Assistant to the Vice President of Instruction Whitney Wells on the Senatobia campus in front of the McCormick Administration Building. (Photo by Sarah Smith, NWCC)
by Sarah Smith
Feb. 18, 2025-Two Northwest Mississippi Community College employees were named among 11 Mississippians chosen for the AI Educator Accelerator Fellowship.
Northwest Librarian, Maya Berry, and Administrative Assistant to the Vice President of Instruction, Whitney Wells, are excited to take on this opportunity to help inform Mississippians about Artificial Intelligence, whether that’s combating stereotypes such as AI fearmongering or people who think AI doesn’t apply to them.
Even if people work to avoid AI, it is all around us, according to Wells. She encourages people to learn more about it so they can understand the impacts it has on their everyday life and the information they receive.
“If you are using AI tools for your own research, you should compare those results to other sources as well to make sure that you are receiving accurate information,” said Berry. “Other ethical concerns of using AI include copyright infringement and receiving information that may be biased.”
As a librarian, Berry said she wants people to understand that AI is only as good as the information that trains it. It can be riddled with errors even if it seems or sounds true. There are ethical dilemmas within AI, but there’s also a lot of hope that it can bring.
“The AI Educator Accelerator Fellowship is one of the several programs offered through the Mississippi AI Collaborative,” said Wells. “It was established to empower educators in Mississippi with the proper AI training and tools, so that they can, in turn on a larger scale, assist other Mississippi educators in the classroom with student learning. We are the second group of fellows to be selected for this program.”
The Mississippi AI Collaborative will help to encourage educators, policymakers and community members to shape the future of AI education. It is focused on developing AI literacy learning for professionals.
“Empowering educators is the key to making AI education accessible and meaningful for all Mississippians,” said Bob Busek, MSAIC co-founder and CEO of Mississippi Coding. “When we equip educators with AI knowledge and skills, we are not just preparing students for the workforce-we are creating opportunities for communities to thrive in the digital age.”
Berry and Wells applied to this program which had over 50 applicants and were chosen as a part of this cohort to carry out this mission. They are excited for this opportunity to learn and research about the impacts this can have on the population.
“Fellows will be undergoing specific forms of AI training that focuses on what AI is and considerations of ethics and equity in education applications,” said Wells. “Each fellow will also be entrusted with creating and presenting a niche-specific AI workshop designed for educators. These workshops are intended to spark the interest of various types of educators to assist them in learning how to utilize AI tools with confidence. Professional development credit will also be given to educators who attend these workshops.”
Both Berry and Wells’ unique backgrounds allow them to take a different angle at this, Berry from an information sciences standpoint and Wells with a natural history background.
Wells, while serving in her existing role, is starting her first-year teaching as an adjunct instructor for the Natural Sciences Department at Northwest. A native of Jackson, she attended the University of Mississippi and Jackson State University for her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in environmental science, and she is currently working on her Ed.D. in Higher Education from the University of Mississippi. So, she is passionate about continuing her education to help educate others.
“I have always been interested in learning and sharing what I’ve learned with others,” said Wells. “The transformative learning that occurs for the group as a result is the best part of teaching. With AI being such a hot topic, not to mention being helpful with many tasks and ideas, it is intriguing to see how it is actually settling into higher education institutions in America. Will it be welcomed by higher education?”
Berry, who is originally from Ohio, has now lived in the Mid-South and served as a librarian over 20 years alongside her husband Jesse Pool, who is the head librarian at the Senatobia and Coldwater branches of the First Regional Library. With a strong background in information technology, AI is a topic that keeps her enthralled. With its rapidly changing nature, an ability to streamline or complicate it proposes unlimited new options in technology.
Together, they are excited about this new endeavor and what it means for the future of technology and education.
