Magazine Spring 2024 The Fletcher Jones Foundation Funds Training in AI

by Sarah Camp, Assistant Vice President for College Advancement and Parent Relations

The Fletcher Jones Foundation has given $500,000 to Westmont’s Center for Technology, Creativity and Moral Imagination to educate and train students in the burgeoning field of artificial intelligence (AI) and prepare them for the workforce. The funds will expand the scope of the Center for Applied Technology Lab (CATLab) to include AI, adding state-of-the-art hardware and software so students can learn and experiment with the new technology. They’ll prepare for jobs at the forefront of AI technology not yet in existence.

CATLab will recruit and hire up to five full-time Fletcher Jones Foundation Fellows this summer. Working under an AI expert, they’ll create new AI services. The first project will develop an interactive AI bot that provides information about college to students, including first-generation and transfer students, replacing static FAQ pages that often lack sufficient information. The grant funds AI development tools, datasets and cloud-computing resources as well as a future workspace at the Keith Center in downtown Santa Barbara and an AI advisory board.

Now in its sixth year, CATLab hires about 28 students each summer to work in the SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) incubator and as interns at local businesses, giving them hands-on experience. A thorough grounding in a Christian liberal arts education equips them with both technical prowess and a capacity for moral discernment. CATLab will host leaders in industry at their annual Impact Conference July 22-24 that features both Salesforce and AI.

The college appreciates past funding from the Fletcher Jones Foundation. Most recently, the foundation supported construction and equipment for the Fletcher Jones Foundation Center for Engineering, completed in 2023.