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Cypress College
Region: Orange County
At a glance
Cypress College's Academic Senate–chartered AI Taskforce (CAIT), chaired by counselor Jeannie Mitsch and comprising faculty, staff, and students, approved campus AI use guidelines in early 2025 and continues to lead professional development workshops on AI literacy and policy design. The library has published comprehensive research guides on AI and academic integrity, and the college offers CIS 298 C (AI Fundamentals) while co-hosting regional AI conferences and sending faculty to external training.
Updated Scan Findings
7 new 🆕· 12 source-verified findings from the updated web scanAI-Engaged People, Processes & Timelines · 4
- 🆕April 2026 AI literacy and AI-policy workshop (Prof. Dev. + AI Task Force). Professional Development and the AI Task Force hosted a workshop on April 8, 2026 (2:30 p.m., CCCPLX-406) on AI literacy and helping faculty develop an AI policy that meets their needs; faculty, staff, and students were invited to register. 2026 · high confidence — source
- 🆕AI 101: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (faculty/staff). Distance Education and CTX presented 'AI 101: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence' on October 7, 2025 (CCCPLX-414), a session for faculty and staff to learn AI fundamentals and get hands-on experience with AI tools. 2025 · high confidence — source
- 🆕NOCCCD AI Expo 2025 hosted at Cypress College. On April 16, 2025 the North Orange County Community College District held 'AI Expo 2025: Empowering Minds' on the Cypress College campus, drawing roughly 500 students, faculty, staff, and community members for a keynote (Dr. Christyna Serrano of PlayLab), workshops (e.g., AI for Lesson Planning and Accessibility, Intro to AI Tools), an Element 451 demo, and a Prompt-A-Thon competition. 2025 · high confidence — source
- Cypress AI Taskforce (CAIT) under Academic Senate. Cypress College operates the Cypress AI Taskforce (CAIT), which reports to the Academic Senate and is composed of faculty, staff, and administrators charged with researching best practices, evaluating AI tools/platforms, and developing guidelines for ethical and responsible AI use. It is chaired by Jeannie Mitsch (jmitsch@cypresscollege.edu); members serve staggered two-year terms with a three-term (six-year) limit. 2026 · high confidence — source
AI Policies · 2
- 🆕Recently approved campus AI use guidelines (per Academic Senate minutes). In the February 13, 2025 Academic Senate meeting, CAIT chair Jeannie Mitsch described Cypress College's 'recently approved guidelines' for AI use in response to a trustee question; the discussion noted that some departments (e.g., English) maintain their own differing guidelines and that the District taskforce was building a cross-campus AI resource repository website. 2025 · high confidence — source
- Library research guide: AI and Academic Integrity. The Cypress College 'AI and Academic Integrity' research guide instructs students to ask whether a tool is doing the work being assessed and whether it is permitted by the instructor, and offers values/standards/exposure tests; it ties decisions back to the college's Academic Honesty Policy. Last updated March 19, 2026. 2026 · high confidence — source
AI Courses, Tools & Resources · 6
- 🆕CIS 298 C Artificial Intelligence Fundamentals. Cypress College's Computer Information Systems program offers CIS 298 C, Artificial Intelligence Fundamentals (3 units, CSU-transferable), in which students explore principles, techniques, and applications of AI including machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, and common AI techniques. Listed in the 2025-2026 NOCCCD catalog. 2025 · high confidence — source
- 🆕AI Ready EDU regional AI conference (10-college consortium). Cypress College helped host the AI Ready EDU regional conference (April 25, 2025, Irvine Marriott) through the Orange County Regional Consortium / Workforce Development Alliance, with ~250 attendees from ten regional colleges. California Community Colleges Chancellor Sonya Christian keynoted; Cypress President Dr. Scott W. Thayer gave opening remarks and CTE Dean Rick Hodge gave welcome remarks. 2025 · high confidence — source
- 🆕Academic Senate funded faculty attendance at San Diego AI Conference. Per the February 13, 2025 Academic Senate minutes, the Academic Senate Treasurer reported that $6,000 was approved to send faculty to the San Diego AI Conference. 2025 · high confidence — source
- Generative AI research guide (library). The library's Generative Artificial Intelligence guide covers what generative AI is, challenges/possibilities, academic integrity, copyright/legal, how to cite AI, and a curated 'Using Generative AI Tools' list naming ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, DALL-E 3, Midjourney, Grammarly, Elicit, Otter.ai and more, with cautions on hallucinations and PII. Adapted from UC San Diego and CSU Dominguez Hills (CC BY 4.0); last updated March 19, 2026. 2026 · high confidence — source
- AI literacy and teaching-design resources in library guide. The guide's Additional Resources page presents a four-level AI literacy framework (Understand / Use and Apply / Analyze and Evaluate / Create), the PAIR assignment-design framework, sample syllabi policies (Lance Eaton), and MLA-CCCC Joint Task Force resources for faculty. Last updated March 19, 2026. 2026 · high confidence — source
- Element451 AI-powered student engagement platform. Cypress College adopted Element451's AI-powered engagement platform (automated outreach, event registration, campaign management) within its Charger Experience Program, reporting a 300% increase in event registrations in Q1 2024 and a 25% increase in program participation. Implementation predates the 2023-24 academic year. Fall 2023 · high confidence — source
Spring 2025 baseline
AI-Engaged People, Processes & Timelines
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Team/Lead: Cypress College/Academic Senate/AI Taskforce/PD Office
- Cypress AI Taskforce (CAIT): Comprising faculty, staff, administrators, and students from various departments, CAIT leads AI initiatives at the college.
- Purpose: The taskforce seeks to address the growing importance of AI in education by researching best practices, evaluating AI tools and platforms, and developing guidelines for ethical and responsible AI use.
- Reporting: Academic Senate
- Composition: CAIT is composed of faculty, staff, and administrators from various departments and divisions. Current member composition is:
- Chair, faculty member
- Seven full time faculty representatives
- Three part time faculty representatives
- Two classified staff representatives
- Two management representatives
- Two student representatives
- CAIT will also consult with various faculty and staff as needed.
- Current Composition
- Jeannie Mitsch, Counseling (Chair)
- Abraham Nesheiwat, Communication Studies
- Alejandro Omidsalar, English
- Angela deDios, Psychology
- Billy Pashaie, Language Arts Librarian
- Doug Cooney, Theatre Arts
- Gary Zager, Human Services
- John D. Payne, English
- Kasim Alimahomed, Communication Studies
- Luc Virgili Phan, Student
- Stephanie Tran, English
- Zola Aponte, Sociology
- Elnora Reddick, Student
- Elli Constantin, Distance Education
- Cari Jorgensen, Campus Communications
- Michael Ashton, Distance Education
- Bryan Ventura, Institutional Research & Planning
- Professional Development Office: This office collaborates with CAIT to organize AI-related workshops and training sessions, including with AI tools.
AI Policies
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Team/Lead: Cypress College
- Not yet found. Appears to rely on the student code of conduct academic honesty policy.
- Cypress College has established the Cypress AI Taskforce (CAIT) to developing guidelines for ethical and responsible AI use.
- Current Syllabus Guidelines
- Academic Honesty Policy
- “Academic dishonesty may result in an “F” on all or part of an assignment and referral to the dean.” Incorporate reference to the Cypress College Catalog and provide web address. If there are special behavioral requirements of the class, include those within the syllabus (e.g., Turnitin.com information). A summary with a direct link to the College Catalog on the Cypress College web site or the text of the complete policy. Students should be informed if and how plagiarism detection software is incorporated into the assignment submittal process. A distance education student authentication statement must be added to the college policy statement, for example: “By enrolling in a distance education course you agree that you are the one accessing and completing the work fo
AI Courses, Tools & Resources
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Team/Lead: Cypress College
- PD
- May 2024 AI Symposiums and Workshops: Cypress College has hosted events such as the Artificial Intelligence Symposium
- Spring 2025 NOCCCD AI EXPO ‘25: Empowering Minds
- Tools
- To uphold academic integrity, Cypress College utilizes Turnitin.com software for plagiarism prevention and detection.
Entities from the knowledge graph
college: Cypress Collegeinitiative: Artificial Intelligence Symposiuminitiative: NOCCCD AI EXPO '25: Empowering Mindsorganization: Professional Development Officeorganization: Cypress AI Taskforceperson: Jeannie Mitschperson: Abraham Nesheiwatperson: Alejandro Omidsalarperson: Angela deDiosperson: Billy Pashaieperson: Doug Cooneyperson: Gary Zagerperson: John D. Payneperson: Kasim Alimahomedperson: Luc Virgili Phanperson: Stephanie Tranperson: Zola Aponteperson: Elnora Reddickperson: Elli Constantinperson: Cari Jorgensenperson: Michael Ashtonperson: Bryan Venturapolicy: Cypress College Student Code of Conduct Academic Honesty Policypolicy: Cypress College Syllabus Guidelines
Links & artifacts
AI-Engaged People, Processes & Timelines · 2
AI Policies · 2
AI Courses, Tools & Resources · 2
Contacts at this college
| Name / Role | Phone | |
|---|---|---|
JM Jeannie Mitsch Counseling Faculty, CAIT Chair | (714) 484-6023 | |
AN Abraham Nesheiwat Communication Studies Faculty | anesheiwat@cypresscollege.edu | (714) 484-7169 |
AO Alejandro Omidsalar English Faculty | ||
AD Angela deDios Psychology Faculty | adedios@cypresscollege.edu | (714) 484-7000 |
BP Billy Pashaie Language Arts Librarian | wpashaie@cypresscollege.edu | (714) 484-7418 |
DC Doug Cooney Theatre Arts Faculty | dcooney@cypresscollege.edu | |
GZ Gary Zager Human Services Faculty | gzager@cypresscollege.edu | (714) 484-7008 |
JP John D. Payne English Faculty | jpayne@cypresscollege.edu | |
KA Kasim Alimahomed Communication Studies Faculty | kalimahomed@cypresscollege.edu | |
LP Luc Virgili Phan Student Representative | ||
ST Stephanie Tran English Faculty | stran@cypresscollege.edu | |
ZA Zola Aponte Sociology Faculty | zaponte@cypresscollege.edu | |
ER Elnora Reddick Student Representative | ||
EC Elli Constantin Distance Education | econstantin@cypresscollege.edu | (714) 484-7052 |
CJ Cari Jorgensen Campus Communications | cjorgensen@cypresscollege.edu | (714) 484-7013 |
MA Michael Ashton Distance Education | mashton@cypresscollege.edu | (714) 484-7052 |
BV Bryan Ventura Institutional Research & Planning | bventura@cypresscollege.edu | (714) 484-7717 |
JM — | jmitsch@cypresscollege.edu |