CSU Fresno faculty fold AI into classes, bring back oral exams and blue books
Faculty at CSU Fresno are adding AI across departments while stressing limits, reworking assignments, and planning GE AI literacy. Workshops have drawn 300+ instructors and new social-impact courses are in the queue.
CSU Fresno faculty fold AI into classes, bring back oral exams and blue books
Key Takeaways
- CSU Fresno has 7 AI-focused faculty, 7 AI courses, 14 AI-applied courses, plus an AI minor and two certificates.
- The Division of Continuing and Global Education offers nine AI professional training courses for the community.
- More than 300 faculty have attended campus AI workshops on teaching choices and academic integrity.
- Faculty report oral exams, blue books, and in-class writing returning to assess learning alongside AI tools.
- A general-education push for AI literacy is planned, and a social-aspects course is targeted for spring 2027.
Instructors rethink the classroom
"Blue books are back." That’s how Jason McGensy, an instructional designer in CSU Fresno’s Office of IDEAS, summed up one change he’s seeing as professors react to chatbots that can crank out essays in minutes. A half-full Diet Pepsi sat on the lectern. The campus is not banning AI, they’re trying to teach with it, and around it.
Why it matters here: CSU Fresno trains much of the Valley’s workforce, so how the campus uses AI will shape what kids see next in Fresno Unified classrooms and what new hires bring to local clinics and ag offices.
Computer science chair Alex Liu said AI belongs in class as a tool, not a thinker. "As long as we prepare our students to have critical thinking and problem-solving skills, I believe students will be able to work with AI and be even more productive," he said. "AI can do a lot of things, but it’s not powerful enough to analyze complex problems, and it still requires humans in the loop for verification and judgment."
What the campus is adding
The Department of Computer Science lists seven faculty working in AI-related fields, seven AI courses, and 14 courses that apply AI tools. The department offers an AI minor and two AI certificates. Liu added that general education courses will include AI literacy so students in any major graduate "AI competent."
Beyond degree programs, the Division of Continuing and Global Education runs nine AI professional courses open to the community. That means school staff, small-business owners, and public employees can get practical training without enrolling in a full degree.
How assignments are changing
McGensy said faculty are pulling back some take-home writing and adding in-class writing, blue books, and oral checks for understanding. "We’ve seen oral exams come back; we’re seeing blue books come back and more in-class writing," he said. Blue books, again.
In the Kremen School of Education, professor Christian Wandeler calls the approach "integrity by design," which means writing assignments that ask for personal context or lived experience. If an assignment can be done by a bot, he said, rewrite it so it can’t. He also argues the better move is to teach students when AI helps and when it fails.
The Office of IDEAS has hosted AI workshops for more than 300 faculty members, McGensy said, focused on giving instructors options rather than one rule. Departments decide how and when to allow tools, and instructors make the call course by course.
What professors want students to hear
"AI does not think. It cannot think," said Zareef Mohammed, who teaches in the Craig School of Business. Computer science lecturer David Ruby pushed back on the sci-fi fear of run-away code that writes itself, saying the real concerns fit in the "industrial safety" bucket when tools don’t act as expected.
Associate professor Thanos Panagopoulos tells students that motivation matters more than perfect course structure. He’s designing a general-education course on the social effects of AI, aiming for spring 2027. Liu said he’s not worried about mass job loss, but about preparing graduates to use AI to clear routine work so humans can do judgment, mentoring, and communication.
"Motivating students is the most important thing in education. Eighty percent of the work is getting students ready to learn," Panagopoulos said.
Central Valley AI is produced by the CVAI Education Desk team and developed by Kaweah Tech, a regional firm that builds, deploys, and integrates AI solutions for businesses across California's Central Valley.