Fresno State, Fresno City College offer free summer AI workshops
Two five-hour sessions on June 6 and July 11 will teach practical AI prompting. Open to the public, sponsored by Granville Homes, and co-led by faculty with student tutors.
Fresno State, Fresno City College offer free summer AI workshops
Key Takeaways
- Fresno State and Fresno City College will host free public AI workshops on June 6 and July 11.
- Each five-hour session focuses on practical prompting for real work tasks.
- Faculty leaders Todd McLeod and Dr. Shih-Hsi (Alex) Liu will teach with student tutors assisting.
- Attendees should bring a laptop and any chatbot (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Copilot); registration is encouraged.
A vending machine hums by the door of Room 139 at the Fresno State Student Recreation Center. On Saturday, that room swaps out deadlifts for laptops as the first of two free public workshops on artificial intelligence gets underway. This matters for Fresno families and small shops because the pitch is simple: practical skills you can use at work next week.
When and where
The schedule is straightforward. Session one runs 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 6, at California State University, Fresno, Student Recreation Center, Room 139. Session two runs 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 11, at Fresno City College’s Old Administration Building Auditorium.
Organizers ask participants to bring a laptop and logins to their preferred chatbot, whether that’s ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Copilot. Registration is free and open to anyone in the community.
What you’ll do for five hours
The agenda centers on prompting. Attendees will learn to ask clearer, more targeted questions, then apply those prompts to their own tasks, from drafting emails and job posts to checking formulas or summarizing policy memos. Bring the work you actually do. Five hours, in and out.
Todd McLeod, a Fresno City College professor of information systems, described the goal plainly: "We want to see local businesses maximize what they can achieve — to uplift our community and our economy." He argues one focused day can change how a shop owner or office manager gets things done.
Dr. Shih-Hsi (Alex) Liu, chair of computer science at CSU Fresno, framed it as job preparation: "AI literacy is no longer optional for anyone entering the workforce." He says using college students as tutors deepens their mastery while keeping the training grounded in real tasks.
Who’s behind it
The workshops are a joint effort between Fresno City College and CSU Fresno, with Granville Homes footing the bill for the public sessions. Granville Homes CEO Darius Assemi said the Valley can’t wait on this skill set: "AI is reshaping every industry, and the Central Valley can’t afford to be left behind." (Granville Homes CEO Darius Assemi publishes GV Wire.)
Students from both campuses will circulate as on-site tutors, an approach that lines up with how K-12 districts here train paraeducators during summer PD days. It keeps the ratio low and the help immediate.
That student piece resonates for Jay Parangalan, who leads the Fresno City College Startup Club and plans to help on July 11. "AI is the single biggest tool any new business can use right now," he said. "Being able to share that with our community, especially with people who didn’t grow up around this technology, is something we’re genuinely excited about."
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.