The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff has launched the Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics (CAIDA), a new university-wide initiative to integrate AI and data analytics across the HBCU’s academic, research, and institutional operations.
“This Center is a strategic shift in how we prepare students, across disciplines, to lead in a data-driven economy,” said Chancellor Anthony Graham. “Every UAPB graduate will leave here with the ability to apply artificial intelligence and data analytics to real-world challenges, positioning them for careers that command both relevance and long-term economic mobility.”
Through this new initiative, scholars will work to integrate AI and data analytics into the HBCU’s curricula and expand AI literacy training for students, faculty, and staff. Additionally, CAIDA will focus on a variety of projects that use these emerging technologies to enhance the university’s operations. These include efforts to develop and implement a university-wide AI governance model and strategic plan, strengthen student recruitment and enrollment management, increase donor and alumni engagement, and modernize institutional data infrastructure and governance.
Trina Fletcher, vice chancellor of research and innovation and associate professor of engineering and industrial technology, management, and applied engineering, will serve as CAIDA’s founding executive director.
“As we advance toward Research 2 status, we are strengthening the systems that drive research, innovation, and institutional impact,” said Dr. Fletcher. “Artificial intelligence and data analytics are central to that work, shaping how we conduct research, inform decisions, and prepare students to apply these tools in ways that deliver measurable outcomes.”
Dr. Fletcher is an alumna of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, where she majored in industrial technology. She holds a master’s degree in operations management from the University of Arkansas, a second master’s degree in engineering management from George Washington University, and a Ph.D. in engineering education from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.
