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In response to steadily growing interest by UMass Amherst students, the Integrated Concentration in STEM (iCons) program is expanding its unique, experiential learning program, in which students across campus work in interdisciplinary teams to address real-world problems.

Aimed at bringing iCons to even more undergraduate students at UMass, in Spring 2026 the 20-credit certificate program will offer the inaugural AI/Future of Work cohort. Along with the new Food-Water-Climate track, which launched this semester, and the two long-established tracks in Biomedicine and Clean Energy, the addition of the new track will effectively double the size of iCons from 2024.

The AI/Future of Work track aims to produce innovators who understand at some level what is “under the hood” of an AI algorithm and can anticipate the human impacts of AI. Problems to be considered by this iCons track include the impact of biased AI on health care and health outcomes, and the role of automation in human safety and employment trends.

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More information about the new AI/Future of Work track, and a link for students interested in applying to it, can be found on the College of Natural Sciences website.

iCons is also now accepting nominations from UMass faculty members for its iCons Teaching Fellowship.

Teaching Fellows teach one iCons course for two to three years and receive professional development funding for the duration of the fellowship. Faculty may be nominated for the iCons Teaching Fellowship by current iCons students, by their departmental head or chair, by colleagues, or by self-nomination. Nominated instructors will be notified with additional information about the fellowship.

Teaching Fellows join an inclusive and supportive community of students, faculty, and staff, and receive $2,000 in professional development funds in the second year, with the opportunity for subsequent funding if the fellow teaches a third year.

They also:

• Gain access to training in inclusive pedagogy and student-driven instructional methods
• Bring their research- and problem-expertise into undergraduate education
• Are compensated via course release or add-comp
• Work with diverse populations of highly motivated undergraduate students
• Have the opportunity to recruit outstanding undergraduate researchers into their research lab or group

To nominate yourself or another faculty member to the iCons Teaching Fellowship, visit https://icons.cns.umass.edu/icons-teaching-fellowship. Nominations are due by Thursday, April 3. For questions on the fellowship, email icons@cns.umass.edu.