Galloway, N.J. — Now in its third year, Stockton University’s Scholarship, Teaching & Research Symposium (STARS) kicked off its campus-wide celebration of student research across the university on March 31.

STARS features six weeks of expos, symposiums, award ceremonies and achievement events, such as the retiring faculty Farewell Forum (April 15) and the Origami Showcase (April 22). Some of the departments that will present research symposiums include Marine Science (April 17), Chemistry (April 21), Social Work (April 23) and Biochemistry (April 30).

“STARS is proving to be a powerful reminder of what makes our campus community exceptional — bringing together faculty, staff and students to celebrate innovation, scholarship and creativity across disciplines,” said Ronnie Maiorino, of Stockton’s Center for Teaching and Learning Design, which organized the symposium. “It’s more than a series of events; it’s a shared moment of excellence, connection and inspiration.”

The kickoff celebration featured a keynote address by Michael Edmonson, the associate provost for Continued Learning at New Jersey Institute of Technology, on responsible innovation in the age of artificial intelligence.

Edmonson argued that AI is changing higher education, work, relationships and trust in information much faster than most institutions are prepared for.

“This is not a speech about what tools to use. Leave if that’s what you want. There are a bazillion people talking about AI tools,” he said. “I’m really concerned about the impact of AI on humanity.”

Edmonson, who’s 10th book “Remaining Human in the Age of AI” comes out this year, said we need to stop trying to predict what’s going to happen in the future — because no one can predict it accurately — and have universities prepare students to think critically, adapt and work with AI responsibly and update teaching around skills, human judgment, ethics and resilience.

Universities need to prepare students for continuous disruption, radical unpredictability and a job market where skills matter more than credentials alone, he said.

“Today’s students are going to have jobs that don’t yet exist, using technologies that haven’t even been invented to solve problems that haven’t been identified,” Edmonson said. “So, let’s stop predicting and start educating young people. We’re so busy predicting that we’ve forgotten that we should update the ways we teach people and the ways that we work with ourselves and with each other.”

Here is a list of the other events featured during the symposium: