Maggini Hall offers classes in Business Administration, Business Office Technology and Computer Information Sciences on the Santa Rosa campus in March 2025.
Santa Rosa Junior College plans to offer its first course on artificial intelligence application in the upcoming fall semester, a decision that has led to mixed feelings among students.
The course is named AI in Business and will be listed as BAD 81. The class will cover the basics of artificial intelligence (AI) application in business as well as history and ethical implications, according to the college’s course catalog.
According to SRJC business professor Ryan Wenzel, who proposed the class and will teach both sections, the college is working to include courses that involve different uses of AI. He added that the class aims to make students aware of AI’s potential, and he hopes the class leads to a growing list of courses on AI.
“As AI has gotten more established within the academic and business communities, it has become evident that the world is changing and it is necessary for education and business to change with it,” Wenzel said.
Jerzain Solorio, 19, a business administration major, believes that embracing AI will enhance the problem-solving abilities of people across the world. “I believe that starting to use AI is very helpful for both the students and staff of schools or anyone in the world,” he said.
However, not all students welcome the move toward AI in academics.
Elizabeth Caody, 19, an art major, said, “I think that the world is becoming more and more reliant on AI. I don’t think students should be taught to use something that has so many negative impacts. But then again, I do believe that any kind of education should be open for students to learn if they so please.”
Hush Bolman, 19, a film major, said teaching courses in AI leads to the risk of normalizing its use and could lead to humans losing jobs.
“While it’s an interesting idea to teach students about AI, or even with AI, I feel like it’s riding on the rising trend of AI being used and disregarding how much backlash it’s getting publicly,” Bolman said.
Wenzel believes AI courses are necessary to keep SRJC successful.
“To keep our degrees and certificates relevant and our graduates’ skills useful, we figured we had better get on board and ride the AI wave,” he said. “I am excited by the potential for AI to help even the playing field for traditionally underrepresented groups like people with disabilities and second-language learners.”With the creation of this course, SRJC would join a growing list of community colleges teaching students how to use AI. Las Positas College offers an Introduction to Artificial Intelligence course, and Mt. San Antonio College offers an Artificial Intelligence in Business certificate for students.
Courses in AI will begin in SRJC’s business department but will expand to other fields of study, such as computer science, starting in spring 2026.
This news follows the California State University system’s announcement in February that it will soon integrate AI tools into its curriculum, giving students and faculty access to ChatGPT Edu, an AI designed for education.