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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
IITEL Founder Selected as Fulbright Specialist for Tunisia
Supporting universities as they navigate the future of artificial intelligence through governance, policy, and responsible innovation.
Tunis, Tunisia | June 2026
IITEL is proud to announce that its Founder and Executive Director, Dr. Karla Bailey, has been selected as a Fulbright Specialist by the U.S. Department of State. Through this prestigious international exchange, Dr. Bailey partnered with the Mediterranean School of Business (MSB), South Mediterranean University (SMU), and MedTech in Tunis, Tunisia, to support institutional efforts to responsibly integrate generative artificial intelligence into higher education.
Over the course of the engagement, Dr. Bailey worked alongside university leaders, faculty, and professional staff to examine how AI is reshaping teaching, learning, research, governance, and institutional operations.
Rather than focusing solely on AI tools, the engagement emphasized the strategic decisions institutions must make to ensure that technological innovation strengthens educational quality, scholarly integrity, and public trust.
The engagement combined executive consultations, institutional assessments, faculty development workshops, stakeholder focus groups, and strategic planning sessions. Together, these activities informed recommendations for AI governance structures, institutional policies, faculty capacity building, research priorities, and responsible AI implementation across the university.
A central objective of the collaboration was to help institutional leaders move beyond isolated AI initiatives toward a coordinated, mission-aligned approach that integrates governance, policy, ethics, and organizational readiness. Throughout the engagement, discussions explored practical strategies for balancing innovation with accountability while preserving the human-centered values that define higher education.
Faculty workshops provided opportunities to rethink course design, assessment practices, research workflows, and scholarly publishing in light of emerging AI capabilities. Rather than prescribing a single model, the workshops equipped participants with practical frameworks to evaluate when, where, and how AI can be integrated responsibly within their own disciplinary contexts.
The Fulbright engagement also strengthened international collaboration among educators and researchers committed to advancing ethical AI practices across higher education. The exchange created new opportunities for future partnerships in research, faculty development, institutional transformation, and global dialogue on AI governance.
For IITEL, this engagement reflects the organization's broader mission: helping educational institutions navigate technological change with intentional leadership, evidence-based decision making, and a steadfast commitment to human-centered innovation.
"AI integration is not only a technological challenge. It is also about knowledge stewardship, requiring institutions to rethink how knowledge is created, evaluated, shared, and protected."
— Dr. Karla Bailey, Founder & Executive Director, IITEL
About the Fulbright Specialist Program
The Fulbright Specialist Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, connects accomplished U.S. professionals with institutions around the world to strengthen international collaboration through short-term, project-based exchanges. Specialists contribute expertise in areas such as education, research, institutional development, and public engagement while fostering lasting partnerships between U.S. and international institutions.
About IITEL
The International Institute of Technology, Education, and Leadership (IITEL) is a global research, strategy, and institutional capacity-building institute dedicated to helping education, government, and workforce organizations navigate the opportunities and challenges of emerging technologies. Through research, governance, leadership capacity building, and institutional strategy, IITEL partners with organizations to strengthen the systems, policies, and organizational capabilities needed to responsibly integrate innovation while advancing learning, institutional excellence, and public trust.
Grounded in the belief that technology should serve people, IITEL helps institutions build the capacity to lead through technological change with confidence, integrity, and purpose. By combining evidence-based research with practical implementation, IITEL transforms emerging technologies into sustainable opportunities that strengthen organizations, empower people, and create lasting public value.
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