How UNLV Students Built Real-World AI Skills with Nectir AI

‍"Our students are at this turning point where they need to understand appropriate [AI] uses and also feel more comfortable with this new technology." — Dr. Ashlee Frandell, Assistant Professor at the School of Public Policy and Leadership at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas

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Building the Next Generation of Public Sector Leaders with AI

Artificial intelligence may be everywhere in today’s headlines, but its true impact in higher education happens only when it’s put in service of student needs. At the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), Dr. Ashlee Frandell, Assistant Professor at the School of Public Policy and Leadership, set out to do just that.

Through a first-of-its-kind “AI Use in the Public Sector” course at UNLV, Dr. Frandell partnered with Nectir AI to help prepare her graduate students for an evolving workplace where AI is reshaping the public sector. In her online course, Master of Public Administration candidate students critically evaluated, implemented, and even built their own responsible AI tools.

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Designed Around Student Privacy & Accessibility

As she designed the course, two priorities emerged: protecting student data privacy and making AI accessible to all students, regardless of their technical background. 

“FERPA compliance was a really big deal for us—both students and faculty were concerned about privacy, and Nectir’s platform gave us a level of confidence other tools just didn’t," Dr. Frandell shared.

Equally important was hands-on partnership and support. “Nectir’s team worked directly with us to brainstorm, design, and iterate on assistants tailored to our public sector context. That level of collaboration made a meaningful difference.”

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From a Classroom to a Hands-On Workshop

UNLV took a unique approach to building students’ AI literacy skills. Not only did the students use Nectir AI, but they also practiced building Assistants. First, Dr. Frandell developed example AI Assistants within Nectir for professional skill-building activities, such as creating CVs and practicing interviews. Students then analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of these tools, not only from an AI usability perspective, but also as public service tools.

Next, students created their own custom AI assistants, targeting real problems in their current or future workplaces, or even within the School of Public Policy and Leadership itself. The classroom became a lab for rapid prototyping: students tested, received peer feedback, iterated, and refined their assistants based on organizational needs and ethical considerations.

“By the end of the semester, students who started out hesitant and unsure were creating thoughtful, targeted AI solutions—and even teaching their managers and teams how to use these tools safely," Dr. Frandell noted.

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Success in the Course & in Careers

The impact extended beyond the online classroom:

• Workforce Readiness: Students, many of whom were working students, gained practical AI skills that directly translated to job opportunities. Many reported on integrating AI into their current roles aand collaborating with management on policy implementation as a result of the course. In fact, one of Dr. Frandell’s students secured an AI-focused public sector position with zero prior experience before the course.‍
• Ethical Leadership: Students learned not only how to use AI, but when to question it, including exploring the nuances of privacy, bias, and transparency in government work. Even after growing more comfortable and fluent with developing and using AI tools, students did not lose their perspective of critically analyzing and questioning the role of AI.‍
• Peer Learning & Confidence: Through structured feedback cycles, students learned to give and receive constructive input, enhancing their learning and building confidence as AI implementers. Dr. Frandell even implemented evaluations performed by the AI Assistant, so students could experience and understand how AI does not replace human interactions but can supplement and support.

Most students began as skeptics, cautious about the risks of AI. But by the semester’s end, they were both more comfortable and more critically engaged, carrying a strong sense of responsibility and fluency around adopting AI in class and at work.

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Lessons for Faculty Adopting AI

Dr. Frandell offers three key lessons:

• Patience is essential. The learning curve is real, but so are the breakthroughs.
• Scaffold theory and practice. Begin with foundational concepts, then allow students to experiment and iterate.
• Embrace flexibility. Both course design and AI tools should be adaptable to each cohort’s specific needs.

Dr. Frandell’s course and students are just one example of how AI can be adopted responsibly and used equitably in education and the public sector. As UNLV and other programs scale their use of AI across more courses and professional development, the focus remains on meeting learners where they are and setting them up to be not just AI users, but leaders of AI in their respective fields.

Curious to see UNLV's future plans and initiatives for integrating AI? Watch their full webinar with Nectir here.

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