Tusculum University’s Business Division will hold an AI Boot Camp on Tuesday, July 28, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Room 111 of the Meen Center on campus. The event is open to entrepreneurs, small‑business owners, nonprofit leaders and other professionals who want to learn how to apply artificial intelligence to everyday work.

The boot camp will cost $49 per participant. Attendees will leave the workshop with a range of practical AI skills, including how to write effective prompts, generate marketing copy, create business documents, and conduct competitor research. The program is designed for people who do not need coding experience.

"AI presents multiple ways to economize a person’s time and achieve excellent results in the business world," said David Hite, associate professor of business at Tusculum and the boot camp’s lead instructor. "Tusculum has consulted with many experts in the field and been on the cutting edge of educating people on the benefits of AI. This boot camp is another way we will assist the business community as part of the university’s commitment to civic engagement."

The workshop will cover a selection of popular AI tools that are already being used in business settings. Participants will learn to use ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, NotebookLM and Loveable AI. The curriculum emphasizes hands‑on learning rather than lecture, allowing attendees to experiment with the tools in real time.

Key skills that participants will develop include:

Writing prompts that produce useful business results Generating social‑media posts, emails, blogs and video scripts quickly Using AI as a strategic partner to solve business challenges Drafting proposals, operating procedures, job descriptions and other documents * Researching competitors, markets and industry trends

At the end of the day, participants will receive a set of resources to help them continue applying AI in their work. These include an AI prompt guide, competitor‑research tools, business‑writing templates, website‑development resources, marketing templates and a 30‑day AI action plan.

The boot camp follows Tusculum’s recent Appalachian AI Summit, which attracted educators, business owners, nonprofit representatives and workforce‑development professionals. The summit was described as well‑attended and deeply educational.

"We welcome this opportunity to share valuable information about AI with those in business who want to take their ideas and companies to the next level," said Dr. John Alpers, dean of the School of Business, Education and Sport. "David Hite has successfully embraced AI and is helping people understand how they can enhance their business operations by using these tools. His expertise will help participants discover how they can strengthen their business with ethical and sound AI practices."

Registration is available online at https://ws.tusculum.edu/forms/ai-business-bootcamp/. Attendees are asked to bring a laptop for the hands‑on portion of the workshop. For questions about the event, participants can email David Hite at dhite@tusculum.edu.

Tusculum University is a private Presbyterian institution located in Tusculum, Tennessee. It is the state’s first university and one of the oldest continuously operating colleges in the United States. The university maintains a regional center for adult and online studies in Knoxville and Morristown.

The boot camp is part of Tusculum’s broader effort to incorporate AI into its curriculum and to support the local business community. By offering a low‑cost, practical training session, the university aims to help participants improve productivity, streamline operations and make better business decisions using AI tools that are already available.

The event is scheduled for July 28, 2026, and will take place in the university’s Meen Center. The program will run for seven and a half hours, beginning at 9 a.m. and concluding at 4:30 p.m. The boot camp is open to anyone who wishes to learn how AI can be applied to business contexts, regardless of prior experience with technology.

Participants who attend can expect to leave with actionable knowledge and resources that can be implemented immediately in their organizations. The boot camp’s focus on hands‑on practice and real‑world applications is designed to bridge the gap between theoretical AI concepts and everyday business needs.

For more information about Tusculum University, visit www.tusculum.edu.