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Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence

This policy establishes guidelines for the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies at our institution. It applies to all students, faculty, staff, and administrators.

General Principles

  1. AI should enhance, not replace, human judgment and decision-making.
  2. Users must uphold the Academic Integrity Policy when utilizing AI tools. For full implications of Academic Integrity violations, visit the Academic Integrity section of the Code of Conduct.
  3. AI use must promote educational equity and eliminate biases.
  4. Privacy and data protection regulations must be adhered to when using AI. AI is not a secure platform.

Guidelines for Academic Use

For Faculty

  1. If the Program has established course-specific rules for AI usage, the Faculty must follow the guidelines in the course.
  2. If the Program does not have established course-specific rules for AI usage, then the faculty must clearly communicate their expectations regarding AI use in the course shell. Faculty can allow higher thresholds of AI plagiarism on assignments. However, the threshold must not go lower than the institution’s AI plagiarism rate of 20% (1%-20% of an AI plagiarism detection is always acceptable due to the risk of false positives). NOTE: Turnitin AI plagiarism score is separate and apart from the plagiarism score. This policy only governs AI plagiarism. See Plagiarism Policy in the Catalog. The range to communicate is as follows, with the university's default being Restrictive.
    1. Permissive: Students can freely utilize AI tools to assist in their assignments, such as generating ideas, proofreading, or organizing content.
    2. Moderate: Students can use AI tools for specific parts of their assignments, such as brainstorming or initial research, but the core content and conclusions should be original.
    3. Restrictive: AI tools are prohibited for the assignment, and all work must be the student’s original creation.
  3. No Use of AI Allowed for the Following Assignments: Signature Assignments need to be centered on the student’s original work as it is intended to measure institutional and programmatic outcomes, which are used for the assessment of student learning. AI is also not appropriate for quizzes or proctored exams.
  4. Integrate AI literacy into the curriculum where appropriate and as approved through the curriculum revision process.
  5. Prohibited Conduct: Never copy and paste student work, student information, protected data, or proprietary content into AI. It is an open source, and you can be violating FERPA, HIPAA, and other federal and/or state protected information. AI is not a secure platform.

For Students

  1. Read the expectations and permitted use of AI in a course. If not found, obtain instructor permission before using AI for coursework.
  2. Properly cite and reference any AI-generated content used in assignments.
  3. Use AI tools to enhance learning, not to circumvent academic work.
  4. AI is not permitted for Signature Assignments, quizzes, or proctored exams, which are intended to measure students’ understanding and to measure students’ outcomes.
  5. Allowable use AI tools: brainstorming and ideation, creating study guides and practice problems, proofreading and grammar checking, and exploring complex concepts.
  6. Prohibited Conduct:
    1. Complete assignments without substantial student input.
    2. Generate entire essays or reports.
    3. Solve exam questions during assessments.
    4. Students must not input sensitive, protected, or confidential information into AI tools. This includes: student’s work product, student-protected information, patient information, or proprietary content into AI. AI is an open source, and entering protected information can violate FERPA, HIPAA, and other federal and/or state-protected information. AI is not a secure platform.
  7. NOTE: Turnitin AI plagiarism score is separate and apart from the plagiarism score. This policy only governs AI plagiarism. See Plagiarism Policy in the Catalog.

Administrative Use

  1. Regularly review and update AI policies to reflect technological advancements.
  2. Provide AI literacy training for faculty, staff, and students.

Ethical Considerations

  1. Regularly assess AI tools for potential biases and take steps to mitigate them.
  2. Foster open discussions on ethical AI use among all stakeholders.

Note: This policy aims to harness the potential of AI while maintaining the integrity of our educational mission. It is subject to regular review and updates as AI technology evolves.