AI Policy and Guidelines

Artificial intelligence (AI): a branch of computer science that creates systems and software capable of tasks once thought to be uniquely human. It enables machines to learn from experience, adapt to new information, and uses data, algorithms and computational power to interpret complex situations and make decisions with minimal human input. (International Standards Organization)

Agentic AI – artificial intelligence systems designed to operate autonomously. Unlike passive chatbots that simply answer prompts, these systems can perceive their environment, independently plan multi-step workflows, utilize external tools (like APIs or web browsers), and execute actions to achieve specific goals. (MIT)

Generative AI – systems trained to generate new, original content-such as text, images, music, or code-based on the prompts they receive (Michigan Technical University).

Personal Identifiable Information [PII] -any data that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, either alone or when combined with other information. This critical classification of data includes both direct identifiers (like a Social Security number) and indirect identifiers (like a ZIP code and date of birth). (US Department of Labor)

Family Education Rights and Privacy Act [FERPA] is a US Federal law that protects the privacy of student educational records. It applies to all schools receiving US Department of Education funding, granting parents (or children over the age of 18) the right to access, amend and control the disclosure of their academic information. (Indiana University)

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is a U.S. federal law that safeguards sensitive patient health information—known as Protected Health Information (PHI)—from being disclosed without a patient’s knowledge or consent. It applies to healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses. (CDC)

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act [COPPA]: imposes certain requirements on operators of websites or online services directed to children under 13 years of age. (FTC)

No Generative AI Use: Students are forbidden from using any AI tools (e.g. LLMs, image generators, automated translators) for any part of assignments submitted in the course This is most appropriate for courses and assignments that explicitly build foundational skills.

Limited Generative AI Use: Some generative features may be used in the process of achieving the learning goals, such as collaborative ideation, summarizing long sources, generating images for presentations, etc. Professors should specify the types of allowable use and require disclosure statements. AI may be used only for proofreading, technical editing, or basic structural suggestions. The original ideas and substance of the work must be the student’s. NOTE: Using AI as a learning strategy (for example, by creating flashcards for an exam or for self quizzing while studying) would be assistive use that does not need to be disclosed. Assistive use does not need to be disclosed unless required by the professor.

Unlimited Generative AI Use: No limits are placed on the way in which tools are used. Students remain responsible for the accuracy and quality of the final product. Disclosure statements that name which tools were used and how are required.

The capability to engage AI with critical judgment, creative agency, and ethical purpose in ways that enhance their lives and contribute to the common good. (adapted from GC’s AI Purpose, Mission, and Vision)

Articulation of AI use for each course: Faculty are required to articulate AI usage parameters for courses in their syllabi. Further, when defining these parameters, faculty should use the “common language around AI Use” protocol (three categories):

• No Generative AI Use: Students are forbidden from using any AI tools (e.g. LLMs, image generators, automated translators) for any part of assignments submitted in the course This is most appropriate for courses and assignments that explicitly build foundational skills.
• Limited Generative AI Use: Some generative features may be used in the process of achieving the learning goals, such as collaborative ideation, summarizing long sources, generating images for presentations, etc. Professors should specify the types of allowable use and require disclosure statements. AI may be used only for proofreading, technical editing, or basic structural suggestions. The original ideas and substance of the work must be the student’s. NOTE: Using AI as a learning strategy (for example, by creating flashcards for an exam or for self quizzing while studying) would be assistive use that does not need to be disclosed. Assistive use does not need to be disclosed unless required by the professor.
• Unlimited Generative AI Use: No limits are placed on the way in which tools are used. Students remain responsible for the accuracy and quality of the final product. Disclosure statements that name which tools were used and how are required.

See Academic Integrity and Grievance Policies and Syllabus Policy

Faculty are strongly encouraged to provide detailed guidance specific to individual assignments.

Faculty are encouraged to state their position in regards to the use of translation tools for coursework. In general, it should be assumed that translation tools can be used on a word by word or phrase level as opposed to writing an entire essay in one language and then using a translator to translate the essay and correct grammar.

Special note: When no AI policies are clearly articulated in course documents, students have the right to challenge academic penalties for AI misuse.

Reporting student misuse: When a student’s use of generative AI does not comply with stated acceptable uses, faculty are required to report misuse to the associate academic dean to process through the academic dishonesty process. See Academic Integrity and Grievance Policies

Usage of AI tools: Faculty are required to consult the “General Guidance for the Use of AI Tools section [above] prior to the adoption of any AI tool. This guidance includes a list of GC approved tools as well as other very important factors to consider, including Information protected under law, sensitive information, and intellectual property rights. In addition, it is the responsibility of the faculty to consider the bias and the credibility of the AI tools that they are using.

Transparency of AI usage for teaching activities: Faculty are required to disclose the use of AI detection tools. At their own discretion, faculty should consider disclosing their use of AI when providing feedback and crafting lesson plans, quizzes, and the like.

Instructional Guidance: To date, GC is actively developing capacity in this area. In the meantime, it is highly recommended that faculty consult AAC&U’s guidance on teaching with AI.

Success in academics is predicated on principles of honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. The use of generative artificial intelligence (AI that produces original content) to complete assignments is considered academic dishonesty when it misrepresents work as a student’s own words and ideas. Generative AI refers to tools capable of creating content such as text, images, music, code, and other outputs. The use of AI to bypass the learning process (for example using a tool to solve problems or summarize text in place of engaging the assignment) is also prohibited and will be treated as a violation of the academic integrity policy.

The use of assistive artificial intelligence (AI that makes suggestions) may or may not be considered plagiarism depending on the context of use. Students using these tools are not required to disclose such use to their instructors unless faculty explicitly ask them to do so.

Professors may allow or require the use of AI for instructional and/ or assistive purposes. In these cases, the use of AI must comply with the specific parameters articulated by the professor. Unless stated otherwise, students must disclose and properly attribute the generative AI output.

Students are responsible for all content that they submit. AI-produced content may be biased, inaccurate, completely fabricated, or contain copyright-protected or proprietary information. As such, it always requires thorough human review prior to use.

When a student’s use of generative AI does not comply with these stated acceptable uses, it will be reported to the associate academic dean through the process described in the academic grievance policy.

When using AI tools, students must comply with GC’s policies pertaining to the use of information and AI tools [see General Guidance for the use of AI tools above]

Further guidance can be found on the Academic Policies and Requirements page

The use of AI tools for conducting research should consider applicable privacy and copyright issues. Data input and analysis may be appropriately assisted by AI when PII is removed from all data. If research data is entered, researchers must use approved GC AI tools to maintain the privacy and security of the data. Writing for publication may require disclosure of the use of AI tools, depending on the guidelines of the publication.

Research Publications: For research publications, faculty, staff and students should adhere to the editorial policies of the relevant journals and publishers regarding AI usage. NOTE: most academic publishers and funding agencies do not recognize AI as an author, and its use in drafting or analyzing research findings must be appropriately acknowledged. Additionally, researchers must take the following precautions in their work:

• Researchers should document and disclose AI utilization in their methodologies, ensuring academic integrity and research reproducibility.
• AI tools must not be used with sensitive, proprietary or protected research data, [see General Guidance for AI Use above] particularly Personally Identifiable Information (PII), health-related data (e.g., HIPAA-covered information) or confidential funding-related materials.
• Researchers should be aware that AI generated outputs may not be legally copyrightable and that using AI tools for analysis or content creation could have implications for data ownership and authorship attribution.

Grant Writing: GC follows the policy of the funder in determining the extent to which AI tools may be used in the grant application preparation process. This includes compliance with any funder-specific guidelines on AI disclosure, authorship and ethical considerations. As part of the internal grant review process, faculty and staff must indicate whether AI tools were used in the preparation of the application, specifying the nature and extent of their use. This information will help determine whether external disclosures—either mandatory or voluntary—should be made to the funder at the time of submission.

The Academic Success team uses a variety of tools (including AI) for the purposes of academic support and accommodation. The use of these tools is highly specific and is carefully curated on an individual level by members of the academic support team. Members of the academic success team work with professors when determining under which circumstances a student is exempt from specific course expectations. The ASC will never recommend the use of generative AI for the purpose of completing graded work. Students, faculty members, and ASC staff are encouraged to engage together in this process.

Use of translation tools: Faculty are encouraged to state their position in regards to the use of translation tools for coursework. In general, it should be assumed that translation tools can be used on a word by word or phrase level as opposed to writing an entire essay in one language and then using a translator to translate the essay and correct grammar.