Provost's Office Policies

Guidelines for Communicating AI Policies

Include one of the suggested syllabus statements regarding AI tools from the Syllabus Info for Faculty webpage.
Email students with the specific policy.
Faculty are encouraged to devote some class time to discuss specific policies regarding the use of generative AI tools or machine learning with their coursework. While some students may clearly understand these policies and adhere to them, it can be expected that many students will not have a clearly defined boundary for use of such tools. It is therefore recommended that to the best of your ability, you provide clear guidelines and examples, discuss your expectations and provide an opportunity for students to ask questions related to this topic.

Communication Strategies

Discuss your policy for either permitting or prohibiting the use of Gen AI or Machine Learning tools to complete assignments in your course. Have a conversation and invite them to ask questions. Please note the policies are listed under Academic Integrity on the Syllabus Info for Faculty webpage.
Ensure your policy is easily located in your syllabus and consider posting either an announcement or creating a page on your Canvas site with the information. Remind students of the policy when you assign work.
Encourage students to take advantage of the academic support resources on campus that include Writing and Tutoring Centers and Student Access Services.

Instructional Design Tips

Get to know your students’ work by assigning brief writing exercises during class.
Require students to write about specific conversations that took place during class.
Encourage students to cite current events as examples.
Utilize the features built into Canvas Quizzes to help reduce opportunities for cheating.
Design assessments that require critical thinking and analysis, require students to annotate their submissions with citations.
Provide explicit instructions for when students are taking high-stakes assessments (e.g. what resources, if any, are they permitted to use).
Assign work that focuses on process by requiring multiple drafts.
Provide more opportunities for students to demonstrate their understanding through oral explanations, discussions or presentations.
When assigning an assessment that may open the door to the use of AI tools, it is recommended to remind students of the policy along with the learning objectives of the assessment so that they are clear on what it is they are being asked to do and how it supports their learning of the material.

AI Detection Tools: Proceed with Caution

With any AI detection tool, false positives are possible. Recent reports, however, have indicated that AI detectors are more likely to falsely identify papers written by non-native English speakers due to the way in which the technology is programmed. This is incredibly important to be mindful of should you employ the use of any AI detection software.

Building and Maintaining Trust

If AI detection is used, the report should not serve as the sole basis for determining if a student used AI, especially considering there is a chance of a false positive.
Before you have a conversation with a student who you suspect has used AI, compare their most recent document to a previously submitted one. Does the student's work contain inaccurate information such as facts or even false sources?
Invite the student to meet with you face-to-face (this can be done in-person or via Zoom so that you can see and hear each other). Allow your student an opportunity to discuss their process and how they arrived at developing their artifact.

Additional Resources