Generative AI Policies

The first step is to ensure that you have a well-articulated policy around the use of GenAI in your course. Find out what your institution’s stance on the technology is; in many cases, the responsibility for defining acceptable use comes down to the individual professor in a particular course. It is possible that the same instructor teaching different courses (e.g., first-year vs fourth-year), or different instructors teaching sections of the same course, may all have different policies on using GenAI. The important thing is for the class policy to be clear to students from the beginning so that they understand how they can and cannot use these tools.

Most colleges and universities have pages explicitly dedicated to GenAI use in coursework, including sample syllabus statements for instructors to use:

• University of Guelph: Provisional Recommendations for the Use of Generative AI
• University of Waterloo: UW Course Outline Suggestions for Generative Artificial Intelligence
• University of Toronto: ChatGPT and Generative AI in the Classroom
• Queen’s University: Academic Integrity
• Conestoga College: Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) Assessment Statements for Students;
• Humber College: Academic Integrity and Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI)
• Centennial College: GenAI Sample Assignment Level Statements

Having a clearly articulated, consistent GenAI policy is as important as a late policy: it provides the “rules of the road” for students and gives faculty something to reference in case of perceived wrongdoing. Absent such policies, there are many grey areas that can, at best, lead to unsatisfactory outcomes, and at worst, cause faculty to expend a large amount of time and effort enmeshed in academic misconduct proceedings.

Communication with Students

Once your policy is in place, it’s time to talk to your students about it, early and often. Ensuring that all students understand the policy is the first step, and one that may need to be repeated throughout the first few weeks of the semester as new students join the course. Continuing to discuss GenAI, and clearly illustrating its strengths and weakness — especially in your discipline — is crucial. If you are permitting some GenAI use, teach your students some ways to leverage the tools to achieve their goals and fulfill the learning outcomes. Make it clear how students are expected to document or credit their GenAI work (e.g., submit a list of prompts; provide screenshots of the conversation; use approved citations; etc.).

If you are permitting no GenAI use, explain why not. Engage students in conversation about why these tools are not appropriate for your class. Be prepared to listen to students as they share ideas with you about how they use the tools — they may change your mind.

For more information on syllabus statements from around the world, you can consult Syllabi Policies for AI Generative Tools, an evolving Google doc maintained by Lance Eaton, a doctoral student in higher education.