Provost Shiang-Kwei Wang and Dean Andrea Fabrizio formed a committee tasked with preparing three optional syllabus templates offering policies on the use of artificial intelligence (AI). These templates were designed to be included in spring 2024 syllabi.
The purpose of these templates is to offer possible wording for faculty who want to establish a policy for AI for their courses, regardless of modality. The templates range from giving students broad permission to responsibly use AI under certain guidelines (Template 1), completely prohibiting the use of AI (Template 2), and allowing the use of AI when the instructor determines it is appropriate and with specific guidelines (Template 3).
The faculty who worked on the templates were:
Matthew Balousek (Humanities)
Jacqueline DiSanto (Education)
Carl Grindley (Language and Cognition)
Linda Hirsch (English)
Ana Marjanovic (Education)
Krystyna Michael (English)
Felipe Pimentel (Behavioral and Social S.)
Alisa Roost (Humanities)
The following are the three policy templates addressing the use of AI:
TEMPLATE 1
Syllabus Statement on the Responsible Use of AI
Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents both exciting opportunities and significant ethical considerations, and, thus, must adhere to a set of guidelines that align with our commitment to academic integrity and ethical practice.
AI in Our Course
[course number, name, and section]
Permitted Uses of AI
AI tools are permitted in this course as a means to facilitate and enrich your learning process. They can be used for preliminary research, concept exploration, and as an aid in the creation of drafts or study materials. However, the core of your academic submissions must be authentically yours, crafted with your critical thought and reflective of your insights. Suggested Tools [to be listed by faculty for their own courses]:
- Grammarly
- ChatGPT
- Gamma presentations
- Google Translate
- Bard
- Canva
- Adobe Express
Guidelines for AI-Generated Content
AI may be used to support and supplement your learning, not to replace your original work. You are encouraged to use AI for tasks such as structuring outlines, generating study questions, isolating facts, or identifying and comparing concepts. However, the final work you submit must be your own, reflecting your understanding and analysis, expressed in your own words.
Any content generated by AI that is submitted for academic credit must be explicitly approved by me. You are required to disclose the use of AI and provide proper attribution, as per the revised CUNY Academic Integrity policy.
Upon request, you must be prepared to provide me with your interactions with AI, so be sure to save your chatlog.
Critically engage with AI outputs, interrogating their accuracy and relevance to our course, and understand their limitations. AI should serve as a starting point for your analysis, not the endpoint.
Be aware of biases in AI algorithms and consider the broader societal implications of these technologies.
Protect your privacy and the confidentiality of others (including your classmates and instructor) while using AI tools. Ensure that no personal data is entered into AI systems, and familiarize yourself with the privacy policies of each tool we employ.
TEMPLATE 2
Syllabus Statement on the Prohibited Use of AI
Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents exciting opportunities for the workforce and our personal lives; however, its use in this course can counteract genuine learning and your acquisition of important communication and research skills.
AI in Our Course
For these reasons, the use of generative AI tools such as but not limited to ChatGPT is prohibited on all assignments and assessments in this course. Submitting content that has been generated, created, or assisted by a computer application or tool, including artificial intelligence (AI) tools, is a violation of the Hostos Academic Integrity Policy.
The consequences for using AI tools in (add course number, name, and section) are as follows (to be listed by faculty for their own courses):
Please feel free to consult me (your instructor) if you have any questions about this policy.
TEMPLATE 3
Syllabus Statement on the Restricted Use of AI
You may use AI in (course number, name, and section) only when and how the instructor specifically allows it.
AI tools are permitted in this course as a means to smooth and enrich your learning and practicing skills. AI can be used for (faculty choice) preliminary research, concept exploration, and as an aid in the creation of drafts or study materials. However, the core of your academic submissions must be authentically yours, crafted with your critical thought and reflective of your insights.
Suggested Tools (to be listed by faculty for their own courses)
- Grammarly
- ChatGPT
- Gamma presentations
- Google Translate
- Bard
- Canva
- Adobe Express
Guidelines for AI-Generated Content
You are encouraged to use AI for these tasks: ____________________ (faculty must spell out acceptable uses). AI may be used to support and supplement your learning, not to replace your original work. However, the final work you submit must be your own, reflecting your understanding and analysis, expressed in your own words.
Any content generated by AI that is submitted for academic credit must be explicitly approved by the instructor. You are required to disclose the use of AI and provide proper attribution, as per the revised CUNY Academic Integrity policy.
Upon request, you must be prepared your instructor with your interactions with AI, so you are required to save your chatlog. You must be prepared to answer questions about your research and the ideas that went into your work.
You need to critically engage with AI outputs. You must check their accuracy and relevance to our course and your views and values. We all need to understand their current limitations and recent changes to the constantly changing technology. AI may serve as a starting point for your analysis, but it is never the endpoint.
Be aware of biases in AI algorithms and consider the broader societal implications of these technologies.
Protect your privacy and the confidentiality of others (including your classmates and instructor) while using AI tools. You must ensure that no personal data (faculty must include concrete examples here) for anyone else is entered into AI systems, and you must familiarize yourself with the privacy policies of each tool we employ. You need to decide how much data you will share with AI about yourself, but you cannot share other people’s data ever.
Cross-Campus Approaches to Building a Generative AI Policy
Link: 7 Things You Should Know About Generative AI
Jacqueline DiSanto
Jacqueline M. DiSanto is a full professor, chair of the Education Department, and coordinator for Teacher Education. She serves as Academic Integrity Officer at Hostos and campus lead for CUNY’s Computer Integrated Teacher Education grant-funded initiative. She is co-chair of ETLC and SoTL. She was co-chair of the committee to create policy templates for in-class use of artificial intelligence at Hostos.
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