Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

OWU does not currently mandate or endorse a specific AI detection tool as a definitive proof of misconduct. Research suggests these tools can produce false positives. If you suspect unauthorized AI use, we recommend focusing on the "human-centered" approach: compare the coursework to the student's previous work and meet with the student to ask them to explain their process and sources.

For equity reasons, students should not be required to pay for AI subscriptions out-of-pocket. If your pedagogy requires a specific tool, please consult with Information Services. All OWU students have access to the free version of Google's Gemini and NotebookLM.

While Section 2 allows AI for "course prep," using AI for grading requires caution regarding Data Privacy. Student essays are protected by FERPA; uploading them to public AI models could violate privacy. If you use AI for feedback, it should serve as a "first pass" or assistant, but the final evaluation must remain a human-led process. Per the policy, students' intellectual property should be respected and allow for opt-out of GenAI usage.

To model the same standards of academic honesty expected of students, faculty must provide clear and direct disclosure whenever AI is used in the following ways. It is recommended that this disclosure occur on the syllabus for any assignment or lecture that uses GenAI in significant ways. If it is not disclosed on the syllabus, the following are additional options that allow transparency.

• Grading and Feedback: If AI is used to determine a grade or generate feedback, a disclosure statement must be included on the same document or platform provided to the student. This statement must specify the name of the tool used, your prompt, and how you assessed what the tool generated.
• Written Class Materials: Any AI-generated syllabi, assignment prompts, or handouts must include a disclosure on the material itself. This statement must specify the name of the tool used, your prompt, and how you assessed what the tool generated.
• Oral Content (Lectures/Discussions): Any AI-generated lectures or major course activities must include a disclosure. This statement must make students aware of the usage, and include the name of the tool used, your prompt, and how you assessed what the tool generated.

Faculty may choose to include the following sample statements in their syllabi – see the Smith Center for additional detail.

• For administrative functions (proofreading, formatting, accessibility checks): AI may be used for administrative course management.
• For course prep (brainstorming lesson plan ideas, generating a few quiz questions or discussion prompts): I periodically use AI to refine course material to improve student learning.
• For content delivery (AI generated slide deck, substantial portions of a lecture, an entire assignment): This [lecture, slide deck] was drafted using AI and edited by me for accuracy and relevance to our course objectives.

If AI is not permitted in the course, non-AI options should be reviewed with OWU's Accessibility Services offices. In some cases, an AI tool may be needed. Those conversations should occur between the faculty member and Accessibility Services in order to balance student and faculty needs and develop the appropriate accommodation. Students who are registered with Accessibility Services are not automatically approved to use AI tools unless officially approved on a case by case basis.

GenAI is permitted for committee work and administrative work. However, care must be taken to ensure outputs are accurate. Therefore, this work requires human oversight. Additionally, usage of GenAI for these purposes should be disclosed to those who may be impacted by the analysis or results. Care should also be taken when working with sensitive data. Masking of personally identifiable information may be required. Consult with Information Services if more information is needed prior to starting the work.

AI usage for staff should be discussed with your supervisor. The university policy does not mandate AI use, but specific areas may have requirements that do or do not use AI. Open dialog with your supervisor is the best approach to determining whether AI should be used for a task / project.

It is important to be specific in terms of how GenAI can or cannot be used in your course. Faculty have full autonomy over this decision at a course level as well as at the assignment level. Please see specific suggestions in OWU's AI Syllabus Guidelines.

For the course-level language, some starting points are below. More syllabi statements are available on the Smith Center website. We encourage the use of this AI Assessment Scale, which has been researched & adopted by hundreds of institutions:

• Level 1: No AI Permitted
• Level 2: AI Planning, with Citation and Disclosure
• Level 3: AI Collaboration, with Citation and Disclosure
• Level 4: Full AI with Citation and Disclosure
• Level 5: AI Exploration, Citation and Disclosure

For individual assignments, it is best practice to tell students what part of the assignment process they are allowed to use AI and how you want them to use AI. For example, if you are encouraging or allowing students to use AI for brainstorming but still want them to engage their own thinking, then you can give students specific prompt instructions to put into Gemini that includes: context (ideas on a general topic), role of AI (e.g., a consultant), limitations of AI (e.g., don't tell me what I should write about), instructions to AI (e.g., give me 5 ideas). Prompts like these keep students in control of their thinking and the process while benefiting from questions and prompts to deepen their thinking.

Basic spellcheck and grammar tools are generally considered standard writing aids. However, "Generative" features (where the AI rewrites entire paragraphs or changes your "voice") likely cross the line and may violate the Academic Honesty Policy. When in doubt, ask your instructor if "AI-assisted editing" is permitted under their specific policy. Some tools, including Grammarly, are incorporating GenAI, so it's important to discuss appropriate usage with your instructor.

Any use of AI should be cleared with your professor. Make an appointment to talk with your professor about the specific use of AI you think will help your learning and why it is helpful to your learning. It will also be helpful to have some specific examples you can talk through with your professor of how you would want to use AI.

A link is usually not enough. You should follow the specific citation style required for your class (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.). Most styles require you to disclose the tool name, the date of the prompt, and a brief description of how you used it (e.g., "Brainstorming an outline" vs. "Drafting the introduction"). Faculty may have additional requirements to show chat logs of your interactions with AI.

Yes. Under Section 3 (Accuracy and Accountability), you are responsible for the work you submit. Submitting "hallucinated" facts is treated similarly to falsifying data or sources in traditional research. Always "fact-check" your AI personally. This includes reviewing for embedded biases and historical prejudices.

OWU's primary goal is to ensure that students are literate before they are AI literate. While technical proficiency is important, we believe the most valuable workplace skills are the foundational ones AI cannot replace. Curriculum is designed to provide students with robust critical thinking, reading, and information literacy skills that are vital to the modern workplace. By teaching students how to think, they can leverage these skills to use AI responsibly in the future. 

Students should be able to demonstrate their creative process. This can be done by using Google Docs version history, saving rough drafts, keeping notes, and being prepared to discuss your workflow with the faculty member. Additional guidance on dispute resolution is available in the Academic Honesty Policy.

Review your course syllabus to see if AI use is mandatory. If it is, or if the policy is unclear, speak with your instructor to discuss whether assignments can be completed using alternative methods.

OWU's Gemini environment does not use your data to build its model, nor is it read by humans. Caution is still advised for any content you want to remain 100% confidential and within your control. Many public AI models (like the free version of ChatGPT) use your inputs to train future models. This means your "intellectual property" could essentially become part of the public domain or be "leaked" in another user's query. Refer to Section 5 regarding Intellectual Property and Grant Proposals.

It means being "prompt-conscious." Instead of running dozens of repetitive queries, try to be specific in your first prompt. Avoid using Generative AI for tasks that a simple search engine or a calculator can handle, as AI queries often consume more energy and water for cooling data centers than other technologies.

This is currently in discussion. We envision this being a conversation between multiple stakeholders, and it will take some time to develop the plan. This statement does not mean all faculty must teach AI literacy in their courses.

Contact Information Services. They can verify if a tool meets OWU's data security protocols and whether it is safe for use with sensitive institutional tasks.

The policy was developed by task force members with input from faculty, students, and staff via feedback sessions and surveys.

OWU Information Services supports and recommends Google Gemini. All users have access to Gemini with their OWU credentials. Importantly, data entered into our instance of Gemini is not read by humans, and is not used to further develop Google's model. It is also behind OWU authentication and 2 Step Verification. NotebookLM is also supported by IS for the same reason. Other AI tools may not protect your data in the same way and therefore are not recommended.

The following legal and privacy standards apply to Gemini for Education. These "Enterprise-grade" protections distinguish the educational version from the free, public version of Gemini.

1. Data Ownership - Under the Google Workspace for Education Terms of Service, your institution retains all ownership and rights to the data submitted. Google serves as a data processor and does not claim ownership over your prompts, uploaded files, or the generated output.
2. No Model Training - Google explicitly states that when using a school account, your content - including chats, prompts, and uploaded documents - is not used to train or improve Google's generative AI models. Your interactions stay within your organization's private domain. Your data is not used to learn for other customers or public users.
3. Not Human-Readable - In the public version of Gemini, human reviewers may read and annotate conversations to improve the service. However, for Gemini for Education, Google commits that your data is not reviewed by human reviewers. Everything is processed by secure, automated systems. Because there is no human review, your sensitive educational data remains private and is not readable by Google personnel or contractors.
4. Zero Advertising - Google does not use any information from Gemini for Education to build advertising profiles. There are no ads in the Gemini for Education experience, and your data is never used to target ads to students or faculty.

This policy applies to contractors as well. Contractors should be made aware of the policy prior to the engagement if GenAI is going to be a significant tool used.

Information Services (IS) anticipates many of our software providers will embed AI tools in their products. Please inform IS in these cases so security and data usage can be reviewed and proper campus constituents can be informed.