Skip to Main Content

Artificial Intelligence: OpenAI, ChatGPT, LLMs, and More

This guide is designed to help answer questions and provide resources regarding AI, ChatGPT, Large Language Models, and their relationship to academics.

Introduction

NU encourages faculty and students to embrace the innovative use of Artificial Intelligence to enhance the educational experience. The Guidelines below aim to facilitate the responsible and ethical use of AI in the classroom.

Definitions

Generative AI Tools: We define “Generative AI tools” as including (but not limited to):  technologies that rely on machine learning, large language models (LLMs), and other advanced data-manipulation tools to produce distinct answers or outputs based upon prompts by the user.

Usage: Usage of Generative AI tools includes engaging with such tools to generate specific content that contributes to the submission of any activity or assignment or work to be evaluated in a course or requisite for graduation, including but not limited to papers, presentations and discussion posts, by students or by faculty, including   learning content, presentations, assessments, and feedback. 

Student Guidelines

  1. Students should review the course template and instructor’s syllabus for guidelines of appropriate AI usage. Each instructor at National University may have student usage policies that are different in terms of expectation and approach to using Generative AI tools as it pertains to the course materials and learning outcomes.  In the absence of a specific course policy, these guidelines stand as the default expectation.

  2. In accordance with the Institutional Statement on Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use published in NU’s General Catalog, students must make clear and evident what portion of the work is generated or informed by AI.
    1. Use the appropriate citation format (e.g. MLA, APA, Chicago, Bluebook) as indicated by the instructor or syllabus.
    2. Unless otherwise indicated in a syllabus or course template, the use of Generative AI as part of the brainstorming or organizing process need not be cited.
    3. AI-generated information must be paraphrased in a student’s own words, cited, and included in the reference section.
  3. Students are encouraged to use AI tools as a supplement to learning, not as a replacement for traditional learning methods.
    1. With regard to reflective practices, students may use such tools as a resource for insight and further understanding, but their submissions should be still created entirely by the student.
  4. Students who do not adhere to these guidelines (or ones specified within a given course syllabus) will be subject to the process highlighted in the National University Student Code of Conduct (see NU General Catalog: Policies and Procedures).
  5. Students are accountable for the integrity of the work they create using Generative AI and should be careful to validate output to avoid inaccuracies, biases, hallucinations, and any usage that violates the privacy or security of other individuals.
  6. Students should engage in no actions that undermine the academic integrity of assessments, exams, or other evaluations at National University.
    1. For example, sharing course materials with Generative AI platforms may be in violation of copyright laws.
    2. Questions or concerns about the appropriate use of Generative AI in a course should be directed to the instructor, other program faculty, or the Academic Success Center.
  7. The resources available through the National University Library are licensed for non-commercial, educational and research purposes by faculty, staff, students, and sometimes alumni. That use includes certain restrictions on copying, republishing, altering, or redistributing content.  Users are not permitted to upload library-subscribed content into generative AI tools, as these platforms may not respect the usage restrictions that come with our licensed resources and could jeopardize our ability to continue to subscribe to these resources.

Faculty Guidelines

  1. Faculty should adhere to the Faculty Guidelines and the process included in the NU’s Academic Integrity Policy for students who do not follow expectations.
  2. Whenever faculty use Generative AI tools to produce instructional and assessment materials, they should make it evident what final content was created by those Generative AI tools.
    1. Faculty must use the discipline’s preferred citation format (e.g. APA, MLA, Chicago, Bluebook) in all work to cite AI-generated materials.
    2. Faculty should follow disciplinary guidelines regarding the degree of transparency of AI usage. 
  3. Faculty cannot require students to purchase fee-based Generative AI tools.
  4. As with all cases of suspected plagiarism, when a faculty suspects a student has violated institutional or disciplinary policies related to AI tools, they must report the concern to the Office of Student Conduct via the Academic Misconduct form found at www.nu.edu/reportit.
    1. The Office of Student Conduct considers third-party AI detection software and AI tool usage reports insufficient to prove plagiarism.
    2. The Office of Student Conduct will provide recommendations for educational and/or grading sanctions based on the student’s history of conduct, the severity of the student behavior, and the degree level.
    3. Faculty are encouraged to approach their students with a focus on academic quality and student learning when addressing suspected cases of misuse of Generative AI.
  5. Faculty must get documented permission from students before putting original student content into any Generative AI tool that is not embedded in the course template.  Failure to do so may be in violation of NU Information Technology Policies.
  6. Faculty should model responsible course- or discipline-appropriate AI use to their students.
  7. Faculty may use Generative AI Tools in the following ways for instructional purposes:
    1. Learning Materials, Evaluation Materials, & Class Preparation: Faculty can use these tools to help create content for their courses whether it is learning materials, assignment guidelines, slides, discussion questions, activities, etc.
    2. Classroom Demonstrations & Learning Activities: Faculty can use these tools as part of classroom demonstrations and learning activities where the instructor and student can engage with Generative AI tools for purposes of discovery and analysis.
    3. Feedback: Faculty can use Generative AI tools to create effective feedback for students.  However, they are not allowed to put student-created work into Generative AI tools in order to generate effective feedback without explicit permission from students.
  8. Faculty are accountable for the integrity of the work they create using Generative AI and should be careful to validate output to avoid inaccuracies, biases, hallucinations, and any usage that violates the privacy or security of other individuals.
  9. Faculty should ensure that their use of Generative AI does not undermine the academic integrity of assessments, exams, or other evaluations at National University.
  10. Faculty interested in using Generative AI within a course are recommended to consult the syllabus and course template and to reach out to a trusted resource such as school/college leadership or the AI Council to check assumptions about appropriate usage.
  11. The resources available through the National University Library are licensed for non-commercial, educational and research purposes by faculty, staff, students, and sometimes alumni. That use includes certain restrictions on copying, republishing, altering, or redistributing content.  Users are not permitted to upload library-subscribed content into generative AI tools, as these platforms may not respect the usage restrictions that come with our licensed resources and could jeopardize our ability to continue to subscribe to these resources. Faculty desiring to use scholarly materials with Generative AI are encouraged to reach out to the NU Library directly for assistance in navigating copyright concerns.

Final Note

Because AI technologies are both new and quickly evolving, we recognize that these guidelines cannot and will not cover every situation. Should issues and cases arise which fit outside these guidelines, NU representatives will operate from a position of good faith in trying to address each situation, which will also be used to help us refine future policies and guidelines.