Policy Number
5.19
Signature
Board of Trustees
Date Approved
Effective Date
Responsible Division
Information Technology
Citation
NA
- Purpose.
The College promotes the ethical and responsible use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in teaching, learning, service delivery, and College operations. This policy aims to ensure that AI technology is deployed responsibly, used in a lawful and ethical manner, enhances productivity, efficiency, and decision-making while complying with applicable state and federal laws and respecting privacy, confidentiality, and data security. - Scope.
The policy applies to all College faculty and staff, students, and contractors or vendors who use AI tools for College purposes or while on a College owned or issued device, email domain, or network. For purposes of this policy, “Artificial Intelligence” refers to any software, system, application, or website that utilizes generative or algorithmic AI, machine learning, or advanced algorithms to perform tasks, analyze data, make, or assist in making decisions. - Data Safety and Privacy Expectations.
The College maintains Data Safety and Privacy Expectations regarding data security, privacy, and disclosure. These expectations include never submitting confidential, copyrighted, regulated, proprietary, or otherwise protected data into public AI tools; and always independently verifying AI-generated content as AI can produce incorrect or hallucinatory content. For purposes of this policy, confidential and proprietary information may include, but is not limited to, student and personnel information that is considered confidential under state and/or federal law; information marked or deemed confidential by the College or one of its contractors; trade secrets of a College contractor. - Compliance and Responsibility
Staff and students remain responsible for their individual use of AI for any class or job assignment and should review any AI-generated content.
All AI use must comply with applicable North Carolina laws and regulations, College
policies and procedures, and the intellectual property rights of others.
Violations of this may result in disciplinary action for staff or students. Any disciplinary action will align with College policy and procedure, but may include the following:- Academic penalties for students, including course failure, suspension, or expulsion.
- Disciplinary action for faculty and staff.
- Suspension of technology privileges.
- Other sanctions as determined appropriate under College policies.
- Policy Review
This policy will be reviewed annually to ensure alignment with evolving technology, legal requirements, and College objectives.
Procedure
- Guidelines for Use
The College implements a tiered framework on the use of AI that empowers divisions, departments, programs, and individual faculty and staff to determine the most appropriate level of AI integration based on their specific needs and contexts. These levels include Immersive, Permissive, Moderate, and Restrictive. These levels are defined below.- Faculty and Staff Use
For staff and faculty, the default level of use recommended College-wide is "Permissive." Larger divisions (i.e. Curriculum, Financial Services, Workforce Development) may establish a more restrictive or permitted default AI usage level to ensure consistency across divisional or departmental units.
Unless a more restrictive tier has been implemented, faculty may use AI tools to support instructional design, assessment development, academic content creation, administrative tasks, and to develop innovative educational approaches, provided that such use does not compromise student privacy, complies with copyright laws and accreditation standards, and is transparent to students when AI-generated content is used for instructional or evaluative purposes.
Faculty are encouraged to educate students on ethical and effective AI use, including digital literacy, limitations of AI systems, and responsible citation practices.
Unless a more restrictive tier has been implemented, non-instructional staff may use AI tools to support administrative or operational tasks so long as no confidential information is entered into external AI systems and all outputs are reviewed for accuracy before using in official communications or in the decision-making process.
For all employees, all AI use must comply with any North Carolina State IT policies, NCCCS guidance, and College procedures. If an employee is not certain on the level of AI use permitted in a job assignment, it is the employee’s responsibility to seek appropriate guidance from their supervisor. - Student Use of AI
For students, the default level of use recommended College-wide is “Restrictive.” Larger divisions may establish a more restrictive or permitted default AI usage level to ensure consistency across divisional or departmental units. Lower organizational levels, including individual faculty or staff, may implement a more restrictive level of AI use than what is allowed by higher organizational levels with permission from their dean or immediate supervisor.
Faculty may implement their own default level of AI use in their respective classes or on specific assignments however, the specific level of use allowed must be explicitly stated in specific course syllabi or on the instructions for an individual assignment.
Faculty must clearly indicate the permitted level of AI usage in their course syllabi. If an individual assignment deviates from the allowable level of AI use articulated in the course syllabus, the assignment instructions must explicitly state the applicable AI usage expectations. Students are expected to adhere to the AI usage guidelines as outlined in the course syllabus or assignment instructions, including whether students must cite the use of AI in an assignment.
Students may not use AI to:- fabricate data, sources, or citations.
- impersonate another person or to create fraudulent documents or emails; or
- complete assignments or assessments when not permitted by faculty.
Failure to comply with the assigned AI usage level for a class or assignment, or other violations of this policy, will be treated as a violation of the College’s Academic Integrity Policy and may result in disciplinary actions in accordance with that policy. If a student is not certain of the level of AI use permitted in a class or assignment, it is the student’s responsibility to seek appropriate guidance from faculty.
- Faculty and Staff Use
| Level of Use | Description within Administrative Contexts | Description within Instructional Contexts | Sample Syllabus Language |
|---|---|---|---|
| Immersive | AI tools are required for completing designated tasks. Staff are evaluated on their effective and ethical use of AI. | AI use is required. Students are assessed on their effective and ethical use of AI tools. | “You must use AI tools for this assignment. You will be graded on AI techniques, transparency, fact checking and citation.” |
| Permissive | AI tools may be used at the discretion of the staff member to enhance productivity or streamline work. | AI use is optional. Students may use AI tools to support their work. | “You may use AI tools as you see fit to enhance your assignment and demonstrate your understanding of the topic. Proper citation is required.” |
| Moderate | AI tools may be used for specific components of a task (e.g., drafting, summarizing), but final outputs must be produced by a human. | AI use is limited to specific stages of the assignment (e.g., brainstorming, research). | “You can employ AI tools to assist your brainstorming or initial research, but the main content, arguments, and conclusions must be your own.” |
| Restrictive | AI tools are not permitted for this task due to confidentiality, compliance, or quality control concerns. | AI use is prohibited. All work must be independently completed by the student. | “Do not use AI tools for this assignment. All content must be your original work. Any use of AI will be treated as plagiarism and a violation of the Academic Integrity Policy.” |