Syllabus Statements

Adding AI policies to courses helps set clear expectations for students and protects academic integrity while encouraging innovation. Without clear guidelines, students may be confused about what AI use is acceptable, which can lead to unintentional violations or missed learning opportunities.

For more information about syllabus statements, refer to the TWU Syllabus Template.

Student Data Protection Statement

This statement covers faculty responsibilities to their students and how student data will be used with AI. Faculty are expected to abide by these restrictions on their own AI use, regardless of whether the statement is included in their syllabus.

"Artificial Intelligence: Assurances of FERPA and Data Protection

Your private student data (e.g., grades, assignments, personal identifiers) will not be entered by faculty into any third‑party AI tool unless you give explicit written consent, as required under FERPA.
Any tool that faculty use with student data will operate under a data‑minimization principle – only the smallest amount of information possible will be used.
Any vendor employed by the university must have FERPA‑compliant data‑protection policies and safeguards, and this must be transparent to you (e.g., privacy policy, encryption, data disposal).
You will be informed about what data (if any) is shared, provided, or stored when we use any AI tool in the classroom—and you can opt out."

Student Use of AI and LLM Tools

Faculty can create customized AI policies for each course based on their teaching goals. AI-intensive courses may require detailed policies, while others might prohibit the use of AI entirely. Since AI violations can be hard to detect, requiring students to disclose AI usage may be more practical than outright bans.

Permissive & Reflective Policy (AI encouraged with disclosure)

"You are invited to use AI tools strategically in this course—to brainstorm, draft, analyze, or revise. If you do, briefly explain how you used the tool (e.g., “used GPT‑4 to generate outline; then revised”) in a note or method section submitted with your work. If you choose not to use AI in your learning process, that is perfectly acceptable. You are responsible for the accuracy and ethics of any artificial intelligence outputs that you use in your work."

Mixed‑use Policy (AI allowed in certain assignments)

"For specific assignments (not all), AI may be used—e.g., to generate research questions or draft outlines—but only if explicitly permitted in the assignment instructions. When permitted, you must cite your usage (e.g., footnote: “used ChatGPT to generate three possible questions”). You are responsible for the accuracy and ethics of any artificial intelligence outputs that you use in your work."
"Unpermitted assignments (i.e., any assignment lacking explicit AI permissions) must be entirely your own work, without AI tools."
"If you are uncertain whether AI is allowed on a task, reach out for clarity before submitting your work."

Optional Addition for Faculty Requiring AI for Some Assignments

"For one or more assignments in this course, you will be expected to use AI in pursuit of the course learning objectives. For these assignments…

[Faculty choose one of the following final statements:]

(either) the use of AI remains optional. If you would rather not use AI, that is perfectly acceptable. Let me know, and accommodations or alternative assignments can be made.
(or) you are required to use AI in the ways detailed by the professor.

(and) As always, you are responsible for the accuracy and ethics of any artificial intelligence outputs that you use in your work."

Page last updated 9:10 AM, October 23, 2025