Guidelines for Faculty Regarding AI in Instruction

Before writing the syllabus: 

• Consult samples of syllabus statements stating the terms of the use of GenAI in the course, including academic integrity policies.
• Look for campus guidelines on GenAI.
• Identify campus resources for using and identifying GenAI.
• Collaborate with colleagues to share best practices.

In the syllabus:

• Provide clarity on when and how GenAI tools can or cannot be used in coursework and assignments.

At the beginning of the semester:

• Explore with students the varieties of GenAI, including specific apps like Chat GPT, hidden GenAI like Grammarly, GenAI in Google searches, etc.
• Discuss with class the ethical implications and limitations of using GenAI for assignments.
• Note the potential decrease of practice in critical thinking skills, thus possibly creating barriers to meeting the expected learning outcomes for the course.
• Highlight the potential digital divide created by inequitable access to GenAI between students.
• Describe how generated AI content can be biased because of incomplete or selective training data.

Throughout the semester:

• Place more emphasis on critical thinking and originality.
• Recognize the development of ideas over polished prose.

 At the beginning of the semester:

• Emphasize the importance of using GenAI ethically and according to the terms laid out in the syllabus.
• Require and teach students how to reference and cite GenAI-generated content appropriately.
• Explain that no data entered into the CSU’s walled garden “ChatGPT.edu” will be shared with any entities outside the CSU, nor will it be used to train ChatGPT.edu or other AI or LLM models.

Throughout the semester:

• Teach students how to incorporate GenAI into the writing process.
• Compare and fact-check GenAI-generated coursework as an in-class activity.
• Incorporate oral components reflecting on GenAI into assignments, for example:
  “Let's spend xx minutes discussing the pros and cons of using GenAI writing tools for academic work. What are the ethical considerations we should keep in mind?”
• Emphasize process over product.
• Incorporate peer review sessions into class.
• Require students to submit outlines, drafts, and revisions.
• Ask students to explain their writing process and/or research methods.
• Ensure that students critically evaluate all AI-generated output.
   

At the beginning of the semester:

• Explain to students why the instructor made the decision not to allow students to use GenAI for the coursework.
• Explain to students how coursework will be checked for the use of GenAI and what the penalties for using GenAI are.

Throughout the semester:

• Emphasize process over product.
• Incorporate peer review sessions into your class.
• Ask students to explain their writing process or research methods.
• Redesign assignments.
• Require students to submit outlines, drafts, and revisions.
• Create tasks that require personal experiences or reflections, for instance:
  “Describe a time when you faced an ethical dilemma and how you tried to resolve it. Include specific details about your thought process and the outcome.”
• Assign in-class writing exercises such as:
  “At the start of class, you'll have xx minutes to write an analysis of the passage we just read together. This will form the basis of our discussion today.”
• Develop project-based assignments that require ongoing progress checks, e.g.:
  “For your paper, submit a topic proposal by week x, an annotated bibliography by week x, a rough draft by week x, and participate in peer review sessions in weeks x and y.”

The main goal of the CSU is to provide excellent instruction for excellent student learning. When GenAI (sometimes just referred to as AI) contributes to excellent teaching and learning, it should be used in instruction; when GenAI makes teaching and learning worse, it should not be used. The CSU has no intention of requiring that faculty use GenAI in instruction. Instructors should investigate whether GenAI might improve teaching and learning in their specific classroom the same way they did with any other new technology such as the pen and pencil, the printed book, the computer, the internet, etc. Instructors might also investigate whether learning GenAI in a classroom setting might make students better prepared for the workforce.

Because the CSU does not require that faculty use GenAI in instruction, instructors should consider whether GenAI might improve teaching and learning in their specific classroom the same way they did with any other new technology.

After these considerations, faculty might decide to use GenAI in the classroom or decide not to use GenAI in the classroom. The guidelines below are aimed at both groups. More specifically, faculty might use (or not use) GenAI themselves, and they might allow (or not allow) students to use GenAI in a variety of forms.
In all of these considerations, faculty should be aware that at least some students will inevitably use GenAI, whether or not it is prohibited or encouraged by the instructor. Therefore, another aspect of the guidelines is to explore how to deal with the situation where the instructor has prohibited students from using GenAI, but they use it nevertheless.

Academic Senate California State University (ASCSU) Resolution, AS-3734-25/AA Approved May 8, 2025