Artificial Intelligence

Fall 2025 Guidelines: Teaching with AI

Brief Introduction

Artificial intelligence is an inescapable factor in the higher education landscape as well as a technology that our students must be able to navigate in their future professional lives. Faculty members should understand advantages and disadvantages of this technology so that they can help lead their students in ethical considerations of appropriate use. To that end, the AI Task Force has put together these guidelines and curated references to assist faculty in this work.

In general, all courses should have an AI policy, with each faculty member having the purview to decide whether it is appropriate or not appropriate for students to use selective generative AI in their course. No matter what their policy is, faculty should be aware of how students might use AI in their course so that they can discuss their course policies in the context of that usage. Faculty must follow the same attribution rules that are expected of students and be transparent with their students regarding any AI use.

Syllabus Statements and Expectations for Class Communications

Syllabi should contain an explicit statement about whether AI use is permissible (open statement), selectively permissible (moderate/partial use statement), or not permissible at all (restrictive or prohibited statement). The policy statement has the purpose of providing a framework for students to understand ethical use in academic work, while providing guidance for promoting integrity, and use in creativity and innovation. Students should be given the responsibility to document usage per academic or professional styles, and to ensure that the work is accurate and reflects their own understanding.

For open and moderate use statements, students must document all AI use using faculty provided citation styles. Any AI outputs must be verified by the students, whether use is open or partial. Prohibited use statements should include written guidance on prohibited use. Broad terms should be used rather than reference to specific resources. Syllabi statements should also provide guidance on usage of AI tools beyond generation of material to be turned in. For example, in a class that does not permit AI use at any stage for submitted work, faculty may permit and provide guidance on the use of AI as a study tool. Statement development guidelines are below.

Course policies should be reinforced through in-class discussions of the advantages and disadvantages of AI technologies on multiple occasions. Class policies should be referenced as a reminder on assignment instructions, and when discussing assignments in class. Class discussion allows faculty to remind students of the reasoning and rational for course policies and to reinforce learning expectations.

Syllabi Statement Development Guidelines

Alfred Faculty are encouraged to evaluate all the ways that AI technologies may be used by students in their classes, and to craft a statement that aligns with their expectations. We recommend that faculty consider the questions below prior to crafting a syllabus statement and reflect on all the ways that students may engage with AI. There are many websites that include examples of language and statements, that may be used as reference: we have included 3 excellent sites below for faculty that wish to review a range of example statements already written.

• Consider the different types of assignments used in the course, and the use of AI at different stages of those assignments, from initial research and idea generation, through drafting, through production of a final product.
• Consider use of AI as a personal study tutor to support learning, separate from submitted assignments. Many students use AI technologies as a study resource and to provide feedback and simulations for other graded materials – if permitted, what guidelines and guidance should be provided?
• If any AI is permitted, how will students be expected to attribute its use?
• Consider careers students may be moving into: how is AI being used within the discipline, and are there emerging tools that students should be aware of, or competent in the use of
• What ethical concerns are there in the use of AI within a specific discipline?
• How could AI undermine learning: What specific learning outcomes could be compromised by uncritical or excessive use of AI tools? How can faculty frame a conversation with students about differences between AI as a tool for learning versus using it as a shortcut?
• Could student reflection on AI tools and resources expand on opportunities to develop critical awareness of the technology? Could submission of prompts and the AI conversation show growth of critical thinking skills?
• How will faculty engage with AI themselves, and how will they ensure that their use is transparent and a model of ethical academic behavior?
• What are the limitations of AI in the discipline, and how will faculty help students recognize when human judgement, creativity, or expertise is essential?
• How could student agency and collaborative norm-setting be used to increase student engagement with course values and learning goals – are there opportunities for students to collaborate to develop course guidelines or code of conduct for AI use?

Once the above questions are considered, faculty should draft a syllabus statement that indicates the level of AI use allowed. The statement should be detailed enough to provide guidance on permitted use, expectations for attribution, and the rational for the policy. The students should be encouraged to discuss questions with faculty, and the policy discussed and referenced multiple times during the semester.

Examples of AI use levels

• None permitted
• No use of generative AI tools permitted
• AI use not allowed unless explicitly approved in advance by professor
• Some AI use allowed
• Generative AI is permitted in specific contexts and with acknowledgment
• AI use encouraged/ expected

Syllabus References and Examples

Syllabus Policies for AI Generative Tools, a crowd sourced resource created by Lance Eaton. This site has ~200 example statements, from a wide range of disciplines.

ChatGPT and Generative AI Tools: Sample Syllabus Policy Statements, University of Texas at Austin Center for Teaching and Learning

Developing an AI Syllabus Statement & Driving Class AI Discussion, NC State University

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence leverages computers and machines to attempt to mimic the problem-solving and decision-making capabilities of the human mind (IBM).

Algorithm

A procedure that produces that answer to a question or the solution to a problem (Britannica).

Generative AI

A type of AI that can generate text, images, or other information based on the data it was trained on (Martineau, 2023).

Hallucination

In regard to AI, a hallucination refers to computer-generated information that is not factual. Generative AI works by responding to patterns, thereby producing results that may not be accurate (Mair, 2023).

Prompt

The information or request provided to an AI to let it know what the user is looking for. A question posed to ChatGPT, for example (Martineau, 2023).

Large Language Model (LLM)

A large language model is an algorithm that can recognize, summarize, translate, predict and generate text and other content types based on knowledge provided by large datasets (Lee, 2023).

Glossary Bibliography

Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/algorithm.

IBM. https://www.ibm.com/topics/artificial-intelligence

Lee, Angie. (2023, January 26) What Are Large Language Models and Why Are They Important? NVIDIA Blog. https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2023/01/26/what-are-large-language-models-used-for/.

Martineau, K. (2023, February 15) What is Prompt Tuning? IBM. https://research.ibm.com/blog/what-is-ai-prompt-tuning

Martineau, K. (2023, June 30) IBM. https://research.ibm.com/blog/what-is-generative-AI

The following recorded webinars contain guidance on how to navigate the integration of artificial intelligence in higher education.

SUNY FACT2 Spring 2024 Webinar Series Playlist, SUNY FACT2 AI Task Group

How Should Academics Respond to Emerging AI Technology? Future Trends Forum, Bryan Alexander

Open Source AI for Higher Education Future Trends Forum, Bryan Alexander

AI in Higher Ed: Opportunities and Threats, Online Learning Consortium

Citation Guidelines for AI-Generated Content

MLA

APA

Chicago

Articles on Generative AI

Chat GPT is Going to Change Education, Not Destroy It - W.D. Heaven, MIT Technology Review

The Benefits and Limitations of Generative AI - Harvard Online

If You Still Aren't Sure What Chat GPT is, This is Your Guide to the Viral Chatbot That Everyone is Talking About - S. Sundar, Business Insider

Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Teaching and Learning: Insights and Recommendations - US Department of Education Office of Educational Technology

The Timeline of Artificial Intelligence - From the 1940s - N. Singh, verloop.io

In May 2023, The SUNY Faculty Advisory Council on Teaching & Technology (FACT2) created a task group to investigate how AI could be optimized for teaching and learning in higher education. The resulting report discusses the benefits and challenges associated with AU, and serves as a guide for faculty and educational technologists as they learn more about AI, and consider its potential uses. A second edition of the report was released in June 2024. In December 2025, a new edition was released, which addresses the specific topics of AI policy development, assessment of AI tools for education, and the use of AI for tutoring.  All editions are available below.

AI in Action:  A SUNY FACT2 Guide to Optimizing AI in Higher Education, 2025

FACT2 Guide to Optimizing AI in Higher Education, Second Edition 2024

FACT2 Guide to Optimizing AI in Higher Education, First Edition 2023

The best way to gain a deeper understanding of generative AI is to try it out. Microsoft Copilot Chat  is included with AU's Office 365 license. It operates within the university’s security boundaries, and is subject to the same controls as all of our Microsoft/ Office 365 products and services. More information on the Copilot Chat User Interface for Work and Education is available on the Microsoft website.

During the fall of 2025, SUNY partnered with Microsoft to offer the SUNY / Microsoft Copilot Virtual Roadshow:  Unlocking Productivity with Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat & Agents. This recorded webinar presented by Renata Ruiz, Senior AI Business Solutions Specialist at Microsoft.