Customize Your GenAI Syllabus Statement

Faculty Considerations for Syllabus Statement Customization

To customize your syllabus statement, consider these points to help you frame the use of generative AI in your course context.

1.  Anticipate how generative AI will affect your course, including how you and students may use it.

  • Consider the importance of AI literacy for students, for both professional readiness and academic performance.
  • Become familiar with generative AI tools’ functionality, such as ChatGPT.
  • Review better use cases for generative AI integration within your academic discipline.

2.  Become familiar with the Guidelines for Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at USF, including the risks associated with use and the limitations of generative AI output.

3.  Determine expected student permissions or limitations addressing the use of class lectures, materials, and recordings using generative AI tools.

4.  Envision a general course policy for responsible generative AI use, allowing for adjustments at the assignment level.

  • Determine your perspective about generative AI use in your course.
  • Determine your expectations for students using generative AI tools, as well as possible consequences for their use outside these expectations through the lens of equity. As part of students’ work development process, this should include attribution expectations for explaining any use of generative AI tools, which may require directly citing generative AI tool output.
    • Be aware that in most cases, the use of generative AI tools will not be traceable, and even if generative AI tool output use is cited, it will not be clear if or how students have incorporated generative AI output into their final work without additional explanation. As embedded generative AI functionality expands into a range of applications and technologies, it may not always be apparent to students when or if they are using generative AI tools.  

5.  Consider recommendations for generative AI tools to fit your course.

  • Address the explicit and implicit bias [RS & InsideHigherEd] of generative AI platforms as educational resources, in terms of student access, cost, and source of content and output.  

6.  Review the three syllabus statement options and choose one to use for your syllabus.

  • Identify the purpose of your generative AI policy and how this information will be communicated to students, both through a syllabus statement and at intervals through the course. https://www.isophist.com/p/developing-your-genai-syllabus-policy
  • Customize your chosen syllabus statement to fit your course.
  • For students, be ready to clearly explain why you have chosen this generative AI policy and how it will be implemented through the course. Help students become aware of the limitations, bias, and risks associated with generative AI. As appropriate, consider ways that students can collaborate in course policy development, to address the responsible and ethical use of generative AI overall.