Project Overview and Scope

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What should AUP’s response be to the advent of ChatGPT and other generative AI tools? These tools are powerful and widely available, and are increasingly embedded invisibly in other tools. AI@AUP aims to facilitate the development of campus-level guidance for faculty, staff, and students, so that they can consider the impact of AI on teaching, learning, scholarship and work at the university, and understand the wider context and implications of the development and use of these tools.  

As a community, we need to address together the AUP-specific implications of AI for 

  • the world our graduates will enter 
  • the administrative infrastructure of our institution 
  • faculty teaching and student learning 
  • the fields of study for academic disciplines 

Running initially from Spring 2024 through Spring 2025, the AI@AUP initiative aims to help the AUP community to do just that. We are coordinating the development of AUP’s campus-level guidance on AI, but we see this as part of a broader campus-level response that begins with consultations and produces not only policies and guidance, but also training, resources and possibly proposals for curricular modifications.  

These are the preliminary goals of the initiative, which may be revised according to community consultations: 

  • Articulate shared recognition of challenges & needs 
  • Develop guidance for practice and provisioning of resources 
  • Develop capacities and support for engaging with AI 
  • Explore integration of AI literacy into the core curriculum 
  • Facilitate exploration of AI-related intellectual questions across the disciplines 

Initially proposed by Jeff Gima and Geoff Gilbert, this project was formally launched in Spring 2024 at the request of AUP’s President, Sonya Stephens, and Provost, Hannah Westley. The primary focus of the initiative is on implications of generative AI for teaching and learning. Recognizing that similar issues are arising with other types of AI, and in other areas of university activity besides teaching and learning, the project will in some cases broaden its scope when this feels useful and appropriate.  

This initiative draws inspiration from others’ work, some of which is gathered under Developing higher ed AI initiatives, and in particular from the following: 

Previous open discussions on AI organized by AUP’s Teaching & Learning Center, as well as conversations with Claudia Roda (as Computer Science faculty member and UNESCO Chair for AI and Human Rights, with Susan Perry), have also influenced these plans.  

 

Goals and expected outcomes 

The table below expands upon the goals mentioned above and lists some of the outcomes that we hope will mark progress on the project. As this project is grounded in a process of consultation with stakeholder groups, we expect that the targeted outcomes, but also to some extent the goals and the way these goals are pursued, will be revised over the coming year. 

GOALS  EXPECTED OUTCOMES 
Articulate shared recognition of challenges & needs 

Engage faculty, staff and students in conversations to articulate together a shared recognition of challenges & opportunities represented by AI, as a campus community and as specific stakeholder groups (e.g. students, teachers of writing, etc.) and interested partners (e.g. alumni with relevant experience/expertise)

Clarify with specific stakeholder groups the existing resources they have (e.g. internal expertise) and the actions they feel are needed most in light of the above challenges, as well as the appropriate scope of those actions (campus, department, classroom, etc.)

For campus units/groups not working directly on teaching/learning/scholarship but with a general interest in these working environments (e.g. HR, CSE): encourage their development of workplace policies drawing on work from the project proposed here, and offer them suggestions/feedback if desired.
 		 Publish on microsite for AI@AUP initiative (on AUP website), in area restricted to AUP fac/staff: brief summaries of challenges, opportunities, existing resources and needs identified by stakeholder groups. 

- Teaching & Learning Center 

- Data Governance Council 

- Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate 

- Student Senate 

- Other student groups 

- Writing Lab & Office of Academic Integrity  

- Academic Resource Center (instructional design/instructional technology) 

- Academic Resource Center (tutoring & accommodations) 

- IT Services 

- Library 

- ACE (Academic, Career, and Experiential Advising) 

- Communications 

- Council of Chairs 

- Curriculum Committee 

- GLACC (Global Liberal Arts Core Curriculum) Committee 
Develop guidance for practice and provisioning of resources 

Through convenings with specific stakeholder groups, and with validation by AUP leadership, co-develop broad principles, and policies and guidelines where appropriate, for  

The use of AI in contexts relating directly to academics (teaching, learning, and scholarship) 

The provisioning of AI-powered resources to AUP students, faculty and staff, in particular where they directly relate to learning, teaching and scholarship 

Raise visibility of existing work done by  stakeholder groups on guidance for AI use on administrative work (e.g. within Communications) for benefit of other groups		 Publish on microsite for AI@AUP initiative (on AUP website), publicly: 

- Guiding principles for use of AI at AUP (distilled from stakeholders conversations & validated by AUP leadership) 

- Guidelines for syllabus statements on use of generative AI 

- Revised Academic Integrity guidelines regarding use of generative AI 

- Guidelines for the provisioning of AI-powered resources for AUP users 

- Links to any existing guidance for AUP units on operational use of AI in work 
Develop capacities and support for engaging with AI  


Coordinating with AUP units (ARC, ITS, etc.) already responsible for related training 

Recruiting individuals at AUP with relevant expertise 

Sourcing external training 

Direct training by project coordinator 		 Publish on microsite for AI@AUP initiative (on AUP website), publicly: 

- Links to external resources for good practices, learning and discussion 
- Schedule of training and workshops 
- Mechanism for communicating questions/needs  

Monthly training and workshops (internally and externally sourced)  

[plans will be developed on the basis of convenings and other input from stakeholder groups] 
Integrate AI literacy into the core curriculum 

Work with GLACC Committee, librarians and faculty to determine whether and how AI literacy should be addressed and connected with existing information and digital literacy learning goals for students 
 		 Propose revisions of GLACC learning outcomes, integrating AI literacy with information and digital literacy LOs 
Explore intellectual questions across the disciplines 

Help faculty to explore opportunities for intellectual engagement with AI as a subject of study and scholarship — e.g. 

Disciplinary connections to integrate into teaching 

Scholarly conversations tied to AI 

Other opportunities specific to AUP for engaging with AI in our curriculum (as a global and intercultural liberal arts university) 
 		 Series of invited speakers (possibly a colloquium) related to AI 

Brief report on curricular innovations being implemented/proposed related to AI across AUP departments 

 

Project timeline 

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Project Coordinators  

Jeff Gima (Librarian & AMICAL Consortium Director) 
Project Co-Coordinator 

  • Lead project development, meeting/training/event organization, communication, assessment and documentation 
  • Work with stakeholder groups to organize training/workshops/consultation (including internal/external expertise) 
  • Advise on staff aspects of project 

Geoff Gilbert (Professor) 
Project Co-Coordinator 

  • Co-lead project development, meeting/training/event organization, communication, assessment and documentation 
  • Advise on faculty aspects of project 

 

Project Documentation 

SPRING 2024 SURVEY INSTRUMENTS

(Some questions on our Spring 2024 surveys were drawn from or inspired by SDSU’s AI Student Survey.) 

SPRING 2024 FACULTY/STAFF RETREAT WORKSHOPS  

PAST PRESENTATIONS RELATED TO AI@AUP