{"id":1652,"date":"2026-11-08T03:52:38","date_gmt":"2026-11-08T03:52:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scholars.spu.edu\/spuwriting\/?page_id=1652"},"modified":"2026-11-11T19:48:12","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T19:48:12","slug":"spu-writing-program-ai-policy-guidance","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/scholars.spu.edu\/spuwriting\/faculty-resources\/ai-and-writing-pedagogy\/spu-writing-program-ai-policy-guidance\/","title":{"rendered":"SPU Writing Program AI Policy Guidance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The guidance, sample syllabus statements, and sample assignment policies are intended to support Seattle Pacific University faculty. If you are outside SPU and would like to discuss use of these resources, please reach out to <a href=\"mailto:thansen3@spu.edu\">Traynor Hansen<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#opening\" data-type=\"internal\" data-id=\"#opening\">Opening<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li id=\"syllabus\"><a href=\"#syllabus\" data-type=\"internal\" data-id=\"#syllabus\">Syllabus Policy Recommendations<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#assignment\">Examples of Assignment-Specific Policies<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"opening\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Opening<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the landscape of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools continues to transform the way students and faculty understand the role of technology in the teaching and learning process, Seattle Pacific University has not yet developed a consistent position on these tools. (SPU&#8217;s current <a href=\"https:\/\/catalog.spu.edu\/undergraduate\/academic-policies-procedures\/academic-integrity\/\">Academic Integrity Policy can be found here<\/a>.) Some faculty encourage students to experiment with AI tools\u2014for example, on the grounds facility with such tools will be an expected in many workplaces. Other faculty continue to see the use of AI tools as a <em>de facto<\/em> violation of academic integrity, a (often dishonest) shortcut around the frequently slow, difficult, and recursive process of learning, inquiry, and writing, making mistakes that has long been central to the work of higher education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When ChatGPT was made publicly available in November 2022, GenAI tools seemed like forbidden fruit. Students had to make the choice to go to a website to access tools. Now, these same tools are integrated into the devices and programs students (and staff and faculty) use every day, including the Microsoft 365 products licensed through their SPU accounts and, it is expected, in our Learning Management Software. This access creates pedagogical challenges both for faculty who embrace GenAI tools and for those who resist them. It is increasingly difficult to expect students to understand why AI tools are off-limits when those tools are presented as features of the programs they use. At the same time, the pervasiveness of AI tools risks undermining distinctive qualities of student work and creates new challenges for authentically assessing student performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SPU faculty, students, and staff need guidance about the costs and affordances of GenAI tools, especially when those tools factor in with the work of teaching, learning, and assessing. While some may seek simplicity in university policies relate to AI, I argue that a comprehensive policy is neither desirable nor possible. The wide availability of a constantly changing array of AI tools; emerging research about the impact of AI on learning; different disciplinary imperatives and professional workforce practices; our religious and ethical commitments; and continuing debates about the environmental, economic, and social impacts of AI tools\u2014all indicate the need for policy and guidance designed for flexibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">GenAI Policies may differ across academic units, between classes in a program, and even between assignments in a single class. <em>Guidance for faculty<\/em> should address the learning objectives for classes and assignments and should consider ways that GenAI tools may enhance or inhibit learning, critical thinking, skills development, and character formation. <em>Guidance for students<\/em> should address critical AI literacies, transparency, and understanding the reasons GenAI tools may be encouraged, allowed, or prohibited in different situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"-syllabus\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Syllabus Policy Recommendations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Below are four syllabus statements that may be adapted for the specific needs of individual classes. The options include a flexible policy that allows for variation on individual assignments as well as more specific policies that cover the range of permissiveness to prohbition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">General (Flexible) Policy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Generative AI (GenAI) writing tools\u2014including ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini, etc.\u2014are powerful technologies that are capable of summarizing and explaining some material, producing new text, rewriting and revising existing text, and completing a variety of other tasks. Some assignments in this class may allow you to use GenAI tools and some will prohibit them. Regardless of the assignment, whenever you use GenAI tools, you are expected to cite them and acknowledge their use. Failure to acknowledge the use of GenAI may be considered a violation of the&nbsp;Plagiarism and Academic Integrity Policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">GenAI Use Permitted<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Generative AI (GenAI) writing tools\u2014including ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini, etc.\u2014are powerful technologies that are capable of summarizing and explaining some material, producing new text, rewriting and revising existing text, and completing a variety of other tasks. This class does not ask you simply to submit assignments, but to [develop skills\/gain knowledge\/have experiences] expected in [the field\/discipline of X. &nbsp;<strong>In this course, you are permitted to experiment with GenAI tools for most assignments, except for those assignments where GenAI is explicitly prohibited or limited.<\/strong> When you choose to use GenAI, keep in mind your role as a learner and critical thinker. GenAI tools make mistakes, and you are responsible to verify GenAI content that informs your work. Unauthorized use of GenAI in this course may be considered a violation of SPU\u2019s Academic Integrity Policy. If you are unsure whether your AI use is appropriate, talk to your professor first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">GenAI Use Permitted with Restrictions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Generative AI (GenAI) writing tools\u2014including ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini, etc.\u2014are powerful technologies that are capable of summarizing and explaining some material, producing new text, rewriting and revising existing text, and completing a variety of other tasks. This class does not ask you simply to submit assignments, but to [develop skills\/gain knowledge\/have experiences] expected in [the field\/discipline of X]. <strong>Some assignments in this class may allow you to use GenAI tools and some will prohibit them.<\/strong> When you choose to use GenAI, keep in mind your role as a learner and critical thinker. GenAI tools make mistakes, and you are responsible to verify GenAI content that informs your work. Regardless of the assignment, whenever you use GenAI tools, you are expected to cite them and acknowledge their use. Failure to acknowledge the use of GenAI in this course may be considered a violation of SPU\u2019s Academic Integrity Policy. If you are unsure whether your AI use is appropriate, talk to your professor first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">GenAI Use Prohibited<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Generative AI (GenAI) writing tools\u2014including ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini, etc.\u2014are powerful technologies that are capable of summarizing and explaining some material, producing new text, rewriting and revising existing text, and completing a variety of other tasks. This class does not ask you simply to submit assignments, but to [develop skills\/gain knowledge\/have experiences] expected in [the field\/discipline of X]. <strong>Because the learning goals for this class include [list learning goals], GenAI tools are strictly prohibited for any work you do in this course.<\/strong> If you do use GenAI tools, you are expected to cite them and acknowledge their use. Inappropriate use of GenAI in this course may be considered a violation of SPU\u2019s Academic Integrity Policy. If you are unsure whether you are using AI, talk to your professor first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"assignment\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Examples of Assignment-Specific Policies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Below are examples of guidelines for specific assignments. This recognizes that the reasons for prohibiting or prohibiting AI use may vary by discipline and with different learning objectives in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Qualified Permission (Research Paper)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Use of Generative AI:<\/strong> Within the expectations of [framework for the writing assignment], I prefer that you do not use GenAI tools as you write this paper. In some circumstances, GenAI may be useful for revision, but be careful of letting GenAI take over your own writing voice. If you have questions about how to use GenAI effectively and responsibly in the writing and revision process, let\u2019s meet to explore those strategies together. As with any other resources that you might turn to in the writing process, <strong>any use of GenAI tools should be documented in your [Works Cited\/References]. Please also include a statement (written by you) that explains the role GenAI played in your paper<\/strong>. I consider the <em>undocumented<\/em> use of GenAI for this assignment as a violation of Academic Integrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Qualified Permission (Summary and Response Paper)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It may be appropriate to use GenAI tool to <strong>organize your notes<\/strong> or to <strong>revise a draft<\/strong> of this assignment. If you do, keep in mind that GenAI will change things you write (sometimes introducing inaccuracies) and may obscure your unique voice as a writer (making you sound like everyone else\u2014or, more likely, an imitation of \u201ceveryone else\u201d). So, if you do this, please include a note after your Works Cited naming the specific GenAI tool(s) you used and briefly explaining how in your own words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>You may <em>not<\/em>, however, use GenAI tools to read, summarize, or otherwise explain [text for summary].<\/strong> This essay represents the serious (and hard-won) intellectual work of another scholar. It is also under copyright. SPU\u2019s license for library resources (like this article) <em>expressly<\/em> <em>forbids<\/em> using licensed work to train GenAI tools. If you run this paper through any GenAI tool, you will be violating that license (thereby putting the library, me, and you at risk) and crossing an ethical boundary. Nothing in this assignment or this class is worth crossing that boundary for. Don\u2019t do it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Strictly Prohibited (Informal Response)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Use of Generative AI:<\/strong> This writing is not assessed on mastery or perfect prose, but rather on your level of engaged critical thinking. Since these informal responses focus on your personal engagement, <strong>Gen AI tools (such as ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini, etc.) are off-limits for these assignments\u2014for generating writing or for revising it<\/strong>. I want to see your messy work. I consider using generative AI tools in informal responses as a form of impersonation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Strictly Prohibited (Personal Reflection)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Use of Generative AI:<\/strong> As with your other personal writing assignments, this assignment should represent your own thinking and experiences. It should also be focused on the specific experiences you have had in our class this quarter. For these reasons, <strong>GenAI tools are off-limits for this assignment<\/strong>. (If you decide to use these tools anyway, I expect you to acknowledge that use.) Use of GenAI tools for this assignment\u2014especially their unacknowledged use\u2014will significantly impact your final grade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The guidance, sample syllabus statements, and sample assignment policies are intended to support Seattle Pacific University faculty. If you are outside SPU [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":0,"parent":1651,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1652","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholars.spu.edu\/spuwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholars.spu.edu\/spuwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholars.spu.edu\/spuwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholars.spu.edu\/spuwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholars.spu.edu\/spuwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1652"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/scholars.spu.edu\/spuwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1660,"href":"https:\/\/scholars.spu.edu\/spuwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1652\/revisions\/1660"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholars.spu.edu\/spuwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholars.spu.edu\/spuwriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}