Learning and Teaching
New Senate motion calls for the creation of a pan-university AI working group
SFU students and instructors can look forward to greater clarity on how to navigate the risks and opportunities posed by generative artificial intelligence within the higher education landscape thanks to a motion, The Generative Artificial Intelligence Policy Motion, passed by Senate on June 10, 2024.
The motion calls for the creation of a pan-university working group that will develop artificial intelligence policy, guidelines and/or governance structures. The working group will include faculty, students and staff and will be chaired by Paul Kingsbury, special advisor to the AVPLT.
According to Kingsbury, the motion represents a key step towards helping SFU adapt to and leverage generative AI within learning and teaching contexts.
“It’s important we invite AI into our classrooms but do so in ways that are informed and responsible. Having university-wide policy and guidelines that are relevant to the many different learning contexts across the university means we will be able to start doing that in a more unified and effective way. I am confident this working group will help SFU continue to offer innovative and high-impact educational practices.”
A town hall will be held in Fall Semester to provide instructors, students and staff with an opportunity to provide input on the work of this group.
In addition to the Senate motion, a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) was recently completed on the use of ChatGPT 3.5 at SFU. According to CEE director Kanthi Jayasundera, who co-led the PIA with Ernest Soares (Privacy Legal Counsel), Arlette Stewart (Academic Integrity) and Don Taylor (University Copyright Office), the outcome of the process is a document that they hope will help mitigate risks related to the use of ChatGPT 3.5 in courses.
“I encourage instructors and other members of the SFU teaching community to look specifically at the Advisory Notice to ChatGPT Users section of the PIA (below), which outlines specific practices that should be avoided to protect privacy and copyright. We recognize this is still only a starting point so if you have questions related to the PIA or the use of ChatGPT 3.5 in your teaching and learning context, please bring them to the town hall so that we can explore them as a community,” says Jayasundera.
Information about the town hall and working group will be released via SFU’s What’s On newsletter and the Provost website. For questions or concerns, please contact lt_communications@sfu.ca.
Related links:
- The Centre for Educational Excellence's webpage on Generative AI in Teaching
- The Centre for Educational Excellence's AI Community of Practice
- Academic Integrity's student webpage, Using Generative AI
- Academic Integrity's faculty webpage with sample syllabus text on the Inappropriate use of technology (including generative AI tools)
- The Provost's April 2024 story, How AI is changing teaching at SFU
- The Provost's August 2023 story, Embracing generative AI in your courses: strategies for teaching and learning with ChatGPT
Advisory Notice to be provided to Chat GPT Users
You agree not to upload, submit, or provide access to documents that contain personal (non-business contact information) or confidential information to the Chat GPT AI, for example:
- Personal Information may include student names, private non-business addresses, non-work related phone numbers, non-work related email addresses, social security numbers, employment or education history, etc. For a more expansive list of personal information data elements please see Protection Of Privacy – Scedule 1: Defining Personal Information.
- Confidential or Sensitive Content: Including regulated data, proprietary business information, financial details, legal documents, or any other information that is confidential in nature regarding the university.
You are to avoid relying on any responses from the Chat GPT AI to make decisions concerning individuals and are responsible for verifying the accuracy of statements provided by this AI.
When using AI-generated responses, it's crucial to recognize that these systems can produce factually inaccurate or biased information due to limitations in their training data or algorithms. Always consult reliable sources, apply critical thinking, and seek expert advice when relying on AI-generated responses.
Student work should never be uploaded/submitted to the Chat-GPT AI except by, or with permission of, the copyright owner. When using copyright protected works with the Chat-GPT AI in circumstances when no Copyright Act exception covers your use, you agree to only submit or upload content for which you own the copyright, or for which you have explicitly obtained the copyright owner's consent to submit or upload, to the Chat-GPT AI.
Should you have any inquiries or concerns regarding the appropriate use of the Chat GPT AI at SFU, please contact vpaexec@sfu.ca.