Teaching & Learning
- American River College permits students to use certain AI support tools for non-graded assistance
- The internship AI assistants are optional, positioned as support tools, and described as privacy-protective; the website chatbot is also presented as an AI support tool for student questions
Important: Using Nectir AI Assistants is completely optional. You are not required to use these tools to participate in the Work Experience & Internship Program.
The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office has partnered with Nectir to bring AI-powered learning assistants to all 116 campuses across the state. These assistants are FERPA-compliant, meaning your privacy and data are protected.
Bucky is a smart support tool powered by artificial intelligence (AI) that’s designed to help students succeed.
Research
Academic Integrity
Institutional & Administrative
- A faculty-facing AI-assisted grading tool was discussed in Academic Senate materials, but the sources do not establish a final college-wide policy
- The minutes indicate instructors can edit AI pre-grading, students are notified when it is used, and ARC had not yet taken a position on adoption at that time
19. AI Assisted Grading Tool at 4:22pm (Distance Education Coordinator, Pamela Bimbi)
○ Works on assignments that have Rubrics. It pre-grades and, when it is used, students will get a notification (Notification Students See - Image). Instructors do get to edit.
○ It is in the Early Adopter Program (EAP) now. Two campuses are going to use it (CRC and FLC are interested), one (SCC) not, and ARC has not commented yet.
• Because it’s a tool that’s integrated into the assignment with grading rubric, even if the instructor decided to not use any of the AI “enhanced” rubric and speed grader, the students still get notified that AI was used in grading the assignment.
- American River College identifies certain AI tools as privacy-protective and institutionally supported in limited contexts
- Nectir is described as FERPA-compliant and officially supported by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, while the AI-assisted grading tool discussion noted a security advantage because it operates within Canvas
The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office has partnered with Nectir to bring AI-powered learning assistants to all 116 campuses across the state. These assistants are FERPA-compliant, meaning your privacy and data are protected.
You can feel confident using Nectir knowing it’s officially supported and designed to help you succeed.
○ Pros: within Canvas so maintains student security
- Evidence includes an ARC AI Faculty Fellowship item and a District Equity Student Success Committee AI Workgroup appearing in senate materials
- The sources show that AI governance and planning are under discussion through shared-governance bodies, but they do not provide a formal published institutional AI strategy in the supplied text
9. ARC AI Faculty Fellowship(s) Job Description – (1st Reading, Michael Angelone and Dr. Brenda Valles)
15. District Equity Student Success Committee (DESSC) AI Workgroup - (Michael Angelone, Dyanne Marte, and Liz Coleman)
15. District Equity Student Success Committee (DESSC) AI Workgroup - (Dyanne Marte, Liz Coleman, and Michael Angelone) (tabled)
DocuMark: Responsible AI Use for Academic Integrity
Knowing your institution's AI policy is step one. DocuMark helps enforce it fairly by empowering universities to manage AI-generated content, prevent cheating, and support student writing through responsible AI use.
Common Questions About American River College's AI Policies
American River College has defined AI policies in 4 of 12 categories, with an overall coverage score of 33%.
No explicit disclosure requirement is currently defined in the available policy sources.
No explicit detection or enforcement process is currently defined in the available policy sources.
American River College identifies certain AI tools as privacy-protective and institutionally supported in limited contexts. Nectir is described as FERPA-compliant and officially supported by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, while the AI-assisted grading tool discussion noted a security advantage because it operates within Canvas.