Teaching & Learning
- Course-level policy is set through instructor-selected syllabus language rather than one single university-wide rule
- Courses may permit AI use with attribution, permit it only for designated assignments with attribution, or prohibit it entirely; when prohibited, using generative AI to complete coursework is treated as academic dishonesty
(i) Open Use Guidelines: Embrace and encourage AI use in assignments, with the requirement that students disclose any AI assistance.
AI Policy: Permitted in this Course with Attribution
In this course, students are encouraged to use Generative AI Tools like ChatGPT to support their work. To maintain academic integrity, students must disclose any AI-generated material they use and properly attribute it, including in-text citations, quotations, and references.
(ii) Moderate Use Guidelines: Encourage AI use in specific assignments, but not all. Students must disclose any AI assistance.
AI Policy: Permitted when Assigned in this Course with Attribution
In this course, students are permitted to use Generative AI Tools such as ChatGPT for specific assignments, as designated by the instructor. To maintain academic integrity, students must disclose any use of AI-generated material. As always, students must properly use attributions, including in-text citations, quotations, and references.
(iii) Strict Use Guidelines: Discourage AI use in this particular course.
AI Policy: Not Permitted in this Course
In this course, it is expected that all submitted work is produced by the students themselves, whether individually or collaboratively. Students must not seek the assistance of Generative AI Tools like ChatGPT. Impermissible use of a Generative AI Tool to complete constitutes academic dishonesty.
• impermissible use of generative AI to create coursework
- There is no AI-specific student exam rule beyond the general misconduct language and instructor approval framework
- The university's academic integrity rules prohibit unauthorized assistance on exams and quizzes, and the AI guidance separately states that AI cannot be the final decision-maker for grading
Cheating on an examination, quiz, report, or assignment involves any of several categories of dishonest activity. Examples of cheating include, but are not limited to:
• copying from the examination or quiz of another student;
• using classroom notes, messages, or crib sheets in any format (paper or electronic) which gives the student extra help on the exam or quiz, and which were not approved by the instructor of the class;
• obtaining advanced copies of exams or quizzes;
• ATU will define the operations and areas that AI is permitted to support, and those it is prohibited from supporting. Uses outside the approved scope require explicit justification and authorization.
• AI will not be the final decision-maker for admissions, financial aid, grading, discipline, employment actions, promotion/tenure, access to services, or other consequential outcomes.
- The coursework syllabus language also allows instructors to encourage AI use to support student work in some courses, but ATU does not set a single blanket student self-study rule
- AI tools may be used for tutoring and similar support only within approved scope, and the university's purchasing guidance treats tutoring as an AI use case subject to review when used for instruction or university data
AI tools are defined as software or services that perform automated analysis, prediction, content generation, transcription, tutoring, grading, advising, monitoring, or decision support. This includes generative AI systems and AI-powered administrative or instructional tools.
AI tools used for instruction, administration, assessment, or processing university data require review and approval under this process, including free or trial-based services.
ATU will set clear boundaries for what university activities AI is allowed to support and what it is not allowed to support. AI may be used only within that approved scope.
In this course, students are encouraged to use Generative AI Tools like ChatGPT to support their work.
Research
- The AI principles also require users to verify key facts, sources, quotations, and citations when AI is used for research-related writing or interpretation
- ATU requires transparency when AI is used in work presented, published, or submitted as one's own, and employees must disclose AI assistance in professional publications, presentations, or products created at ATU or with ATU-licensed materials
AI use at ATU must be transparent, governed, and open to review. Everyone at ATU has an ethical responsibility to disclose the use of AI if presenting, publishing, or submitting work as their own.
• Individual ATU employees will disclose their use of AI assistance in any professional publication, presentation, or product created at ATU or using ATU-licensed materials.
When AI is used to generate, summarize, or interpret information for teaching, learning, research, advising, operations, or public communication, users must verify key facts, check sources, and apply basic information literacy. This includes distinguishing primary from secondary sources, confirming quotations and citations, and recognizing when the AI is guessing. If something matters, it must be checked.
- AI use in research data and analysis is allowed only with verification, privacy, and governance controls
- Users must verify important outputs, and sensitive or non-public ATU data cannot be entered into unapproved AI tools; AI tools used for research support that involve university processes or data require review and approval
When AI is used to generate, summarize, or interpret information for teaching, learning, research, advising, operations, or public communication, users must verify key facts, check sources, and apply basic information literacy. This includes distinguishing primary from secondary sources, confirming quotations and citations, and recognizing when the AI is guessing. If something matters, it must be checked.
• Sensitive or non-public ATU data will not be entered, uploaded to, or exposed to unapproved AI tools or systems. ATU will define sensitive data categories and maintain an approved tools list.
AI tools used for instruction, administration, assessment, or processing university data require review and approval under this process, including free or trial-based services.
• Software used for teaching, testing, advising, assessment, or research support
- ATU applies its existing integrity, intellectual property, and fairness standards to AI use in research and related scholarly work
- The AI principles require disclosure when presenting or publishing work as one's own, forbid using AI to hide authorship or deceive, and require correction of material errors and verification of AI-generated citations and quotations
ATU must uphold fairness, non-discrimination, accessibility, academic integrity, and respect for intellectual property when using AI. The same policies that govern traditional work apply here. AI must not be used to deceive, manipulate, exploit power differences, or hide authorship or work.
AI use at ATU must be transparent, governed, and open to review. Everyone at ATU has an ethical responsibility to disclose the use of AI if presenting, publishing, or submitting work as their own.
• AI-generated citations and quotations may be used only when verified against the original source, and material errors must be corrected promptly when discovered.
Academic Integrity
- The recommended syllabus language also provides a model acknowledgment statement and requires proper in-text citations, quotations, and references
- Disclosure and attribution are required wherever instructors permit AI in coursework, and ATU's broader AI principles impose an ethical responsibility to disclose AI use when presenting, publishing, or submitting work as one's own
To maintain academic integrity, students must disclose any AI-generated material they use and properly attribute it, including in-text citations, quotations, and references.
A student should include the following statement in assignments to indicate use of a Generative AI Tool: “The author(s) would like to acknowledge the use of [Generative AI Tool Name], a language model developed by [Generative AI Tool Provider], in the preparation of this assignment. The [Generative AI Tool Name] was used in the following way(s) in this assignment [e.g., brainstorming, grammatical correction, citation, which portion of the assignment].”
To maintain academic integrity, students must disclose any use of AI-generated material. As always, students must properly use attributions, including in-text citations, quotations, and references.
AI use at ATU must be transparent, governed, and open to review. Everyone at ATU has an ethical responsibility to disclose the use of AI if presenting, publishing, or submitting work as their own.
- The provided sources do not define a university stance on AI detection tools such as Turnitin or GPTZero
- ATU identifies impermissible use of generative AI to create coursework as an academic integrity violation, and its code places enforcement within the existing academic misconduct framework
A violation of academic integrity refers to various categories of inappropriate academic behavior with respect to a course. Students must refrain from cheating, plagiarism, fabrication, impersonation, forgery, collusion and/or other dishonest practices.
• impermissible use of generative AI to create coursework
AI Policy: Not Permitted in this Course
In this course, it is expected that all submitted work is produced by the students themselves, whether individually or collaboratively. Students must not seek the assistance of Generative AI Tools like ChatGPT. Impermissible use of a Generative AI Tool to complete constitutes academic dishonesty.
Institutional & Administrative
- ATU does not require employees to use generative AI, and employee use must stay within approved scope
- Faculty and staff using AI in professional or official work must disclose AI assistance in professional outputs, and any AI-assisted workflows that materially affect people or decisions require human oversight and human final authority
ATU will set clear boundaries for what university activities AI is allowed to support and what it is not allowed to support. AI may be used only within that approved scope. ATU will not require employees to use generative AI to perform their duties, and any required student use of AI must be clearly disclosed and include a reasonable alternative when appropriate.
• Individual ATU employees will disclose their use of AI assistance in any professional publication, presentation, or product created at ATU or using ATU-licensed materials.
If AI helps produce an output, the person using it is accountable for what it says and how it is used.
In accordance with Arkansas Act 848 of 2025, any AI or automated decision tool used by the university must support a policy that ensures a human employee or authorized designee makes any final decision, regardless of AI recommendations.
- ATU requires review and approval for AI tools used for instruction, administration, assessment, or university data, including free and trial services
- Sensitive or non-public ATU data may not be entered into unapproved or consumer AI systems, requests must describe data handling and vendor training/retention practices, and approved integrations must use OIS-approved authentication and access controls
AI tools used for instruction, administration, assessment, or processing university data require review and approval under this process, including free or trial-based services. Sensitive Data must not be entered into unapproved, publicly available, or consumer AI systems.
Requests involving AI tools must disclose the type of data processed, including any student, employee, or institutional data. Requests must state whether data is stored, retained, or used to train vendor systems. Requests must describe how humans review outputs prior to use and identify any integration with university systems or authentication services.
• Sensitive or non-public ATU data will not be entered, uploaded to, or exposed to unapproved AI tools or systems. ATU will define sensitive data categories and maintain an approved tools list.
ATU credentials are not to be shared with third party services, and any approved integration must use OIS approved authentication and access controls.
- The university documents governance expectations, approved use boundaries, ownership, monitoring, and ongoing review of AI systems and workflows
- ATU has a university-wide AI governance framework anchored in guiding principles across teaching, learning, research, and operations, with coordination through the ATU AI Ethics, Governance, and Implementation Committee
This document lays out Arkansas Tech University’s guiding principles for AI across teaching, learning, research, and operations.
University-wide coordination runs through the ATU AI Ethics, Governance, and Implementation Committee, and the governance expectations that follow are meant to make this practical. Because AI will keep changing, our guidance and review must keep up.
Part II: Governance and Standards
This section captures implementation requirements that support the guiding principles above. These items describe governance structures, operational standards, and compliance requirements.
• ATU will maintain clear ownership, clear standards, and documented decisions for AI governance, including decision rationales where appropriate. For each approved AI system or workflow, ATU will document the purpose, data sources, known limitations, validation/monitoring approach, and the person or office responsible for ongoing review.
• ATU will maintain an inventory of AI uses, review them regularly, monitor high-impact uses, and suspend or retire systems that no longer meet ATU standards for security, privacy, governance, or institutional norms.
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 Arkansas Tech University's AI Policies
Arkansas Tech University has defined AI policies in 11 of 12 categories, with an overall coverage score of 92%.
Disclosure and attribution are required wherever instructors permit AI in coursework, and ATU's broader AI principles impose an ethical responsibility to disclose AI use when presenting, publishing, or submitting work as one's own. The recommended syllabus language also provides a model acknowledgment statement and requires proper in-text citations, quotations, and references.
ATU identifies impermissible use of generative AI to create coursework as an academic integrity violation, and its code places enforcement within the existing academic misconduct framework. The provided sources do not define a university stance on AI detection tools such as Turnitin or GPTZero.
ATU requires review and approval for AI tools used for instruction, administration, assessment, or university data, including free and trial services. Sensitive or non-public ATU data may not be entered into unapproved or consumer AI systems, requests must describe data handling and vendor training/retention practices, and approved integrations must use OIS-approved authentication and access controls.