Charleston Southern University AI Policy

"Cheating" is defined as wrongfully giving, taking, or presenting any information or material borrowed from another source (including the Internet) by a student with the intent of aiding themself or another in academic work. This includes, but is not limited to, a test, examination, presentation, experiment, or any written assignment, which is considered in any way in the determination of the final grade. Using AI in violation of a course or assessment’s stated AI protocol is cheating.

Any use of AI models without proper citation is plagiarism. Students are encouraged to ask their instructor(s) for clarification regarding their academic dishonesty standards. Instructors will include academic dishonesty/integrity standards, including explicit permissible AI use, on their course syllabi and each individual assignment.

To ensure development and mastery of the foundational concepts and skills in this course, the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools is prohibited. If you are unsure of this policy or any assignment specific directions, including whether a given technology is considered generative AI, please consult the course instructor prior to using this technology to complete your assignment.

In select assignments (e.g., research papers, annotated bibliographies, case study drafts, presentation outlines), AI tools may be permitted to support work—only if explicitly authorized by the course instructor. This permission will be stated in the syllabus and on the assignment instructions.

Unless otherwise stated in the course syllabus and on assignment instructions, the Master of Science in Nursing Program holds a Level One stance (AI prohibited, see details below) for all assignments in all MSN courses.

• AI platforms and tools are strictly prohibited and must not be used to complete assessments, graded assignments, or clinical documentation unless explicitly permitted by the course director, instructor, or faculty.

"Cheating" is defined as wrongfully giving, taking, or presenting any information or material borrowed from another source (including the Internet) by a student with the intent of aiding themself or another in academic work. This includes, but is not limited to, a test, examination, presentation, experiment, or any written assignment, which is considered in any way in the determination of the final grade. Using AI in violation of a course or assessment’s stated AI protocol is cheating.

• AI platforms and tools are strictly prohibited and must not be used to complete assessments, graded assignments, or clinical documentation unless explicitly permitted by the course director, instructor, or faculty.

You may not use AI tools to assist with: brainstorming, organization, research, writing, editing, note taking, polishing, etc.

You may use your word processor’s spell-check feature, the thesaurus, the dictionary, a citation management system (may not include AI tools or links to AI tools), our library’s research databases, and appointments in the Buc Hub with writing tutors for assistance with your writing processes.

This establishes guidelines for the ethical, responsible, and effective use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools within the CSU PA program and ensures that PA students responsibly utilize AI to enhance learning, research, and clinical training while upholding academic integrity, professionalism, and patient-centered care. AI should never replace medical literature or evidence-based medical resources and is not considered a substitute for critical thinking or independent learning.

Use caution and avoid overreliance on AI, which can be inaccurate or biased. Verify, cite, and consistently use your knowledge base and clinical reasoning skills.

You may not use AI tools to assist with: brainstorming, organization, research, writing, editing, note taking, polishing, etc.

In select assignments (e.g., research papers, annotated bibliographies, case study drafts, presentation outlines), AI tools may be permitted to support work—only if explicitly authorized by the course instructor. This permission will be stated in the syllabus and on the assignment instructions. If a course instructor allows for the use of AI-generated content in the completion of the assignments (e.g., research papers, presentations, etc.), then that content will need to be cited (and the content verified by the professional literature) as would any other source. Paraphrases and direct quotes from AI-generated content would need to follow APA formatting guidelines.

In select assignments (e.g., research papers, annotated bibliographies, case study drafts, presentation outlines), AI tools may be permitted to support work—only if explicitly authorized by the course instructor. This permission will be stated in the syllabus and/or on the assignment instructions. If a course instructor allows for the use of AI-generated content in the completion of the assignments (e.g., research papers, presentations, etc.), then that content will need to be cited (and the content verified by the professional literature) as would any other source. Paraphrases and direct quotes from AI-generated content would need to follow APA formatting guidelines.

This establishes guidelines for the ethical, responsible, and effective use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools within the CSU PA program and ensures that PA students responsibly utilize AI to enhance learning, research, and clinical training while upholding academic integrity, professionalism, and patient-centered care.

The use of AI for significant contributions to your work must be cited or acknowledged to avoid plagiarism. The CSU PA program uses the AMA format for writing and citations.

Any use of AI models without proper citation is plagiarism.

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) without giving proper credit is also considered plagiarism, per the Academic Integrity Policy.

If a course instructor allows for the use of AI-generated content in the completion of the assignments (e.g., research papers, presentations, etc.), then that content will need to be cited (and the content verified by the professional literature) as would any other source. Paraphrases and direct quotes from AI-generated content would need to follow APA formatting guidelines.

To indicate the use of a Generative AI resource, a student should include the following statement in their assignments: "The author(s) acknowledge the utilization 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 employed in the following manner(s) within this assignment [e.g., brainstorming, grammatical correction, citation, specific section of the assignment, etc.]."

The use of AI for significant contributions to your work must be cited or acknowledged to avoid plagiarism. The CSU PA program uses the AMA format for writing and citations.

This email should include all supporting evidence, including proof of communication attempts (such as email or Blackboard correspondence with screenshots), the course syllabus, assignment instructions or rubric, AI reports, photos, videos, and any other relevant documentation.

Within the AVF, the instructor will determine the appropriate penalty: either to assign a grade of zero on that assignment in question or a grade of "F" in the course.

If upon receipt of the Academic Violation Form the Registrar determines this is the second offense committed by the student, then a grade of FD (Failure Due to Academic Dishonesty) will be assigned by the Registrar for the course regardless of the penalty specified on the Academic Violation Form.

Upon receipt by the Registrar of a third offense, the Registrar will assign the grade of FD and then notify all parties. After all appeals are exhausted, if the third offense still stands, the student will be immediately and permanently expelled from the University.

• Submitting AI-generated work as original without disclosure is considered plagiarism, which is Academic Dishonesty and a violation of ethical integrity. That will result in academic discipline, including expulsion from the University.

4. A second violation of the Academic Integrity Policy will result in dismissal from the program. There is no appeal process for a second violation of this policy.

Instructors will include academic dishonesty/integrity standards, including explicit permissible AI use, on their course syllabi and each individual assignment.

In select assignments (e.g., research papers, annotated bibliographies, case study drafts, presentation outlines), AI tools may be permitted to support work—only if explicitly authorized by the course instructor. This permission will be stated in the syllabus and on the assignment instructions.

• AI platforms and tools are strictly prohibited and must not be used to complete assessments, graded assignments, or clinical documentation unless explicitly permitted by the course director, instructor, or faculty.

The use of any generative AI software (such as ChatGPT), editing software (such as Grammarly), and translation software (such as DeepL Translate) is prohibited. Further, embedded AI assistance (such as Gemini in Google Docs or Co-Pilot and the “Editing” feature in Microsoft Word) is not allowed for use in nursing courses.

This establishes guidelines for the ethical, responsible, and effective use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools within the CSU PA program and ensures that PA students responsibly utilize AI to enhance learning, research, and clinical training while upholding academic integrity, professionalism, and patient-centered care.

This policy is anticipated to grow and change with advances in technology.