Generative AI At PSU

With the release of ChatGPT in November 2022, Generative Artificial Inteligence (AI) became a hot-button issue in higher education. Generative AI is a branch of artificial intelligence that generates text, images, ad other content that resembles human-generated content. The most popular tool, which you may be familiar with, is ChatGPT.

As you have undoubtedly heard and read, generative AI presents both opportunities and challenges for educational institutions. I'd like to bring you up to speed about where PSU currently stands regarding the use of Generative AI

Task Force

Over the summer, the Office of Academic Affairs mobilized an AI Task Force made up of representatives from throughout the university, including faculty, a representative of the Faculty Senate Educational Policy Committee, the offices of Academic Innovation (OAI), and Information Technology (OIT), the Library, and Student Affairs. They are tasked with recommending AI guidance and tools for the PSU's community of faculty, staff and students.

Philosopy and Principles

The task force is approaching its work in the spirit of PSU’s mission and values, embracing the technology to enhance teaching, research, creative work and administrative processes while also being mindful of employees' and students' need for responsible use. The Task Force has proposed the following draft Philosophy Statement to frame PSU’s approach to generative AI:

Portland State University embraces new technologies, including generative artificial intelligence (AI), to the extent that they advance the university’s mission and values. Generative AI may enhance teaching, research, creative work, and administration in various ways. Consistent with the principles of academic freedom, the university encourages academic personnel to determine for themselves how this technology shall be employed in their work, if at all. We are also mindful that embracing generative AI is subject to the community’s standards of responsible use on the part of employees and students. Used appropriately, generative AI holds extraordinary promise for the furtherance of our individual and collective efforts in higher education.

The task force has also proposed draft Guiding Principles, which I encourage you to read closely, as it is essential for our entire community to understand everyone’s responsibilities when it comes to the use of generative AI:

• Generative AI challenges us to continuously strive to integrate emerging technologies into our pedagogy to improve learning and student success.
• Faculty have broad discretion to set the policy on acceptable use of generative AI in their syllabi, including student expectations for proper recognition and/or citation if AI is used.
• Faculty also have the responsibility to engage in ongoing professional development and critical reflection on how generative AI is changing the nature of education; this includes critically evaluating their courses, assignments, and assessments to identify areas where change is necessary, opportunities to more effectively achieve learning objectives, and potential inequities.
• Students have the responsibility to fully understand and follow instructors’ guidance around generative AI and understand that faculty standards may vary from course to course.
• PSU leadership is responsible for creating faculty and staff awareness of the limitations of generative AI, including the biases that it can introduce and the dangers of misinformation.
• Faculty must acknowledge their own use of generative AI in their teaching, research, and creative work.
• Students and PSU employees are responsible for being mindful of privacy and data security considerations, including consulting evolving PSU guidelines. 

Resources and Tools

OAI has established a helpful resource for our faculty called Generative AI: A Teaching and Learning Primer. They have created sample syllabus statements and provided resources to learn how generative AI can be a powerful tool for designing courses and faculty/student collaboration. Additionally, OAI is responding to increased requests for AI support by hosting workshops, facilitated conversations and generative AI experimentation in an OAI ChatGPT lab. Spaces are also available for faculty in an 8-module online Teaching with AI course. Information on upcoming OAI workshops can be found here.
 

PSU's Research and Graduate Studies issued initial guidance on using Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technology in Research, which can be found here. The PSU Library also addressed the emergence of generative AI in teaching and research in its student-facing guidelines on citing generative AI output. Information on selecting generative AI tools for higher education applications can be found in the Generative AI Product Tracker.

Generative AI Survey

In order to continue their work, the GenAI Task Force has created this survey, which all PSU employees are invited to take whether or not they’ve used generative AI. The purpose of the survey is to gather the views of PSU faculty, staff, and administrators on generative AI, no matter how developed or definitive those views may be at this time, to ensure the Task Force carries out its charge. The questionnaire can be completed in as little as 3 minutes, although it can also accommodate lengthy responses requiring more time.
 

Questions

Any questions or concerns you may have about Generative AI can be directed to the following:

• Teaching and Learning: Office of Academic Innovation
• Cybersecurity and Privacy: Office of Information Technology
• Student Conduct: Student Affairs: Office of Student Affairs
• Literature Searching: Library
   

The Generative AI Task Force has a long and fascinating road ahead of them, no doubt, as this new generation of technology evolves. Look for task force updates in Currently, PSU’s weekly employee newsletter throughout this academic year.
 

If you have questions or feedback for the Generative AI Task Force, please submit them here.

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