Chapman AI Hub

POLICY STATEMENT

This policy establishes requirements governing the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in Chapman University (the University) teaching, learning, research, scholarship, administration, and operations, consistent with the University’s commitments to academic freedom, academic integrity, data security, and ethical conduct.

REASON FOR THE POLICY

Artificial intelligence is now part of how people learn, conduct research, and do professional work, and its use is expanding across the fields Chapman students enter. Preparing students for inquiring, ethical, and productive lives requires that they learn to use these tools capably and judge their output critically. As AI fluency becomes central to the fields Chapman’s graduates enter, the University encourages faculty to engage with these tools and to consider their place in the curriculum where doing so supports a course’s learning objectives.

These tools are meant to augment human learning, teaching, and judgment, not to replace them. At the same time, the University has obligations that AI use can place under strain: the integrity of academic work, the security of institutional and personal data, compliance with contractual and intellectual property commitments, and the ethical treatment of people. This policy establishes minimum requirements that let the community engage with AI while meeting those obligations and gives students and faculty consistent guidance in place of expectations that vary without explanation from course to course.

Nothing in this policy is intended to limit academic freedom, scholarly inquiry, or pedagogical judgment. Faculty retain primary responsibility to determine how AI tools may be used in their courses, research, scholarship, and creative activity, subject to applicable law, accreditation standards, sponsor and research requirements, and University policies governing data security, academic integrity, and research compliance.

DEFINITIONS

Artificial Intelligence (AI) – References to “AI” include analytical, predictive, transcription, accessibility, security, and other AI-enabled functionality.

Generative AI – Unless otherwise specified, references to “generative AI” refer to systems that generate substantive content such as text, images, audio, video, software code, or other content

Sensitive Information – Information classified by the University as confidential, restricted, protected, or otherwise requiring enhanced safeguards.

University Business – Activities conducted on behalf of the University in furtherance of its educational, research, administrative, operational, or business functions.

POLICY

This policy applies to all faculty, staff, and students. When necessary, individual sections will note where the scope is narrower.

Protection of University and Personal Data
1. Chapman faculty, staff, and students are prohibited from entering personally identifiable information, student education records, protected health information, or other information classified as Sensitive Information into an AI tool unless that tool has been University-approved for the relevant data classification.
2. AI tools procured, deployed, integrated, or used for University Business, including free and consumer versions, must be reviewed and approved by University administration, including Information Systems & Technology (IS&T), before use.
3. Custom applications, scripts, integrations, or automations developed with the assistance of AI for University Business must be reviewed and approved by IS&T, with consultation with executive leadership as necessary, before they are deployed or relied upon, regardless of whether the finished solution itself uses AI. This requirement does not apply to work an individual develops solely for that person’s own use.
4. AI meeting assistants and transcription tools must not be used to record, transcribe, or summarize University meetings unless the specific tool has been University-approved and carries appropriate contractual protections. All participants must be informed and given the opportunity to consent before such a tool is used in a meeting, consistent with the University’s recording and consent requirements.
Use of AI in Coursework
1. Faculty retain discretion to determine whether and how AI technologies may be used in their courses, subject to applicable law and University policy.
2. Faculty members shall communicate course-specific expectations regarding AI use in the course syllabus or other course materials, as appropriate. A course may require the use of AI, permit it for some or all work, or prohibit it. No position is presumed preferable to another, but each faculty member must set and communicate these expectations to students.
3. Where a syllabus does not address the use of AI for an assignment, students may not be held responsible for unauthorized AI use absent notice of the applicable restriction. This default permission does not apply to quizzes, examinations, or other proctored assessments, for which AI use is prohibited unless expressly permitted by the instructor.
4. An allegation that a student used AI contrary to a course’s stated expectations must rest on more than the output of a statistical or probability-based AI detection tool. Such tools may be considered as one factor in an academic integrity review but shall not, standing alone, constitute sufficient evidence of a violation.
Responsibility and Disclosure
1. Chapman faculty, staff, and students are responsible for the accuracy and quality of any work they submit, present, or rely on, regardless of whether AI assisted in producing it.
2. Each person is expected to exercise academic or professional judgment in reviewing and verifying AI-generated content before relying on it.
3. Responsibility for grades and evaluative feedback rests with the faculty member. Using AI in grading does not shift that responsibility to the tool or to the student, and the instructor remains obligated to review AI-assisted evaluations before they are issued.
4. Faculty must disclose the use of generative AI in the substantial creation of course materials and in the grading of student work. Disclosure of AI-assisted grading must be made for each individual assignment in which it is utilized and indicate the role AI played and how a student may seek review.
Intellectual Property and Prohibited Uses
1. Chapman faculty, staff, and students must comply with applicable copyright, license, publisher, and other contractual restrictions when using third-party content with generative AI. Licensed content must not be uploaded to, processed by, or used with a generative AI service when such use is prohibited by the applicable license or agreement.
2. Chapman faculty, staff, and students who incorporate AI output into their work are responsible for that work’s compliance with copyright and licensing obligations, as they would be for any other source, and must not use output that infringes another party’s intellectual property.
3. Chapman faculty, staff, and students are prohibited from using generative AI to create or distribute content intended to cause harm or violate the law in any way. Examples of prohibited use of generative AI include, but are not limited to, malware or other code designed to compromise security; the nonconsensual or deceptive manipulation of a person’s image, voice, or likeness; and material used to harass, intimidate, defraud, or exploit others.
Human Oversight
1. Where AI output informs a University decision that affects an individual’s standing, opportunities, or rights, a person with responsibility for that decision must review the output before the decision is made.
Research
1. Research-related AI use remains subject to this policy and to the norms of the relevant discipline, sponsor and funding agency requirements, publisher and journal policies, and the University’s research integrity and other applicable policies. Where requirements conflict, the more restrictive requirements control. Detailed guidance for AI use in research will be maintained separately.

COMPLIANCE

All Chapman faculty, staff, and students are required to comply with this policy. Failure to comply may result in corrective or disciplinary action under the applicable University process: for students, the academic integrity and student conduct processes; for employees, the Faculty or Staff Handbook and University personnel policies. Outcomes under those processes may include sanctions up to and including expulsion, dismissal, termination, or separation from the University. A violation may also carry consequences beyond University discipline, including legal liability or obligations to research sponsors, publishers, or licensors.

OFFICE RESPONSIBLE FOR POLICY

Name of Office: Information Systems & Technology
Contact information for questions about this policy: servicedesk@chapman.edu

WEBSITE ADDRESS FOR THIS POLICY

https://ai.chapman.edu/guidelines/artificial-intelligence-ai-use-policy/

WHO APPROVED THIS POLICY

Senior staff member submitting the policy: Phillip Lyle, Interim VP & CIO
Date approved:

______________________
President

PUBLICATION DATES
Effective: 10/12/2026

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