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by: Rhona Free, Ph.D.
President
In November 2022, OpenAI released ChatGPT, the language-learning model that made rapid human-like text generation, essay writing, and problem-solving accessible to anyone with a browser. For faculty and students, Artificial Intelligence (AI) presented immediate challenges and opportunities. Since then, University of Saint Joseph faculty have been contemplating the ethical challenges posed by AI and modifying courses and policies to ensure that the technology is used to promote student learning and critical thinking, and to prepare them for the careers they will enter after graduation.
Just a few days before classes started for the Fall 2026 semester, USJ faculty participated in a series of workshops and panel discussions on how AI can be used to enhance teaching, learning, and workforce preparations while maintaining focus on student development and academic integrity. They grappled with broad questions about how AI intersects with USJ’s mission and values, as well as course-specific ideas such as how AI Role Play and Socratic Questioning Assignments can be used inside and outside the classroom in Social Work courses. USJ faculty are committed to ensuring that AI plays a positive role in students’ educational experience, acknowledging that while it has potential for great benefit, it also has potential for harm if used inappropriately.
USJ’s First Year Seminar classes in Fall 2026 will include a general session on Academic Integrity and a second one co-designed by two Biology professors entitled ‘Before you ask Chat: what professors want you to know about AI.” This session will use case-based scenarios centered on both academic and real-world AI use to allow students to explore how AI can support learning and productivity, but also how it can undermine critical thinking. The goal is to help students develop good judgement about how and when to use AI.
While many courses will provide students the opportunity to practice using AI the way they will use it in the workplace — whether as a nurse, an accountant, or a computer scientist — their use of AI for completing course work is guided by individual faculty and course policies within the context of USJ’s general Academic Integrity Policy.
The Academic Integrity Policy states:
“When the use of artificial intelligence is permitted, students are expected to use it in a responsible, ethical, and transparent manner that supports, rather than replaces, independent scholarly work. Any artificial intelligence assistance must be clearly disclosed, and students remain fully accountable for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of all submitted work. Use of artificial intelligence must align with academic integrity standards, including appropriate attribution, and must not involve the input of sensitive, confidential, or identifiable information. Students are encouraged to consult with faculty if they have questions about appropriate artificial intelligence use or need guidance for specific assignments.”
By providing very specific guidance on how AI can be used, faculty seek to guide students in how to use AI appropriately as a tool, while keeping them from inadvertently making mistakes that violate academic integrity or data privacy. Students should pay close attention to what each faculty member allows.
Here are examples of the policy from a Computer Science and Biology class.
We ask that parents and families encourage students to adhere to the policy on AI use in each of their classes.