Gen AI Acceptable Use - AI & You Student Guide - Artificial Intelligence

Instructors will communicate the level of AI use permitted for each assignment. This scale applies to tools such as ChatGPT EDU, Gemini, Copilot, image generators, and other AI tools that create new content. Students are encouraged to use university-approved AI tools because they provide enhanced security and data protections through the university’s enterprise agreement. Questions about permitted AI use should be directed to the instructor, mentor, or adviser, or reviewed in the course syllabus. Always check your specific course syllabus. Instructors may set different AI use levels for different assignments within the same course.

Beyond citing AI use, you should be able to explain to your instructor/mentor/adviser how you used AI and why you made the choices you did.

Level of AI Usage	Description	Disclosure Standards	Examples
Level 0 AI Usage No AI Use	The assignment is completed entirely on your own, without any AI assistance. This means no AI tools at any point in the process.	No AI disclosure is required.	In-class blue-book essay exam in a first-year writing course, where you handwrite responses to a prompt analyzing a short text. Closed-book problem-solving exam in an introductory calculus course, proctored in person with no devices allowed.
Level 1 AI Usage AI-Assisted Editing	You write the content yourself, then use AI to help refine, debug, translate, and/or polish it. AI suggests improvements to clarity, grammar, and structure, but should not generate new content for you.	No disclosure, unless specified.	Draft of a lab report where you write methods and results yourself, then use AI only to improve clarity, grammar, and transitions before submission. A senior thesis chapter in which you run a nearly finished draft through AI for sentence-level revision and readability suggestions, but all arguments, evidence, and citations are your own. Your code for a programming assignment does not compile. You ask AI to help suggest a bug fix. You accept the suggested fix to get the program to compile, but still verify on your own that the program satisfies the specifications.
Level 2 AI Usage AI-Assisted Structuring & Searching	You use AI to help brainstorm, build outlines, search for tools, explain concepts, and generate ideas, but the actual content you submit is your own. In this case, AI is a thought partner.	No disclosure, unless specified. The material generated is your own.	Discussion-board post where you may use AI to brainstorm possible angles on a weekly reading, but must write and post your own response in Canvas. Presentation outline: you can ask AI for possible organizational structures or hooks, then build and submit your own outline and slides. A data science assignment where you search for a Python library call to solve a particular step in your analysis, along with an example of how to use it, but you implement the function within the assignment context. An international student uses generative AI to translate work from their native language into English for submission on a writing assignment.
Level 3 AI Usage AI for Specified Task Completion	You use AI to complete and generate content that may be used verbatim or lightly edited by you. The student is expected to think critically about what AI produces and take responsibility for reviewing and evaluating all AI-generated content.	AI-created content must be cited using proper APA style. Include an in-text citation and reference entry. Depending on the course or requirements provided by the instructor/mentor/adviser, links to AI chat(s) may be submitted with the submission.	A course assignment where you are explicitly told to use AI to generate three alternative ad copy drafts for a product, then critique and revise one into your final submission. A computer science student is writing a larger project (e.g., for a senior thesis). As part of the project, they use an AI coding assistant to generate or autocomplete a small function (e.g., a simple parser), but the student completes the program design and ensures the entire system works.
Level 4 AI Usage Full AI Use with Human Oversight	A student uses AI freely throughout the assignment as a co-pilot to support their work. The key responsibility is the human review of everything AI produces, ensuring accuracy, and making sure the final product reflects your own judgment and understanding.	You must cite all uses of AI using APA style, including in-text citations and reference entries. Depending on the course or requirements provided by the instructor/mentor/adviser, links to AI chat(s) may be submitted with the submission.	A course project where you design an AI-enhanced advising chatbot for your institution, using AI to draft conversation flows, FAQs, and documentation, then curating and annotating all outputs. A design studio where teams use AI throughout the process (needs analysis prompts, content drafting, content generation, and draft refinement) to build a website for their project, combined with submitting an AI use log and critical reflection. An engineering student uses an advanced coding agent, such as ChatGPT Codex, to generate software for a complex project via natural-language prompting. They use this program to analyze, organize, and provide an interactive demo of an associated physical experiment. They produce a final report and document the process, including turning in their chat prompt logs.
Level 5 AI Usage Full AI Use without Human Oversight	Students fully delegate academic judgment, grading decisions, research authorship, or evaluative responsibilities to AI without meaningful review or understanding.	Failure to disclose required AI use or delegating academic judgment to AI may constitute academic misconduct and/or research misconduct.	Posting AI-generated discussion posts in Canvas without review or disclosure. Generating an AI summary of an article for an assignment submission without review or disclosure. Generating code using a generative AI tool for an assignment that states that this assignment shall not use AI.

Level of AI Usage

Description

Disclosure Standards

Examples

Level 0 AI Usage

No AI Use

The assignment is completed entirely on your own, without any AI assistance. This means no AI tools at any point in the process.

No AI disclosure is required.

In-class blue-book essay exam in a first-year writing course, where you handwrite responses to a prompt analyzing a short text.

Closed-book problem-solving exam in an introductory calculus course, proctored in person with no devices allowed.

Level 1 AI Usage

AI-Assisted Editing

You write the content yourself, then use AI to help refine, debug, translate, and/or polish it. AI suggests improvements to clarity, grammar, and structure, but should not generate new content for you.

No disclosure, unless specified.

Draft of a lab report where you write methods and results yourself, then use AI only to improve clarity, grammar, and transitions before submission.

A senior thesis chapter in which you run a nearly finished draft through AI for sentence-level revision and readability suggestions, but all arguments, evidence, and citations are your own.

Your code for a programming assignment does not compile. You ask AI to help suggest a bug fix. You accept the suggested fix to get the program to compile, but still verify on your own that the program satisfies the specifications.

Level 2 AI Usage

AI-Assisted Structuring & Searching

You use AI to help brainstorm, build outlines, search for tools, explain concepts, and generate ideas, but the actual content you submit is your own. In this case, AI is a thought partner.

No disclosure, unless specified. The material generated is your own.

Discussion-board post where you may use AI to brainstorm possible angles on a weekly reading, but must write and post your own response in Canvas.

Presentation outline: you can ask AI for possible organizational structures or hooks, then build and submit your own outline and slides.

A data science assignment where you search for a Python library call to solve a particular step in your analysis, along with an example of how to use it, but you implement the function within the assignment context.

An international student uses generative AI to translate work from their native language into English for submission on a writing assignment.

Level 3 AI Usage

AI for Specified Task Completion

You use AI to complete and generate content that may be used verbatim or lightly edited by you. The student is expected to think critically about what AI produces and take responsibility for reviewing and evaluating all AI-generated content.

AI-created content must be cited using proper APA style. Include an in-text citation and reference entry. Depending on the course or requirements provided by the instructor/mentor/adviser, links to AI chat(s) may be submitted with the submission.

A course assignment where you are explicitly told to use AI to generate three alternative ad copy drafts for a product, then critique and revise one into your final submission.

A computer science student is writing a larger project (e.g., for a senior thesis). As part of the project, they use an AI coding assistant to generate or autocomplete a small function (e.g., a simple parser), but the student completes the program design and ensures the entire system works.

Level 4 AI Usage

Full AI Use with Human Oversight

A student uses AI freely throughout the assignment as a co-pilot to support their work. The key responsibility is the human review of everything AI produces, ensuring accuracy, and making sure the final product reflects your own judgment and understanding.

You must cite all uses of AI using APA style, including in-text citations and reference entries. Depending on the course or requirements provided by the instructor/mentor/adviser, links to AI chat(s) may be submitted with the submission.

A course project where you design an AI-enhanced advising chatbot for your institution, using AI to draft conversation flows, FAQs, and documentation, then curating and annotating all outputs.

A design studio where teams use AI throughout the process (needs analysis prompts, content drafting, content generation, and draft refinement) to build a website for their project, combined with submitting an AI use log and critical reflection.

An engineering student uses an advanced coding agent, such as ChatGPT Codex, to generate software for a complex project via natural-language prompting. They use this program to analyze, organize, and provide an interactive demo of an associated physical experiment. They produce a final report and document the process, including turning in their chat prompt logs.

Level 5 AI Usage

Full AI Use without Human Oversight

Students fully delegate academic judgment, grading decisions, research authorship, or evaluative responsibilities to AI without meaningful review or understanding.

Failure to disclose required AI use or delegating academic judgment to AI may constitute academic misconduct and/or research misconduct.

Posting AI-generated discussion posts in Canvas without review or disclosure.

Generating an AI summary of an article for an assignment submission without review or disclosure.

Generating code using a generative AI tool for an assignment that states that this assignment shall not use AI.

Important: Disclosure Is Required

If you use AI and do not disclose it when required, it is considered Academic Misconduct and will be handled in accordance with Policy 6-410: Student Academic Performance, Academic Conduct, and Professional and Ethical Conduct.

APA Citation Quick Reference for AI Tools

Whenever AI plays a meaningful role in your work, you should disclose and cite it. Here is the APA format the University of Utah recommends as a baseline. If you do not disclose, it is considered Academic Misconduct and will be handled in accordance with those policies and procedures.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT TEMPLATE

"This assignment used generative AI (tool name, model/version, date) to support [brainstorming/outlining/draft revision/study questions/etc.]. All outputs were reviewed, verified, and revised by the author."

APA REFERENCE EXAMPLE

OpenAI. (2026). ChatGPT (GPT-4.1) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com

APA Reference Format

Author of AI tool. (Year). Name of AI tool (Version) [Type of AI model]. URL

IN-TEXT CITATION EXAMPLE

When citing AI-generated content in your text (Levels 3–4), use: (OpenAI, 2026)

Adapted from:
Perkins, M., Furze, L., et al. (2024). The AI Assessment Scale (AIAS): A framework for ethical generative AI assessment in education. York University
Frostburg State University. (n.d.). AI levels. frostburg.edu/ailevels.php
TESOL International Association. (2025). The AI Assessment Scale: A practical framework for TESOL educators in the age of ChatGPT. tesol.org