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ChatGPT Edu for Fresno State

AI Guidelines

Learn more about AI guidelines at Fresno State. 

 

Guiding Principles 

  • Ethical Use
    Use AI in an ethically responsible manner, ensuring it supports rather than replaces human judgment, while considering the ethical impact of its use.
  • Integrity
    Utilize AI tools as a learning aid, ensuring they complement rather than replace personal effort and academic responsibilities.
  • Transparency  
    Be open and honest about how you use AI in your work, following your institution’s guidelines for disclosure.
  • Accountability  
    Make sure AI-generated information is unbiased, accurate and reliable, as you are ultimately responsible for the quality and originality of your work.
  • Fairness
    Use AI tools responsibly by supporting learning and collaboration, without gaining an unfair advantage or limiting others’ opportunities to learn.
  • Security and Privacy  
    Be mindful of privacy and confidentiality by not sharing sensitive information with AI tools and respecting others' intellectual property in collaborative work.
  1. Do Not Share Sensitive Information
    • Do not upload or share personally identifiable information (PII) such as Social Security numbers, student IDs, dates of birth, addresses, phone numbers, or financial data.
    • Do not enter student grades, disciplinary records, or academic performance data into ChatGPT.
  2. Do Not Share Confidential or Proprietary Data
    • Avoid discussing or inputting any confidential university data, research data, or unpublished findings.
    • Faculty should not use ChatGPT to evaluate student work or generate student grades.
  3. Do Not Share Conversation Links or Outputs Without Review
    • ChatGPT-generated responses may contain inaccuracies or biases. Always verify information before sharing.
    • Do not distribute ChatGPT-generated content without proper attribution or critical review.
  1. Set Clear Expectations for AI Use in Assignments
    • If students are allowed to use AI, provide guidelines on appropriate vs. inappropriate use (e.g., using AI for idea generation vs. submitting AI-generated work as their own).
    • Consider requiring students to disclose AI-assisted work and reflect on how they used it.
  2. Encourage Ethical AI Use & Critical Thinking
    • Teach students to evaluate AI-generated content critically, ensuring accuracy, bias detection, and proper citation.
    • Remind students that AI-generated sources may not be reliable and should be fact-checked.
  3. Protect Intellectual Property & Research Integrity
    • Faculty should not input unpublished research, grant proposals, or confidential institutional data into ChatGPT.
    • AI should not be used for automated grading or providing feedback on sensitive academic work.
  4. Use AI as an augmentation to teaching, Not a replacement for the crucial role of interaction between instructor and student.
  1. GenAI tools should not be used in ways that violate existing university standards, policies or guidelines.
  2. Fully GenAI-generated content is prohibited at this time, and all generated content must be reviewed and fact-checked by a human editor.
  3. Do Not Plagiarize or Misrepresent Work
    • AI-generated content must not be submitted as original student work without proper acknowledgment.
    • Follow institutional policies on academic integrity and plagiarism.
  4.  Verify Information Before Using It
    • AI responses may hallucinate or generate inaccurate data—always cross-check with credible sources.
    • Do not use AI to generate false or misleading information.
  5. Be Mindful of AI Biases
    • AI models can reflect biases present in training data—students should analyze AI-generated responses critically.
  6. Use AI Tools Responsibly for Learning, Not Cheating
    • AI can assist with explanations, summaries, and brainstorming, but should not replace independent learning, problem-solving, or critical analysis.
    • Misuse of AI in assessments may lead to academic misconduct consequences.

Does ChatGPT Edu include internet search capabilities?
Yes, ChatGPT Edu includes web search, allowing users to access and retrieve up-to-date information from the internet to enhance their queries and research.

What governance and ethical guidelines are in place to ensure responsible use of ChatGPT?
Existing CSU policies on privacy and responsible use have been/are being refined to reflect the use of AI. Ethical frameworks and usage guidelines have been drafted and will be made available for campuses to serve as a ready foundation for any campuses that do not already have their own frameworks and guidelines already developed. The CSU’s GenAI Committee, comprised of key stakeholders and leaders, including representatives from the CSU’s Faculty Senate, will develop and provide the ongoing guidance for AI in the CSU.

How is the CSU’s data that is used when CSU community members use ChatGPT being protected?
OpenAI's ChatGPT Edu agreement is tailored specifically for the CSU system to provide advanced AI capabilities for all employees and students while protecting CSU data. OpenAI does not use CSU workspace data to train its large language models. Additionally, the CSU ChatGPT Edu plan includes enterprise commercial data protection features like SAML Single Sign-On (SSO), domain verification, custom data retention windows, SOC 2 Type 2 compliance, and data encryption at rest and in transit. 

How will the use of ChatGPT be monitored and violations enforced according to CSU policies?
The CSU has a policy on responsible use of technology resources , as well as existing standards on student conduct and defined student conduct process for addressing issues that may arise. The CSU will continue to update policies, procedures and guidelines as necessary to enable the safety of our community.

Does the CSU monitor users’ usage within the platform? 
Individual user interactions and conversations with ChatGPT are not monitored. The CSU will only collect basic use statistics to understand the extent of adoption. 

Will my information be used to train AI models?
No. The CSU’s agreement with OpenAI includes language that ensures your ChatGPT interactions and data are not used to train their underlying large language models or improve their services.

How does OpenAI ensure data privacy and security for educational institutions?
One of the benefits of an enterprise agreement is that OpenAI commits to data privacy and security by ensuring that conversations and data are not used to train their models. The Edu plan includes commercial data protection features like SAML SSO, domain verification, custom data retention windows, SOC 2 Type 2 compliance, and data encryption at rest and in transit.