This article was collaboratively written by Elise Wallace, Vermont State University English faculty member/Writing Coordinator and Jen Garrett-Ostermiller, Director of the CTLI.
Our focus is to support faculty in centering human agency (Watkins, 2025) in the learning process and in pedagogy. It isn’t necessary that you encourage the use of generative AI (genAI) in your courses; there are many valid critiques such as environmental impacts, data privacy, and cognitive effects. The goal is to provide information that will help you support students, design curriculum, and develop pedagogy that protects learning objectives and supports students.
Why Faculty Need Clear GenAI Policies
GenAI is already part of many students’ writing processes. Even if you choose not to teach Ai use, understanding how it fits into student workflows can strengthen your course design and help you set clear, enforceable expectations. Academic policies now need explicit, detailed references to genAI—”don’t use it” isn’t sufficient explanation.
Guiding Questions for Creating GenAI Policies
When crafting a policy for your course, it is most effective to consider all the ways that students could use it. By informing yourself of these uses, you can develop a strong policy that protects your students’ academic integrity and prioritizes your learning objectives.
We can’t teach everything. In general, it’s safe to say that to maintain integrity of learning, students should not use genAI for skills/processes/objectives that are the goal of an assignment/assessment/activity.
To determine what students should not use genAI for, ask:
- What is the purpose of the assignment?
- What learning objectives are being assessed?
- What skills must students independently demonstrate?
Generally, whatever is “leftover” from learning objectives and assessment criteria are skills that students most likely already possess in their academic “toolbelt.” Consider if using genAI to support these skills maintains the integrity of student learning.
To determine what may be permissible, ask:
- What steps of the assignment are not part of an assessed learning outcome?
- What supporting skills do I assume students already have, and use?
If you want to discourage a specific type of genAI use, state it clearly in a more robust policy. Or you can integrate genAI use into your assignments for certain steps, tasks, or aspects. This may provide valuable opportunities for students to reflect on their genAI use and learn how it can be a helpful learning tool. You can also use these questions to inspire ways to alter assignments and projects to be more genAI-resilient.ngths. We offer some ideas for you to consider and experiment with. Please reach out to us if you have additional suggestions to include in this section.
Experiment with genAI for writing tasks that are not core objectives of the assignment
If you permit students to use genAI for one or more writing tasks, it can be helpful to engage provide them with guidance and guardrails. For instance, the way a student writes a genA prompt is written may affect whether that genAI use meets your permissibility expectations or not.
In-class activities where you and your students experiment together and then engage in metacognitive reflection can help students see the nuances of how to use genAI mindfully and ethically. We have compiled ideas (building on the suggestions developed by the Center for Faculty Excellence at Montana State University) for you to try in your classes.
References & Resources:
Center for Faculty Excellence, Montana State University. (n.d.). Incorporating generative AI into the writing process for students. https://www.montana.edu/facultyexcellence/teaching-advising/courseclassdesign/genai/writing.html
Puxon, P., Brook, J., & Prevatt-Goldstein, A. (2024). The use of generative AI tools in the reading-into-writing process: Gains, losses and recommendations. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, (32). https://doi.org/10.47408/jldhe.vi32.1464
Warner, J. (2025, October 25). Teach writing, not document production. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/columns/just-visiting/2025/10/29/writing-classes-are-about-writing-not-ai-aided-production
Watkins, M. (2025, December 30). What agency means in the era of automation. Rhetorica. https://marcwatkins.substack.com/p/what-agency-means-in-the-era-of-automation