Emerging Technologies Guidelines

Purpose and Scope of Guidelines

These guidelines describe shared principles and expected behavior within the Division of Academic Affairs for the responsible use of emerging technologies that have the potential to significantly impact the university community, functions, and processes. These guidelines will be reviewed periodically to ensure they remain current with technological advancements and regulatory changes.

Though the guidelines outlined here use generative AI tools (gAI) in teaching, learning and research as a case in point, other examples of emerging technologies that are at the forefront of innovation and have the potential to transform teaching, learning and research at universities, and also various industries and aspects of daily life include but are not limited to: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML, a subset of AI), Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR).

Guidelines apply to:

  • All members of Academic Affairs engaged in teaching, learning, scholarship, and the support of these activities.
  • Emerging Technologies accessed through sources that are open, proprietary, licensed, free, provided by the university, or procured privately.

 

View Guidelines PDF

Principles

Core Values for Integrating Emerging Technologies

Emerging technologies have the potential to enhance teaching, learning, and scholarship by providing new ways to engage with content, generate ideas, and assist in problem-solving. Academic Affairs acknowledges and is committed to ensuring that the use of such technologies promotes creativity, innovation, and learning while safeguarding Cal Poly ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½â€™s core values.

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Academic Excellence

Academic Affairs is committed to using powerful technologies in a manner consistent with its commitment to demonstrating academic excellence through work that is high quality, evidence-informed, and produced with integrity.

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Experiential Learning and Innovation

Academic Affairs is committed to exploring and engaging with emerging technologies ambitiously, collaboratively, and responsibly.

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Student Learning and Success

Academic Affairs will adopt powerful emerging technologies in ways that maximize academic and professional opportunities, enhance personal well-being and growth, and foster ethical citizenship.

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Inclusivity and Fairness

Academic Affairs will strive to make powerful emerging technologies as accessible as possible across the Division and work to make sure the benefits of these systems are fairly and evenly distributed to everyone who chooses to use them.

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Community Engagement and Respect

Academic Affairs will adopt and engage with powerful emerging technologies with thoughtful consideration for how it impacts the university’s relationship with and influence on local and global communities, including other universities, academics, artists and content creators, and other potential stakeholders.

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Social Responsibility

Academic Affairs will continually assess and work to improve the way that our engagement with powerful emerging technologies systems impacts social processes and institutions.

Alignment with Existing Policies

All use of emerging technologies must comply with existing CSU and Cal Poly ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ policies, standards, and guidelines, as well as relevant state and federal laws. Relevant Cal Poly ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ policies must be updated as needed to address issues raised by emerging technologies.