Policies

In order to foster responsible exploration within the bounds of policy and good practice, we offer the following reminders of existing policies that Lehigh faculty, staff, students, and affiliates are expected to follow:

  • Those who provide the university with private, protected data trust that we will treat that data ethically and in accordance with legal requirements and guidelines. This guidance applies to any online information system, not just to those that use Generative AI tools.
  • For this reason you may not submit institutional data, restricted data, or critical data–this restriction is covered by Lehigh’s Acceptable Use of Computing Systems Policy. Examples of data that may not be submitted to such systems include Social Security Numbers, credit card numbers, student records, financial records, health care records; data that fall under export control or ITAR regulations; employment records, legal records; and intellectual property you do not have the right to distribute. For more information, see Office of Institutional Data’s Classification of Data page.
  • If you have a use case for Generative AI that involves such data, submit an LTS consultation request so we can advise you and help you ensure data safety and legal compliance.
  • Any member of the Lehigh community who learns of a potential breach of data protection or confidentiality— through the use of Generative AI tools or otherwise —is required by Section 5 of Lehigh’s Acceptable Use Policy to report the incident to the Office of Information Security at security@lehigh.edu.
  • Faculty are expected to follow University Policy on Ethical Conduct in Academic Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities (Contact the Office of Research if you have questions about specific use cases).
  • Students are expected to follow course-specific rules set by their instructors as well as academic integrity rules set by the university, as captured in the Student Code of Conduct.

 

Best Practices

  • If you use your Lehigh email to sign up for any online app or service (AI or otherwise) that requires you to create a username and password, do not use your Lehigh password.
  • If you are using Generative AI for professional work, always check the output for accuracy and bias. Using output from Generative AI tools without reviewing it for accuracy and bias may place you and the university at risk. Be proactive in discovering, and reminding others, of known limitations to current tools in your field of study or area of operations.
  • Understand citation practices in your context and appropriately cite any Generative AI tools that assisted in your work. Ask your chair, manager, or unit leadership if you have questions about using Generative AI for your academic, research, or administrative work.
  • Foster authentic learning, uphold academic integrity, and make AI "cheating" both less necessary and less appealing, while preparing students for responsible AI-enabled practice. Visit 7 Step Process for Deterring AI Misuse to learn how.
  • The safest way to ensure data you submit to an AI system is not shared or used to train models is to use an approved AI tool like Gemini and other Google AI tools that are available to campus users through your Google Workspace account.   
  • If you use free Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT (or Gemini accessed through a personal/non-Lehigh account) anything you submit may be collected and stored to train their models. For this reason, we recommend you always opt out of sharing data when using such systems. Unless you have opted out or are certain an AI system walls off information you upload, assume that the information you submit will become part of the system’s training data, which it may then share with future users.
  • Instructors are advised to give students clear guidance on the use of Generative AI tools for coursework and research. See the tips below and the sample statements in the LU Syllabus Template.  Use Lehigh’s Academic Integrity Vignettes to highlight relevant cases and communicate expectations.
  • Vendors are actively marketing services to individuals in higher education. We encourage you to explore solutions that meet your needs but offer the caveat that off-the-shelf AI tools currently being marketed may not meet the university’s security, privacy, and compliance standards for handling anything besides public data. If you contract with a vendor who offers Generative AI-related services, complete this GenAI Software Registry. Adding your tool or service to this registry will help us understand the landscape of AI adoption at Lehigh.
  • Any individual or department that would like additional guidance in improving its operations through the use of Generative AI is strongly encouraged to collaborate with LTS  to ensure that the tool under consideration meets Lehigh’s acceptable use guidelines, conforms to information security and data compliance requirements, and is not duplicative of existing tools on campus. LTS can help you identify ways such tools and services can benefit you, while also helping ensure that Lehigh only works with vendors that comply with our policies and practices.