The University of Maine is still adapting to the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI), and implemented varied policies and ethical guidelines for students and faculty during the 2024 academic year. This comprehensive guide breaks down each college’s approach to AI and clarifies acceptable uses, potential disciplinary actions for misuse and expected policy updates given nationwide trends indicate students will continue to rely on these tools.
Since the public launch of tools like ChatGPT and Grammarly, it seems new reports are released weekly from reputable sources documenting the surge in AI usage across U.S. college campuses. An August 2024 survey of Harvard undergraduates found that almost 90% use AI, with about 25% substituting it for attending office hours or completing required readings. Similarly, Microsoft’s AI in Education Report from April 2024 indicates that 62% of students have used AI at least once or twice.
While data makes the use of AI among college students clear, it does not account for the varied approaches and debates campuses have faced at the onset of the academic year. Many students have been made aware of possible disciplinary actions for misuse of the tool, equating to plagiarism, but have also been told it can be used as an aide or research tool.
These varied approaches warrant the question, “What types of AI use are allowed at UMaine, and what are each college’s stances on overarching policies, ethical use, and changes to AI policies in the future?” The following guide answers these questions for students and faculty interested in how unified AI stances are across campus regarding ethical use.
University-Wide Policies
University-wide policies at UMaine provide a template approach to AI use across colleges. These guidelines are set forth by the UMaine Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning (CITL) and the Office of Community Standards, Rights and Responsibilities. They emphasize that their “Generative AI Teaching and Learning Guidelines” were designed to help faculty consider ethical AI use and provide a framework for integrating AI that aligns with the educational goals of UMaine as a whole.
“Generative AI can be both a valuable tool and a potential source of academic integrity concerns. Used responsibly, generative AI can enhance learning, creativity, and productivity, but its misuse poses risks to academic honesty and can undermine the educational process,” CITL shares on their Generative AI Teaching and Learning Guidelines website.
UMaine’s updated Academic Honesty Statement also addresses potential AI misuse.
“Academic honesty is very important. It is dishonest to cheat on exams, to copy term papers, to submit papers written by another person, or generated by software or systems without the explicit approval of the instructor,” reads the statement.
Department Policies
Representatives from five of the six colleges contacted by the Maine Campus responded with their college’s current approach to AI usage in the classroom.
“Our college viewpoint on student use of AI in courses is based on the guidelines provided by the UMaine CITL and the Office of Community Standards, Rights, and Responsibilities,” said Sue Sullivan, associate dean of the College of Earth, Life and Health Sciences (ELHS).
She added that academic and conduct actions could result in dismissal. The ELHS actively incorporates AI into its curriculum discussions, aiming to “prepare students for their future careers” by distinguishing skills that should be mastered with and without AI assistance.
“Faculty were not required to put in on AI use, but many worked with the CITL to develop a statement specific to the needs of their courses,” said Dean Jason Harkins of the Maine Business School — alluding to a more decentralized approach to policy.
“Many conversations about the impact of generative AI in our classrooms have taken place,” said Dean Ellen Weinauer of the Honors College. Still, the college currently has no formal AI policy.
“Individual instructors [develop] their policy and approach,” continued Weinauer, citing CITL’s generative AI guidelines as a reference for interested students. Weinauer also noted the challenges of adapting policies that are in line with rapidly advancing technology, but added that faculty and administration are “in conversation about developing our own guidelines.”
“The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) does not have its own AI policy since there is a university-wide set of guidelines,” said Associate Dean Judith Rosenbaum-Andre, referring faculty to the guidelines on the CITL’s website. She also said that CLAS encouraged faculty to include AI usage guidelines when designing syllabi.
“The University does not have an official AI policy; that work is ongoing,” said Associate Dean Justin Dimmel of the College of Education and Human Development (COEHD).
Dimmel added that “faculty have broad discretion about how to approach AI in their courses,” though general guidelines are available.
Faculty from COEHD remain interested in “understanding the risks and opportunities inherent in the use of emerging AI tools,” and AI will remain a focus of research.
The College of Engineering and Computing was unable to respond for commentary when contacted.
Ethics of AI Usage
As AI has become an increasingly relied–upon tool for students, UMaine faculty and administrators have raised ethical concerns about its impact on learning, creativity and academic integrity.
“Faculty in the Maine Business School have various perspectives on AI use in their classes. As a College we did a retreat on this very topic in May, and they were encouraged to think about how [AI] can be used productively and destructively in their course as they developed assignments and expectations about student use for the classroom,” said Harkin.
“The ethical concerns are largely the predictable ones—plagiarism, presenting work that you did not create as your own, etc.,” said Weinauer.
“But we are even more concerned about the ramifications of generative AI for learning. Writing is a critical tool for thinking; in Honors, we see writing not only as a mechanism for communication but also as a vital tool for discovery—of ourselves, of our beliefs, thoughts, ideas, and questions. When AI does that for us, we lose an important opportunity to learn and evolve as thinkers and as writers.” continued Weinauer.
“We see potential ethical issues in how AI tools are trained—What data are they consuming? What biases are they reproducing? What constitutes fair use of AI in academic or creative contexts?” said Dimmel.
Dimmel emphasized the importance of “considering what students, faculty, and staff need to contemplate before using an AI tool for academic, creative, or administrative work.”
Changes to AI Policies in the Future
As AI technology continues to evolve, UMaine colleges anticipate future adjustments to policy that align with educational trends and emerging workforce demands.
“We will follow the lead of CITL. Incorporation of AI into coursework will increase as our ELH units continue to delineate future workforce needs for AI skills,” said Sullivan, reflecting ELHS’s focus on preparing students with relevant skills for an AI–influenced job market.
“I believe that we will be developing guidelines, if not specific policies, for faculty, staff, and students in the near future,” said Weinauer.
“Regarding research, we rely on UMaine’s AI steering committee’s ‘Research with AI guidelines,’ which we link to on our faculty research resources page,” said Rosenbaum-Andre, emphasizing that future policy changes may center around research-driven ethical standards.
