NICC Adopts AI Policy, Introduces Classroom 'Stoplight' System

Know what's happening in your hometown. Help us keep you informed. CALMAR, Iowa — Northeast Iowa Community College has adopted a policy governing the use of artificial intelligence in college operations and instruction, including a framework to help instructors clarify when students may use AI in coursework. The Board of Trustees unanimously approved Board Policy 212 at its meeting Monday, Oct. 19. College officials discussed academic integrity concerns, data privacy and the use of AI tools by students, including minors enrolled in college courses. NICC says closed system addresses privacy concernsThe board reviewed a legal analysis from F3 Law Firm regarding AI use by minor students. Kelly McMahon, executive director of risk management, said the analysis focused on open generative AI tools, which may use submitted information to train models. McMahon said NICC uses Google Workspace for Education and considers its system private. "Those are things that train the model [where] the information isn't considered private," McMahon said of open generative AI tools. "We are using Google Workspace for Education. It is private. It is a closed AI system. It is considered personal data and we treat it that way. It's not shared out, it's not used to train an outside AI model." McMahon said the college's use of a closed system is why she believes parental consent requirements for K-12 students do not apply to NICC. NICC President Dave Dahms said the college considers statewide legal analyses but relies on its own legal counsel, Ahlers & Cooney, for guidance on binding requirements. "We don't deviate from what Ahlers tells us," Dahms said. 'Stoplight' system addresses academic integrityMcMahon said the college has seen a "dramatic uptick in academic integrity violations" over the past five years. To address concerns about AI use in coursework, NICC technical staff members Travis Hunt and Caleb Feuling integrated a "stoplight" framework into the college's Brightspace learning management system. The framework, based on research by Andrea Kane, a faculty member in health information technology, allows instructors to indicate the expected level of AI use for a course or assignment: Red: No AI use allowed. Yellow: AI use allowed with caution. Green: AI use encouraged. Emily Logan, associate vice president of teaching and learning, said the framework provides a shared language for instructors and students. "What a group of us started talking about is what if we made a tool like this available so that we as an institution had some sort of framework for approaching it like a shared language," Logan said. "We think that will ... be helpful to students in understanding maybe where they cross the line." Logan cited a recent example involving a math instructor who filed an academic integrity report after questioning whether a student could have completed a set of problems in the time allowed. "It's not humanly possible to do the math problems that this student did in this period of time," Logan said, recounting the instructor's concern. Logan said the stoplight framework could help instructors identify potential violations by making expectations for permitted AI use more specific. College emphasizes review before disciplineTrustee Jason Norton asked how the college handles potentially inaccurate AI data and false positives from AI detection tools. McMahon said faculty members are advised not to rely on a single indicator, such as a flag from Turnitin, when evaluating possible academic integrity violations. "We are asking that the faculty don't use just one reason," McMahon said. She said instructors may consider whether a student's writing style differs from previous work and examine other evidence before determining whether a violation occurred. McMahon added that faculty members speak directly with students to hear their perspective before beginning the disciplinary process. The stoplight system remains optional for faculty as the college monitors its rollout. "We know this is going to be evolving, so we're going to keep watching it because who knows where it's going to go," Board Chair Jim Anderson said. Busy day? We've got you covered. Get local news delivered to your inbox.