Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Date of Award

2025

Cohort Year

2025

Abstract

The rise in generative artificial intelligence (AI) usage amongst students across universities has posed significant challenges and questions regarding institutional response and developing policies to ensure ethical application. Investigating how public and private universities in Ohio respond to the expanding integration of AI through curriculum offerings and policy development is significant in examining the gap between AI adoption and institutional policy response. Through analysis, research reveals a widespread lack of transparent, explicit, and enforceable AI policies for students despite high AI usage levels among the university population and the development of AI curricula and programs. While both sectors show policy gaps, private institutions lag further behind in formalizing AI governance. However, public universities have nearly 100,000 undergraduate and graduate students as of Fall 2023, roughly 33 percent of the total student population enrolled at an Ohio public university, without a university-wide AI policy. The research draws upon document and guideline examination of institutional websites, university policy catalogs, and curricular offerings regarding AI across a sample size of all public and private universities in Ohio. Proactive, transparent policy creation is essential to govern AI usage and ensure student accountability and institutional receptivity to rapidly evolving technological advancements within society. These gaps have implications for academic integrity, equity, instructional procedures, and future policymaking as universities navigate the expanding role of AI in instructional environments. The findings uncover a growing disconnection between developing technological transformation and institutional governance, illustrating an urgent need for universities to establish frameworks and policies about ethical AI usage.

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