As Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools become increasingly integrated into daily operations,
Austin Community College (ACC) recognizes both the opportunities and risks they
present. The College is committed to protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of all institutional data while enabling the appropriate use of AI to enhance productivity, creativity, and
innovation. The goal is to ensure that GenAI is used securely, ethically, and in ways that
safeguard privacy, minimize risk, and support ACC’s mission and values.
The Big Three Guides for Everyone
Whether you’re a student or employee, three guidelines apply to every person at ACC:
- Public Data Only: Unless you are using an ACC-approved tool (like the enterprise Gemini license), only put information into GenAI that you would be comfortable posting on a public website.
- Human in the Loop: You are responsible for what you submit. Never let GenAI have the final word on decisions that affect people’s lives or grades.
- Show Your Work: If GenAI helped you in a major way, say so. Transparency is a professional standard, not a “gotcha.”
What This Means for You
For Students
- The No-Ghostwriter Rule: GenAI should be your tutor, not your replacement. Using it as a shortcut skips the mental reps you need to actually learn.
- Academic Integrity: If the GenAI hallucinates a fact or a source and you submit it, you are the one responsible for the error.
- Privacy: Never put your personal ID numbers, financial info, or private health details into a prompt.
For Faculty
- Human Feedback: The policy (and your own commitment!) forbids using GenAI as the sole judge for grading or writing student feedback.
- Bias Check: GenAI can be confidently wrong or biased. It’s on us to check lecture notes or rubrics for fairness before sharing them.
- Modeling: Use the generative AI Use Rainbow to show students that we are also following the disclosure rules.
For Staff
- Confidentiality is King: Do not use GenAI to summarize meeting minutes that involve sensitive student records, internal budgets, or Personally Identifiable Information.
- The Click-Through Trap: Don’t hit “I Agree” on new GenAI tools with your ACC email unless they’ve been cleared by InfoSec. You could be held personally liable for those legal terms.
For Supervisors
- Leadership: You are responsible for making sure your team understands these security boundaries.
- Decision Making: You cannot use AI-only outputs to make hiring, firing, or disciplinary decisions. A human must always validate the “why” behind a choice.
Quick Reference: The “Can I Use This?” Table
| Data Type | Can I put this in GenAI? |
|---|---|
| Public Info (Syllabus, general FAQs) | YES |
| Student Work (For grading/feedback) | NO |
| Personal Info (SSNs, Grades, Health) | NO |
| Brainstorming (New assignment ideas) | YES |
A Note on Integrity: Using GenAI as a shortcut is like watching a video of someone else exercising—it might look productive, but you aren’t getting any stronger. Let’s use these tools to make our thinking deeper, not shallower.
For more information, review our ACC IT Policies.
- Acceptable Use of Artificial Intelligence Policy (PDF – ACC Faculty and Staff only): This policy applies to all ACC employees, contractors, third parties acting on behalf of ACC, and affiliates who access, utilize, or deploy AI tools while conducting activities on behalf of ACC.
- ACC IT AI Resources (ACC Faculty and Staff Only): This ACC Information Technology AI Resource Hub is meant to serve as a space for exploring how ACC is implementing Generative AI across our college.