TSU committee approves universitywide AI policy; removes external hyperlinks

Tennessee State University’s trustees committee voted to approve a recommendation to adopt Policy 1.09, the Policy on Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence, with edits to remove external hyperlinks and forward the policy to the full Board of Trustees for approval.

The policy, described during the committee meeting as a universitywide document covering teaching, learning, research and general employee use, sets procedures for vetting AI tools, requires training for users of approved tools and directs Technology Services to block unapproved tools. Committee members also asked that external links in the draft policy be removed and that citations be changed to internal policy numbers where appropriate.

Provost Dr. Melton presented the policy and said it outlines purpose, scope and definitions and includes guidance on responsible classroom use, research and productivity. "This tool, this technology innovation is currently impacting all disciplines all across the university," Melton said, and described a review that included Tennessee Higher Education Commission guidance and consultation with peer institutions.

Sterling Sanders, interim chief information officer, described technical controls the university will use. "It will be required that [AI tools] is reviewed by the OTS leadership team in which that we ensure that it is compliant with our security protocols," Sanders said, adding that the university can block tools at the firewall level and that users should not submit personally identifiable information to unvetted systems without review by Technology Services and legal counsel.

Committee members cited a recent unvetted product, identified in the meeting as "AI Yes," that attached to meetings and distributed transcripts to participants; Sanders said the tool was blocked enterprise-wide and removed after review. Melton said TSU tests new tools through an internal team of researchers called AI fellows and pilots tools for security, classroom impact and workforce alignment before wider deployment. He noted that users must complete training before using approved tools.

Trustee Seaman raised concerns about draft language that embedded links to third-party pages, asking, "So is that really a good practice to link to that to an outside website, or should we just make it a reference?" Committee members agreed and directed staff to remove external hyperlinks and to replace some links with internal policy references or policy numbers.

The committee also discussed how the policy will be administered. Staff said the policy is listed as Policy 1.09 and characterized as a general, universitywide policy; responsible offices named in the draft include Academic Affairs, Technology Services (Office of Technology Services, OTS) and Student Affairs to address potential student-conduct implications.

During discussion Provost Melton and staff noted partnerships and outreach being pursued with major technology companies; Melton said the university had received written confirmation from Amazon to be part of an executive higher-education team for machine learning and expected meetings with Oracle and other vendors as part of piloting and research relationships.

Trustee Seaman moved to approve the recommendation with the edits to remove external links; the motion was seconded (second not clearly identified in the record). Secretary Brown recorded affirmative votes from the trustees present and the motion carried. The committee approved forwarding the edited Policy 1.09 to the full Board of Trustees for final action.

The meeting adjourned following the vote. The committee did not set a specific implementation date in the session; staff said further procedural details, including how individual colleges will incorporate instructional guidance, will be addressed as part of implementation and training plans.