Security Policies, Standards & Guidance
There are best practices and guidelines the university community can follow to reduce risk and protect secure information and data. ISIC's priority is to protect the university's information technology and data, and to establish IT security and compliance programs.Generative AI Guidance and Resources
Graduate School Guidelines
Regarding use of artificial intelligence in graduate education.
Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) technologies into graduate research education is a sign of progress and innovation and should be embraced as a tool to advance the education and research mission at CU Anschutz. Responsible use of AI requires detailed attribution that explicitly documents the nature of AI involvement in data analysis, writing assistance, generation of figures or other uses, along with clear demarcation and candor regarding the limitations of AI. The research scientists and scholars of tomorrow will leverage AI-based tools to hone their own ideas, facilitate communication, and push the frontiers of health-related research. The Graduate School at CU Anschutz aims to train scholars who understand AI-based technologies' strengths, limitations, and biases, and who will be prepared to deploy such tools ethically and transparently to advance a wide array of fields in the future. The Graduate school encourages programs to develop policies and curricula that prepare students for this future.
This statement was crafted, in part, using ChatGPT 4’s September 25, 2023 version.
LATEST NEWS FROM OIT
New AI tools have been approved for university use. We previously shared that Microsoft Copilot (formerly Bing Chat Enterprise) is a versatile AI tool approved for university use. New AI tools have been approved for use including Adobe Firefly to create beautiful images, text effects, and fresh color palettes. As additional AI tools become approved for university use, they will be shared on a dedicated webpage, where you can find detailed instructions on how to use them.
Guidelines for Graduate Students
The below guidelines were developed collaboratively between the School of Medicine with Campus Health Sciences Faculty Committee and modified by the Graduate School.
We, as members of the CU Anschutz Community, strive to be innovative and curious in our approach to the use of new technology. Especially, given our commitment to improving health and biomedical research, we are responsible to approach the use of these tools with integrity and professionalism.
- Never enter identifiable patient information, unpublished data, grants or unpublished manuscripts into third party tools.
- Familiarize yourself with the pitfalls of various tools such as bias, incorrect information and others.
- Be vigilant about the presence of biases in work generated by AI/ML and strive to prevent dissemination of these biases.
- Avoid use of AI/ML to replace successful, evidence-based study strategies, given concern these tools may negatively impact learning.
- Critically evaluate any AI/ML generated responses with knowledge from course work and other resources.
- Be honest and transparent about the use of AI and ML tools in curricular work such as studying and assignments. Citation of use should include name of the specific tool (and version) used and how it was used (outline generation, first draft, final draft). Ex: ChatGPT, v4 was used to generate an outline for this paper.
- Failure to cite use of outside tools may be considered plagiarism and will be addressed in the same way other academic professionalism lapses would be.
Key AI Tips from CU Anschutz OIT
IMPORTANT! Contact the Risk and Compliance team for assistance vetting AI prior to acquisition or email Risk and Compliance. It is important to highlight if the AI is intended for clinical purposes or will use highly confidential data such as FERPA, HIPAA data. Avoid uploading or sharing university data into unvetted AI systems as they are not secure.
Family Education Rights and Privacy Act
Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) deals specifically with the education records of students, affording them certain rights with respect to those records. For purposes of definition, education records are those records which are directly related to a student and maintained by an institution or a party acting for the institution.
University HIPAA Policy
HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) is a U.S. law designed to provide privacy standards to protect patients' medical records and other health information provided to health plans, billing/coding companies, doctors, hospitals and other health care providers.
CU System Administrative Policy
The IT Security Program serves as the core for the university's IT security and risk activities and provides requirements to users and administrators of IT resources via the noted security and risk standards. These standards help ensure information is secured appropriately, IT resources are available, and document the best practices to mitigate risk.