Artificial Intelligence
Thoughtful and Deliberate Use and Non-Use of Generative AI at Colorado College
The value of a liberal arts education lies in holistic learning and critical evaluation. The deep and intensive modes of inquiry and engagement afforded by the block plan at CC are not about finding quick answers. Accordingly, our thoughtful, deliberate, and iterative approach to generative AI (GenAI) ultimately highlights the core of what we do and who we are as an institution. How, when, and why GenAI will and will not be used at CC emerges from the contexts of liberal arts learning and critical inquiry, while aligning with CC’s commitments to sustainability, equity, and inclusion.
Accordingly, our critical approach to AI amplifies our core institutional values alongside our college’s vision "to ignite the passion and potential of our students, and the entire CC community, to create a world that is more equitable, humane, and just."
In Spring 2026, after three years of exploration and development, the college released its Generative AI Philosophy and Generative AI Guidelines. The college's Generative AI website provides further explanation of our collective work in this area.
The Crown Center's Work on AI at CC
From the first emergence of ChatGPT in Fall 2022, the Crown Center has actively led conversations, workshops, educator development days, and initiatives related to AI. Faculty and staff members participated in the AAC&U's first Institute on AI, Pedagogy, and the Curriculum during the 2024-25 academic year and crafted a set of guiding principles for official policy and best practices alike. In Spring 2026, CC received a Mellon Foundation Humanities for All Times grant. The three-year, campus-wide initiative titled Generative Futures: Critical Language Inquiry in the Age of Artificial Intelligence will help us explore how language, interpretation, and GenAI are reshaping teaching, learning, and knowledge across the liberal arts.Critical AI Literacy at CC
As GenAI tools are rapidly adopted in higher education under the banner of efficiency and productivity, CC offers a deliberate alternative grounded in the humanistic commitments and critical practices that shape our liberal arts mission. Critical AI Literacy (CAIL) goes beyond the use and understanding of specific artificial intelligence tools or their underlying technical processes to seek informed, transparent, just, and responsible engagement. CAIL examines the inherent issues of bias, inequality, and access within such systems and emerges from the thoughtful and nuanced approaches to the technology as outlined in our institutional Generative AI Philosophy. It also raises awareness of ethical, environmental, and labor concerns in their development and implementation. In the context of the liberal arts, CAIL also leans into metacognitive processes to consider the impacts of GenAI on critical thinking skills and the development of knowledge. Undertaking this work through humanistic modes of inquiry broadly, establishes an interdisciplinary application of CAIL in any variety of contexts across the entire campus community.
Syllabus Statements
The Importance of an AI Statement
Because CC recognizes a full range of thoughtful approaches, from deliberate non-use to meaningful integration, a strong policy helps students understand where particular uses fall on that spectrum, what is expected of them, and how those expectations support both the learning goals of the course and the values that guide our educational work. Additionally, because faculty hold a wide range of perspectives on AI in their professional work as scholars and educators, it is important to make these clear as students move from block to block.
What to Include in an AI Statement
All syllabi should include a clear, course-specific statement addressing the use or non-use of GenAI and chatbots in all aspects of coursework, including class preparation and assignments.
Statements should specify whether, when, and how AI tools are permitted or prohibited; identify any permitted uses (e.g., brainstorming, research, revision, coding, or image generation); and explain expectations for disclosure or citation as well as the procedures for doing so (e.g., discipline-specific styles such as MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.). In the event of a potential academic-integrity concern, the Honor Council will use the course policy as an important reference in its deliberations.
Please consult CC’s Generative AI Philosophy and Guidelines and consider the resources for instructors and students provided by Tutt Library’s AI guide. You may wish to use a resource such as this non-AI syllabus-statement development tool developed by Washington and Lee when drafting your policy.
We have compiled a collection of sample statements shared by CC faculty members, which is also available as a resource to you in this process.
In some courses, developing a shared class agreement about AI may itself be a productive opening-block activity.
The AI Statement as a Starting Point
A course policy need not simply articulate the use or non-use of AI. It is also an opportunity to invite students to consider the possibilities and costs of these tools in relation to the mission and values at the heart of a CC education. To this end, including a syllabus statement is only the beginning. Faculty should discuss the policy with students early in the block, explaining how it reflects the course’s learning goals and their own professional and pedagogical commitments. This conversation gives students an opportunity to ask questions, understand the rationale for the policy, and practice the transparency and critical judgment that AI use requires.
Additional Resources
In addition to our in-person conversations and workshops, we will also share out information that can help us engage in such efforts. Please let us know of any resources you think would be useful for us to highlight.
CC Resources:
- AI Usage (CC Ruth Barton Writing Center)
- Tutt Library AI Research Lib Guide (CC Libraries)
- Sample Syllabus Statements (CC Honor Council)
- Generative AI at CC (CC ITS)