As artificial intelligence continues to reshape higher education and the workplace, Midwestern State University is implementing a strategic approach designed to help students develop AI literacy while maintaining academic integrity and rigorous academic standards.
Faculty and administrators at MSU Texas have spent the past year developing an Artificial Intelligence Strategic Plan that gives instructors flexibility while helping students understand expectations for generative AI use in the classroom.
The Provost’s Office is working to develop an institutional set of practices for teaching generative AI. For students, the workforce demands practical knowledge, and college education demands critical literacy. For faculty, teaching effectiveness and career preparation demand updated pedagogies and assessments.
Rather than adopting a single campuswide rule, the university is proposing a four-category framework that allows AI use to vary by course, discipline and learning goals.
The four categories, AI-prohibited, AI-critical, AI-limited and AI-exploratory, serve as guidelines instructors can apply to individual classes to clarify when and how generative AI may be used.
MSU Texas set a goal of becoming an AI accountable campus.
And university leaders said it was important that the approach to AI usage not be “all or nothing.”
While concerns about AI and academic dishonesty have drawn national attention, MSU officials emphasize that the strategic plan goes well beyond preventing cheating.
The larger goal, they say, is to prepare students for the workforce they will enter after graduation.
“We’re going to survey students and say, ‘How do you feel about your Gen AI skills?'” said Kristen Garrison, who served as associate vice president for academic affairs during development of the initiative. “We’re going to tie our practices to what we want our students to achieve.”
Clearer expectations may also resolve confusion among students, some of whom have avoided using AI tools — even when permitted — out of fear they might be accused of misconduct. Clear, defined guidelines will empower students to use AI responsibly as part of their learning.
“We also want to know what the work fields want from our graduates as it relates to using AI,” Garrison said.
Education has adapted to transformative technologies before, including calculators, scientific calculators and word processors with spell-check functions, though perhaps not on the scale presented by AI.
In addition to providing better communication with students on AI, the university is also providing some coursework in the subject.
An artificial intelligence course offering is Writing and AI, a cross-listed course in the Department of English, Humanities and Philosophy. The course is available to English majors and minors as well as nonmajors. It introduces students to the concepts and applications of AI in writing and professional communication.
Students will learn and apply best practices in AI and AI tools across various writing contexts, including real-world scenarios, and engage in ethical conversations about the use of AI.
Moving forward
The Provost’s Office outlined the desired outcomes from the AI Accountable program, including classifying classes based on their AI category, having faculty report on intentional alignment between course objectives, assessment and AI policy, and measuring student confidence in entering the workforce with a basic understanding of ethical generative AI use.
At a spring 2026 combined meeting of the Faculty Senate and Student Government Association leadership, much discussion focused on academic integrity and AI. This combined discussion follows a year-long effort by the Teaching and Learning Resource Collaborative to provide pedagogical opportunities on AI, culminating in a student panel on the topic.
While AI is not linked to all academic honesty cases at MSU Texas, campus variability in how AI is accepted and used adds uncertainty to the student experience.
It is clear from multiple campus constituencies that the campus needs to review its academic integrity policy, processes and AI engagement guidelines for the benefit of faculty, staff, students and campus administration.
To address questions surrounding AI and academics, Provost Marcy Brown Marsden has commissioned an Academic Integrity and Policy Task Force to review, update and strengthen MSU’s policies and procedures related to student academic honesty with additional consideration of AI and AI-detection tools, and to submit recommendations to her office by March 2027.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: MSU Texas launches plan for AI in classrooms
Reporting by Andy Newberry, MSU Texas / Wichita Falls Times Record News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Andy Newberry, MSU Texas | USA TODAY Network
