Worcester State AI Account Guidance

Worcester State AI Account Guidance: Gemini and Copilot

This chart outlines how Worcester State employees are encouraged to use institutionally managed (.edu) versions of Gemini and Copilot. It reflects Worcester State University’s commitment to privacy, compliance, and secure use of generative AI tools in administrative and professional settings.

#	Section	Description
1.	Purpose	Ensures all employees use .edu versions of Gemini and Copilot to protect institutional data and comply with university, state, and federal privacy standards.
2.	Scope	Applies to all Worcester State employees, including faculty, staff, contractors, and student workers who use AI tools for university-related administrative or professional work. It does not apply to faculty use of AI in teaching or research.
3.	Acceptable and Prohibited Use	Use .edu accounts only for official Worcester State University activities such as communication, documentation, and data analysis. These limits apply only to administrative work. Faculty academic or scholarly use of AI tools for course or research purposes remains under faculty discretion. Personal or free accounts must not be used for any work involving confidential, student, or institutional information.
4.	Required Disclosures	When AI tools are used to generate or assist in creating university materials, employees should identify the tool and confirm that it was accessed through a Worcester State University .edu account.
5.	Limitations and Restrictions	AI tools may not be used through personal accounts for any task that includes institutional data, FERPA-protected records, or confidential communications.
6.	Privacy and Data Handling	.edu accounts operate under enterprise-level protections that prevent data from being used for model training or human review. Employees must review all AI-generated content for accuracy and avoid entering sensitive data into personal accounts.
7.	Human Oversight and Final Authority	All AI-generated content should be reviewed by an employee before distribution or official use. AI outputs do not replace human judgment or approval.
8.	Implementation and Support	Training, FAQs, and setup instructions are available through the Worcester State University AI Portal and IT Help Desk. Employees may request assistance verifying that they are using their .edu accounts.
9.	Enforcement	Misuse of personal accounts for institutional work may result in retraining, access restrictions, or disciplinary action under existing university policy. Enforcement applies only to misuse involving institutional or administrative data and not to academic freedom in teaching or research.
10.	Definitions	.edu account: A Worcester State University managed account under Google Workspace for Education or Microsoft 365 Education. Personal account: Any non-Worcester State University account not governed by institutional privacy or data-protection agreements.
11.	Appendices and Related Resources	See https://worcester.edu/AI for activation guides, FAQs, and training materials on Gemini for Education and Copilot with Commercial Data Protection.
12.	Review Cycle and Revision History	Reviewed annually by the AI Steering Committee and IT Services to reflect changes in platform features, policies, and compliance requirements.

Key Takeaway: Always use your Worcester State .edu account when accessing Gemini or Copilot for any university-related task. Personal accounts must never be used for institutional data, student information, or official communications.

PRINTABLE COPY