Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use at South Puget Sound Community College

South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC) supports the responsible use of artificial intelligence tools to enhance productivity, creativity, and learning. This page provides guidelines for how faculty, staff and students may use AI tools in their work and the standards that govern their use. 

AI tools can assist with drafting, summarizing, analysis, and ideation. They do not replace professional judgment. Employees and students remain fully responsible for the accuracy, integrity, and impact of their work.  AI should be used to enhance student learning, increase technology literacy, ensure equitable access to tools and information, and apply data insights while upholding ethical standards.

For more specifics, please refer to the college's Use of Artificial Intelligence Policy 

 

Only approved tools may be used for college‑related work with college data. Personal AI tools or plugins not reviewed and approved by the college should not be used with any college data beyond Category 1 data as defined by WaTech Data Classification Standard. SPSCC authorizes the use of the following AI platforms for general college business using college data:

General Use

1. Microsoft Copilot (Enterprise-Wide License)

Everyone at the college has copilot as part of our Microsoft Office365 agreement. 

  • Copilot is tenant‑bound which means when you are logged in it runs inside of the SPSCC tenant.
  • Prompts, responses, and retrieved data never cross into other organizations’ tenants so is not shared not used to train the larger models.
  • Prompt and response data are stored as records for potential discovery under state required data retention policies.

2. Claude (limited use). 

This has been approved for use for selected users based on specific functional requirements. 

  • Only college-purchased Claude licenses are permissible for use for college work
  • Free or personal Claude licenses may not be used with any college data that is Category 2,3 or 4.

3. ChatGPT (Under Review). 

This is being reviewed for limited use. Personal licenses should not be used for work-related purposes due to potential exposure of college data and state rules regarding data discoverability.

If an AI application is desired to meet a specific function that cannot be met with existing tools, present your business case to your Division Executive or Vice President who will consider the request and forward to IT if security and accessibility vetting if approved for review.

Instructional Use

These tools are approved from a college security perspective and product use for instruction is based on faculty direction and approval

  1. Perplexity AI - Free to use. If students are required to make a Perplexity account for purposes of the class, they should be informed on how to opt-out of their data being used for AI model training.
  2. Semantic Scholar - Free to use
  3. Elicit AI - Free to use
  4. Scite - They do offer a 7-day free trial when one creates an account and signs up for paid service.

AI Policy Committee

The SPSCC AI Governance Committee is a standing, cross‑functional shared‑governance body responsible for overseeing the ethical, responsible, and strategic use of artificial intelligence across South Puget Sound Community College. 

The committee succeeds the AI Policy Taskforce, which drafted and shepherded the college’s AI Policy through shared governance review and approval in Spring 2025. Upon adoption of the policy, the taskforce formally recommended conversion into a standing governance committee to address the rapidly evolving AI landscape.

AI Community of Practice

The college faculty maintain an AI Community of Practice (CoP) for faculty to investigate and share experiences with respect to the best teaching opportunities using AI.

When used for instructional purposes, AI tools must align with the college's educational goals and enhance student learning outcomes. AI tools should be used to enrich the academic journey by providing diverse and interactive learning opportunities. Expectations for students’ use of AI in their work will be outlined in the course syllabus. For more guidance, please refer to the following resources:

Training Opportunities

 Links and materials will be listed here as they are made available.

  • Copilot Lunch and Learn (April 30, 2026)

Copilot Resources:

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Copilot Update - April 15, 2026

Changes to Microsoft's Copilot with Office365

SBCTC maintains a distributed set of AI resources aimed primarily at faculty development, instructional practice, and system‑wide professional learning. These resources are housed across the Student Success Center, Educational Technology & Open Education, and system research and professional development pages.

  • SBCTC publishes a centralized Faculty Guide: Teaching with AI, designed for community and technical college instructors.

  • Through SBCTC Educational Technology & Open Education, SBCTC offers free professional learning opportunities that include AI‑specific training.

  • SBCTC sponsors a system‑wide monthly AI Community of Practice virtual sessions. For more information on the next session consult the SBCTC calendar of events