Tacoma Community College Library: Generative AI: A Student's Guide: Course Policies

TCC Academic Integrity, GenAI Academic Use Policies and Code of Student Conduct

TCC Policies and Code of Conduct

TCC GenAI Academic Use Policy (adopted 2025)
The policy was developed by a group of TCC students during Spring quarter, 2024.

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Student workgroup: Jason Shattuck, Chippo Chinyamula, Tyler Lorentz, Roz Delaney, Roman McNeal, Maci Phillips, Anthea Karanasos, Henry Pickett, Sean Allosada, Geoff Cole, Ericka Michal, Chevelle Roberts, Peter Muigui
TCC Academic Integrity Policy (adopted 2023)
"The purpose of Tacoma Community College’s Academic Integrity Policy is to provide guidance and shared language for the TCC community related to expectations of academic standards. Academic integrity ensures our students will gain the necessary knowledge and skills critical for their future academic, professional and personal endeavors. This aligns with our college’s values of community, responsibility, integrity, equity, diversity, inclusion, agility, and excellence."
TCC Code of Student Conduct
Washington State WAC 132V-121-060

GenAI Use Policies

The TCC Academic Integrity Policy, and the TCC Code of Student Conduct, will cover most decisions about any use or misuse of generative AI (genAI) at TCC. Your use of generative AI must not violate the Academic Integrity Policy or the Code of Student Conduct.

Your use of generative AI must not constitute:

Plagiarism
Cheating
Falsification or fabrication or forgery
Sabotage
Acts of violence, stalking, intimidation, or harassment toward other students, staff, or faculty
and more.

Please see the resources on this page for more information. Please ask your TCC instructors, Librarians, Tutors, and Advisors when you (understandably) have questions about Academic Integrity, the academic use of generative AI, and the TCC Code of Student Conduct.

Course policies

By now you have heard from your instructors and read your course syllabuses that include policy statements about the use of large language model (LLM) generative AI. Please make sure that you read and understand your instructors' generative AI policies and your courses' learning objectives to understand your learning role in your courses.

Course generative AI policies tend to fall under the following 5 categories:

Complete boycott: Students are not to use an LLM generative AI to complete or contribute to any course work, directly or indirectly. Any use of LLM generative AI might be considered a violation of academic integrity.
Limited use - neutral: Students may have some freedom to use LLM generative AI tools peripherally, as idea generators or tutors, for example, but all other work must be their own. Any use of LLM generative AI likely needs to be cited, and may also require inclusion of chat transcripts.
Limited use - encouraged. Students are encouraged to use LLM generative AI tools in specific instances, such as creating outlines for papers or presentations. Any use of LLM generative AI likely needs to be cited, and may also require inclusion of chat transcripts.
Full use - specific assignments. Students are encouraged or even required to use LLM generative AI to produce material for specific assignments. This will likely include the need to cite the LLM generative AI that is used, and may also require inclusion of chat transcripts.
Full use - general. Students are encouraged or even required to use LLM generative AI in any capacity in the course. Depending on the nature of the course and specific assignments citation may be required, as well as inclusion of chat transcripts.

Encourage class discussion

Encourage Class Discussion

Note that generally higher education is still in a reactive-to-active phase on the timeline of this disruptive technology.

This means that we are still reacting to this technology and this reactivity may include very restrictive course policies, but we are also actively seeking solutions and ways to apply generative AI to authentic learning, if that application is appropriate to the core subject and learning objectives.
You will see many changes as instructors move and grow into this technology as a teaching and learning tool or as a subject of study.
You are encouraged to be transparent with your use of LLM generative AI tools, and to engage your instructors to hold discussions about the use of generative AI in the classroom.