The Southern Utah University Student Association held its SUUSA Town Hall event on Wednesday. The student senators discussed policy changes regarding artificial intelligence, as well as an open mic where students in attendance could give feedback to members of SUUSA.
Grace Ash, SUUSA’s vice president of academics, began the meeting by explaining Utah House Bill 352, which organizes the state’s colleges, universities and technical colleges into geographic regions. The intent of this bill is to ensure there is no wasted money, and to allow for easier transfer of credits and information between colleges.
“We don’t want to be duplicating programs that are offered at universities that the state is already funding,” said Ash.
Southern Utah is the only region in the state with two universities in its boundaries. The passing of this bill potentially means that SUU will be seeking to work in tandem with Utah Tech University to ensure that students gain access to the education they desire.
Following the clarification, the SUUSA panel discussed the possibility of more food options on campus, including a Qdoba. With the contracts still being worked out, SUUSA President Kenzie Porter encouraged a response from the attendees to gauge interest, and sent out a survey to determine where students stood on the matter.
The final item of business was the school’s AI policy.
“The thing we have focused on is to bring AI into coursework as a way to help prepare students to enter the workforce,” said Porter. “In most of our workforce surveys we have had, along with people that we have talked to that have close relationships with SUU, they have told us that, like it or not, AI is here to stay.”
The policy in question will seek to allow more AI integration and education in classes on campus, most notably further training in INFO 1010. This training will seek to inform and educate students on how AI can be used efficiently, helpfully and ethically.
During the open mic portion of the event, some students expressed concern that the updated AI policy will allow for plagiarism to become more prevalent, while others expressed interest in the idea of further education about AI conduct.
The panel confirmed that students uncomfortable about AI usage will be able to opt-in for the INFO 2010 class, where the AI focus will not be addressed. The policy will also extend to individual classes, dependent on the major and professor.
For more information regarding SUUSA visit their website.
Author: Conner Dean
Photo by Conner Dean
Editor: Hannah Clove
life@suunews.net
