Across the country, universities are grappling with how to stop students from using artificial intelligence to cheat on assignments — but at Youngstown State University, administrators are also taking a closer look at how faculty uses the technology. 

The academic excellence & student success committee of the YSU board of trustees passed a resolution Wednesday afternoon to change the university's policy on research misconduct, to include language about AI. The resolution will go before the board for a final vote Thursday morning, and it is expected to pass. 

The new policy says research misconduct is "committed by an individual or through the use or assistance of other persons, entities or tools, including artificial intelligence-based tools, in proposing and reviewing research proposals, performing research or in reporting research results." 

Jennifer Adams, provost and vice president for academic affairs, told 21 News the policy is designed to bring more accountability to those teaching at the university. 

"There's a lot of discussion about AI and having it used amongst students, but we also have to think about how AI is used amongst our faculty members," Adams said, adding while that it is okay to use the technology for brainstorming, it should not be used to write research papers. 

Student use of AI in YSU's classrooms is dictated by the professors, who set their own standards for what is allowed in each course.

When an academic integrity or research misconduct case is opened against a professor or student, verifying the claim can be difficult. According to Adams, YSU used to rely on so-called "AI checker" software, but it no longer considers them reliable. Instead, it now focuses on comparing assignments or research to previous works, and checking for errors. 

"[There] has to be cross-referencing. You have to look at the patterns. You have to look at whether all the data are factual," Adams said.