AI Hub
At Hood College, artificial intelligence is more than a trend. It’s an opportunity to innovate, create, and lead. Whether you want to harness the power of generative AI to solve real-world problems, enhance your teaching and learning, or develop the skills to create original masterpieces without AI, Hood provides the knowledge, tools, and expert guidance to help you succeed. Led by faculty at the forefront of AI research and innovation, our programs empower students to explore emerging technologies critically, creatively, and ethically.
At Hood, we want everyone to have the resources they need. Whether you're a student, faculty, or staff, you'll find the resources you need here. The Hood College AI Hub is the central place to find governance guidance, approved tools, training, privacy and security information, and practical support for faculty, staff, and students.
For clarity and consistent usage across Hood’s AI policies, guidance, and training materials, the following terms are defined as follows:
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial Intelligence refers to computer systems designed to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as reasoning, problem-solving, learning, and decision-making.
Machine Learning (ML)
A subset of AI that enables systems to automatically learn and improve from data without being explicitly programmed. ML models identify patterns and make predictions or decisions based on data.
Generative AI
A class of AI systems capable of creating new content, including text, images, audio, video, or code, based on learned patterns from large datasets. Examples include Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT and Google Gemini.
Automation
The use of technology to perform tasks with minimal human intervention. Automation may or may not involve AI (e.g., rule-based workflows vs. intelligent decision systems).
Human-in-the-Loop
A governance approach in which human oversight, review, or intervention is required at critical stages of AI system design, deployment, or use to ensure accountability, accuracy, and ethical compliance.
AI-assisted tool
Any software or platform that incorporates AI capabilities to augment a task. Examples include Microsoft 365 Copilot, Zoom AI Companion, and Microsoft Editor — all of which are licensed for Hood community use.
FERPA
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, the federal law protecting the privacy of student education records. Data input into AI tools may implicate FERPA if it includes personally identifiable student information.
Hallucination
When an AI system generates information that is plausible sounding but factually incorrect or entirely fabricated. A significant risk in research and academic contexts.
High-stakes context
Any use of AI that informs a consequential decision affecting a student or employee — for example, admissions, academic standing, grading, financial aid, disciplinary action, or hiring. High-stakes contexts require meaningful human review under Principle VI.
The AI Hub brings together the College’s AI guidance, governance materials, approved resources, and practical support in one place. It is designed to help faculty, staff, and students quickly identify where to begin and how to move forward responsibly.
Artificial intelligence is reshaping teaching, learning, working, and decision making in higher education. Hood College approaches this moment from the foundation of our mission: to empower students to use their hearts, minds, and hands to meet personal, professional, and global challenges and to lead purposeful lives of responsibility, leadership, service, and civic engagement.
These principles apply to all members of the Hood College community — faculty, staff, students, and administrators — in any context where AI tools are used in connection with the College’s academic, research, or administrative work. They are grounded in Hood’s four Core Values, Hope, Opportunity, Obligation, and Democracy, and are intended to serve as a framework that evolves as technology and our collective understanding develop.
| # | Principle | Core Commitment |
|---|---|---|
| I | Alignment with Hood’s Mission and Core Values | Every decision about AI use must be consistent with Hood’s Core Values: Hope, Opportunity, Obligation, and Democracy. |
| II | Protection of Data and Privacy | Hood College is committed to protecting the privacy of students, employees, and the institution in all AI-related activities. |
| III | Enhancing Human Connection | Technology should be a bridge, not a barrier, to the meaningful human connections at the heart of a Hood education. |
| IV | Pedagogical Autonomy and Disciplinary Appropriateness | Faculty have the right and responsibility to determine how AI is integrated, restricted, or prohibited in their courses. |
| V | Transparency and Proper Citation | When AI is used, its use must be visible, acknowledged, and appropriately documented, consistent with expectations for academic honesty and professional integrity. |
| VI | Human Oversight and Judgment in High-Stakes Contexts | All consequential decisions involving or informed by AI must include meaningful human review. AI must never be the sole arbiter. |
| VII | Equity and Access in AI Use | The use or prohibition of AI at the institution and within individual courses must not create or reproduce inequities in access, outcomes, or opportunity. Where appropriate, the institution encourages the use of AI in ways that expand equitable access and support student success. |
| VIII | Continuous Learning and Institutional Responsibility | Hood has an obligation to monitor developments in AI and emergent technology and update its guidance accordingly. |
- Summary of Hood College's AI Guidance Document
- Policies and Templates (check back)
- New AI Tool Request? Email boulton@hood.edu to be connected with the appropriate review team.
- CTL - a cooperative, community-driven resource dedicated to advancing teaching and learning through evidence-based practices.
- News
Artificial intelligence is no longer on the horizon for higher education — it is embedded in how faculty prepare courses, how students write and study, how staff handle routine communications, and how institutions make operational decisions. Generative AI tools have become broadly accessible in a period of roughly three years, outpacing the usual rhythms of policy development, governance review, and curriculum redesign. Peer institutions, accreditors, and professional associations are all actively developing AI frameworks, and Hood faces both an opportunity and an obligation to act thoughtfully.
The Taskforce was established to meet this moment. Its charge was not to produce a one-time policy document but to build the institutional capacity — principles, structures, processes, and resources — that will allow Hood to navigate AI integration responsibly over time. It issued a report in Spring 2026. For more information, email co-chairs lascolette@hood.edu and boulton@hood.edu.
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