Friday, February 17, 2023

Chat GPT, other AI tools, and the University of Waterloo

A message from David DeVidi, Associate Vice-President, Academic.

There has recently been considerable attention in traditional and social media and in academic circles about “homework help” platforms like Chegg and Photomath, and artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT. There has especially been a flurry of conversation since the release of ChatGPT in November 2022 because of its perceived implications for academic integrity as well as the design of assignments used to assess student learning, pedagogy, and curriculum. This memo provides direction for interacting with Chat GPT (and other AI software tools) in the context of teaching at the University of Waterloo.

Here is a link to Open AI’s description of what ChatGPT can and cannot do.

When the release of ChatGPT hit the news, several colleagues wrote to inquire about its implications for academic integrity and whether Waterloo’s current policies account for its potential impact on student learning.

To be explicit:

Using ChatGPT (or similar tools that generate text, code, or visual images) for content generation and submitting it as one’s own original work is a violation of the University of Waterloo’s Policy 71 (Student Discipline). Use of these tools may be explicitly permitted by an instructor (as stated in assignment guidelines or a course outline, for example) for teaching and learning purposes that do not include claiming AI-generated output as original work.

The challenge ChatGPT and similar tools raise is that their use is hard to detect, though programs designed to identify AI-generated content are in development and increasingly available. To date, the University has not purchased any such tools.

These are not the first technological advances that have raised concerns. In the past, the response of academia has been to move beyond policing the use of the technology to asking what the appropriate role is for the new technology in our pedagogy and our curricula, and to use it as a way to improve student learning by adapting our teaching. Sorting this out will be a longer-term process and will be the work of many contributors with a range of expertise.  

Starting in December, various academic support units, led by the Office of Academic Integrity and the Centre for Teaching Excellence, have been gathering information and consulting with faculty members — particularly the Teaching Fellows and the academic Associate Deans. Most of those consulted seem to agree that, where feasible, developing pedagogical solutions is preferable to enforcing “disciplinary” solutions. See a list of resources, below, that provide the current best advice on these matters. This group will continue to monitor developments and will update the list of web-based resources.

Faculty members and other instructors are always welcome to contact the following resource people:

Resources

• Frequently Asked Questions (University of Waterloo)
• AIO Guidance Regarding Student Use of AI in Your Course (Toronto Metropolitan University)
• Teaching and Learning with Artificial Intelligence Apps (University of Calgary)

Other services requiring attention

Companies that promote their services as providing students with “homework help” or “exam and test preparation,” pose a longer-standing challenge to the University’s efforts to maintain appropriate standards of academic integrity, as they are frequently manipulated by students for the purpose of cheating. Chegg.com, for example promotes itself as a “student-first online learning company” but offers services that pose a threat to academic integrity.

In the summer of 2021, Chegg launched a “faculty-focused platform” called Uversity.org (currently in the United States but expanding into Canada and the UK) that purchases course materials from instructors to share via its platform. It is important that instructors do not sell their course materials in this way, for the following reasons:

• There is a strong moral imperative not to support a site regularly used by students to violate standards of academic integrity
• Selling course materials conflicts with several policies at the University (i.e., Policy 73 – Intellectual Property Rights, Policy 69 – Conflict of Interest, and Guidelines on offering access to course materials).
• Some of the materials that the Uversity specifically asks for are not the property of the instructor but of the University, as described in Policy 73.

If you have questions about file sharing sites such as Chegg and Uversity or want advice about strategies for deterring student use of such services, please contact the Office of Academic Integrity.

Being proactive

This will not be the last technology to have important implications for how we teach and how learning happens at Waterloo. In an effort to respond effectively to future developments, the Office of Academic Integrity will convene a Standing Committee on New Technologies and Academic Integrity. It will include interested faculty members, staff, and students, and will have as its remit becoming aware of emerging tools and platforms, formulating advice on appropriate adaptations of pedagogical practices and making recommendations about how to effectively modify policies and practices in support of academic integrity. If you are interested in being part of the Standing Committee, please notify the Office of Academic Integrity: academic.integrity@uwaterloo.ca   

An update on Green Shield Canada and a reminder the upcoming deadline with Canada Life

A message from Human Resources.

After nearly two months of transition of our extended health and dental benefits provider from Canada Life to Green Shield Canada (GSC), we are pleased to announce that almost 50 per cent of plan members have registered for the new online portal which is called GSCeverywhere. Similar to the previous GroupNet with Canada Life, GSCeverywhere can be used to check coverage and submit claims, and it is a good source of information about your coverage and claims history.  If you haven’t had the chance to set-up your account yet, please take a moment to register through the GSC Everywhere website (app available from the Apple App Store and Google Play). Within this online portal, you can provide GSC with your banking information to support direct deposit for claims reimbursement. Currently, over 85 per cent of those who have registered for GSCeverywhere have also signed up for direct deposit. If you have any questions about the transition to GSC, please contact gsci@uwaterloo.ca.

Additionally, we are approaching the deadline with Canada Life for those with outstanding claims that were incurred on or before December 31, 2022. The cutoff date for submissions to Canada Life is February 28, 2023. If you have any claims yet to submitted that meet these criteria, please submit them to Canada Life as soon as possible. Since GroupNet access closed on December 31, 2022, all outstanding claims must be submitted to Canada Life using paper claim forms. PDFs of the specific claim forms are available from HR website for you to fill out and print. Claims received by Canada Life after February 28, 2023, will not be processed. For questions about the deadline with Canada Life, please contact HRHelp@uwaterloo.ca for assistance.

Call for nominations for staff member to Board of Governors

Photograph by Sam Charles.

A message from the Secretariat.

A call for nominations is now open for one member of the regular full-time staff members of the University to serve as a staff representative on the Board of Governors, term 1 May 2023 to 30 April 2026.

The nomination form is available online, or you can contact Diana Goncalves directly at d3goncalves@uwaterloo.ca.

The voting period for regular full-time staff (non-union and OPSEU) is planned for Monday 20 March to Friday 24 March 2023 by electronic ballot. Each regular full-time staff member will receive an email with a direct link to the ballot.

The voting period for CUPE full-time staff is planned for Monday 20 March to Friday 31 March 2023 by paper ballot. Each regular full-time union member will be sent a paper ballot through campus mail.

Visit the Board of Governors - Staff Election Guidelines page for information on nomination, campaigning, and voting.

Submit completed nomination form by email to Diana Goncalves, on behalf of the Chief Returning Officer, Secretariat, no later than 1:00 p.m. on Friday 3 March 2023.

Staff whose term expires as of 30 April 2023: Susan Grant (who is eligible for re-election).

Remembering Mary Ellen Acorn

Retiree and longtime Office of Research staff member Mary Ellen Acorn passed away on February 13, 2023.

Acorn joined the University in February 1977 as Manager, Research Finance in the Office of Research. In November 2007, her job title changed to Finance Manager.

Mary Ellen was Waterloo’s Business Officer for the Tri-Agency, which is made up of three government granting agencies: the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Over the years, many faculty and administrative staff were guided by her encyclopedic knowledge of tri-agency financial processes.

She retired in October 2016 after a 39-year career at Waterloo.

Mary Ellen is remembered by colleagues as someone who was passionate about her work, and who cared deeply about the Office of Research, the University of Waterloo, and the researchers she built strong relationships with over the years.

Visitations are scheduled on Monday, February 20 from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and on Tuesday, February 21 from 9:30 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. at Henry Walser Funeral Home on Frederick Street in Kitchener. A funeral service will be held in the chapel at 10:30 a.m. with reception to follow.

Reading Week and Family Day are just around the bend - here's what's open and closed

Wait, is it that time of year already?

Monday, February 20 is Family Day, and since it's a statutory holiday in Ontario the University will be closed. Reading Week kicks off on Saturday, February 18 and students will be scarce on campus until Sunday, February 26. Here are some operational changes to look out for next week:

The Centre will be closed for the Family Day holiday Monday, February 20 and will re-open on Tuesday, February 21. Documents will not be processed, phones and emails will not be monitored and The Centre will be closed for in-person service on this date.

The Davis Centre and Dana Porter Library branches will be open from 12 noon to 6:00 p.m. on Family Day Monday. Check the Library's hours page for details on Reading Week operations.

The Library notes that from February 16 to 27, Davis Centre Library study rooms A-E will be unavailable.

All W Store and W Print locations will be closed on Monday, February 20for Family Day. These locations will also be closed from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, February 21 and all day on Friday, February 24 for annual inventory. W Store will be unable to process transactions during this time.

W Store and W Print locations will resume regular hours on Monday, February 27.

Athletics facilities will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 18, but closed Sunday, February 19, and Monday, February 20.  

Food Services locations are either closed or operating with reduced hours from February 21 to 24. Check the Food Services locations and hours page for more details.

The Student Life Centre (SLC) and Turnkey SLC are open 24/7 throughout Family Day and all of Reading Week, although the Turnkey@DC location will be closed Family Day and during Reading Week.

Design contest for Scarborough Charter logo and other notes

The Scarborough Charter on anti-Black racism and Black inclusion Steering Committee is inviting eligible student artists and designers to “participate in a design opportunity that will lead to the design of a logo that reflects the principles, commitments, and objectives of the Scarborough Charter and its goal of Black Flourishing in Canadian higher education and communities.”

“The logo will be used in both print and digital formats, including for print materials, event promotion, social media sites and on the Scarborough Charter website.”

To enter the competition, individual students or student design teams must be currently enrolled at a Scarborough Charter signatory institution (the University of Waterloo is a signatory). Artists and designers should submit a link to their online portfolio of prior work as well as a statement of intent describing what the principles of the Scarborough Charter mean to them as it relates to their lived experience, and their relevant contact details.

Submissions are being accepted between January 25 and February 24. Link(s) to portfolio and statement of intent should be emailed to the Scarborough Charter Steering Committee at national.dialogues@utoronto.ca with the subject line “Scarborough Charter Design Opportunity.” From there, the project will move into its second phase, where those individuals or teams selected to participate will receive mentoring, from faculty members of OCAD University’s Solid Black Collective, to support development of their logo according to design specs.

A jury drawn from faculty and Black artists/designers associated with signatory institutions will evaluate submissions and determine the first place winner ($1,500 prize), second place ($750) and third place ($500). All Phase 2 participants will have the opportunity of having their submissions exhibited at a future national meeting of the Scarborough Charter Inter-institutional Forum and will also receive a certificate of recognition from the Scarborough Charter Secretariat.

Individuals and teams selected for Phase 2 will be notified via email by March 10.

The Metabolism, Exercise Training and Sex Differences (METS) lab in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo is seeking sedentary, overweight males and females aged 18-45 years for a research study investigating whether the addition of two nutritional supplements to an exercise regime can improve the effects of exercise training on ‘high-quality weight loss’. ‘High-quality weight loss’ is weight loss where you lose the most amount of body fat while maintaining muscle mass. It is important to induce ‘high-quality weight loss’ because maintaining muscle mass during weight loss can help prevent weight regain. We will also determine if these supplements induce greater gains in muscle strength, aerobic fitness, and insulin sensitivity compared with exercise training alone. We are recruiting both males and females for this study because there is evidence that females have a harder time losing weight and that insulin sensitivity doesn’t improve as much in females in response to exercise training, so by recruiting both males and females we can determine the effectiveness of the intervention in both males and females.  

If you choose to take part in this trial you will be asked to participate in a series of preliminary testing (4 visits), followed by a series of training sessions (36 visits), then post-testing visits (3 visits) and have blood samples, ultrasound measurements, and a body composition scan taken prior to, and after the training and supplementation period. Training will take place three times a week and will consist of 30 minutes of aerobic exercise and 30 minutes of resistance exercise. Aside from the potential for weight loss, there are many benefits to participating in this study including: 1) getting information about your aerobic fitness, strength and body composition and seeing how these outcomes improve with training, 2) receiving a personalized training regime that is tailored to your fitness level and that will be adjusted throughout the 12-week program based on your progress, and 3) receiving supervised training from qualified personnel so that you learn proper exercise and lifting techniques. In addition, participants will receive a $100 gift card upon completion of the study.  

If you are interested in participating in this study or have any questions, please contact Jennifer Wilkinson, Department of Kinesiology at 905-414-7897 or j7wilkin@uwaterloo.ca.

Human Resources has reported that Food Services employee Kara Puklicz, who joined the University in September 2022, passed away on January 10, 2023. If you are affected by this news, the University has supports and resources available for you:

• Campus Wellness - 519-888-4096
• UW MATES (Mentor Assistance Through Education and Support)
• Here 24/7 - 1-844-437-3247
• Grand River Hospital - 519-749-4300
• St. Mary's Hospital - 519-744-3311
• Good2Talk - 1-866-925-5454
• Crisis Services Canada - 1-833-456-4566 or by text 45645 
• Homewood Health (Employee and Family Assistance Provider) - 1-800-663-1142