President approves new Honor Code, updating 102-year-old coverage

Adjustments to the Honor Code proposed by the Committee of 12 (C12), together with the implementation of a multi-year research into proctoring, had been handed with the approval of President Marc Tessier-Lavigne throughout a gathering of the Educational Council on Thursday. The transfer comes simply days after the Undergraduate Senate revisited its prior votes towards the C12’s proposed adjustments, opting to go the proctoring research proposal in lieu of accepting the School Senate’s earlier precedent-breaking movement to allow full-scale proctoring.

School Senate Chair Kenneth Schultz and College President Marc Tessier-Lavigne additionally shared what the College has achieved prior to now yr. Following these updates, senators participated in a panel on “ChatGPT, Generative AI, and the Way forward for Instructing and Studying” to debate the function AI will play in training at Stanford. 

Thursday’s council assembly was held in lieu of the biweekly School Senate assembly to conclude the tutorial yr.

Passing proposed Honor Code adjustments

Following the Undergraduate Senate’s unanimous vote earlier this week to approve adjustments to the Honor Code proposed by the C12 (after twice rejecting the proposals beforehand), the C12’s proposals acquired a closing stamp of approval by President Tessier-Lavigne throughout the assembly of the Educational Council.

UGS Parliamentarian Ivy Chen ’26 stated that its vote would “kill two birds with one stone” by concurrently restoring the connection between the UGS and the School Senate and by additional together with pupil concern on the method.

The C12 was fashioned to re-evaluate Stanford’s insurance policies on educational integrity. Schultz counseled the C12 for making adjustments that he stated will make the Honor Code extra versatile and rehabilitative for college kids.

“For years school, college students, and employees have complained that the method is an excessive amount of like a legal continuing with excessive stakes and enormous burdens to navigate it,” he stated. “The brand new system is designed to be far more versatile, higher in a position to match the results with the severity of the in fraction, and extra targeted on serving to the coed who simply made a mistake to get again heading in the right direction.” 

Final month, the School Senate moved to permit examination proctoring in a controversial transfer that bypassed the Undergraduate Senate’s vote towards such a coverage, ending a 102-year precedent of faculty-student collaboration on the problem of educational integrity and self-discipline. 

Tessier-Lavigne’s closing approval concludes the work of the C12. Its proposals — together with the Scholar Conduct Constitution of 2023, or up to date Judicial Constitution language accepted by Tessier-Lavigne on Could 7 — additionally required the approval of the Board on Judicial Affairs (BJA), the Undergraduate Senate (UGS), the Graduate Scholar Council (GSC) and the School Senate. The Honor Code is reported to have final been modified earlier than 2000.

“I welcome the choice by the Undergraduate Senate on Tuesday to hitch the School Senate, the Graduate Scholar Council and the Board [on] Judicial Affairs in approving the advice by the Committee of 12 to switch the textual content and to conduct a multiyear research to look at proctoring,” Tessier-Lavigne stated. “So right here and now, as President, I’m formally including the fifth vote wanted at this time to make that official college coverage.”

The C12 proposal consists of language that extra explicitly states that educational integrity “is an endeavor of the Stanford educational group, individually and collectively.” It additionally establishes the Educational Integrity Working Group (AIWG), which can fee and implement a multi-year research about “equitable proctoring practices.” The cost, or mandate and tips, of the AIWG would require the approval of the identical our bodies which have accepted of the C12’s proposals.

Schultz stated he noticed a divide between college students, who weren’t in favor of proctoring, and the school, who had been in favor. This situation raised questions of appearing unilaterally on the Honor Code or emphasizing the custom of cooperation between school and college students. “As I watch the talk on the ground I can inform that lots of my colleagues had been torn in each instructions by these competing values,” he stated.

Chair Kenneth Schultz’s report 

Schultz additionally mirrored on his time because the chair of the School Senate, in addition to the problems that the Senate has legislated on over the previous educational yr.

“A vigorous senate is a wholesome one for school governance, even when it’s not at all times simple for the individual whose job it’s to verify the conferences finish at 5,” Schultz stated. “I failed at that very often, however I thanks for trusting me in that function.”

Schultz reaffirmed the School Senate’s commitments to fixing the problem of the tutorial yr beginning on a Jewish vacation. If unaddressed, the primary day of courses would proceed to fall on a Jewish vacation 4 extra instances over the approaching decade. This educational yr started on Rosh Hashanah, and the upcoming educational yr would have fallen on Yom Kippur. 

In November, the School Senate voted to maneuver the primary day of courses from Monday, Sep. 25 to Tuesday, Sep. 26 for the 2023-24 educational yr. For a extra everlasting resolution, some stakeholders have proposed shortening the tutorial quarter by a day, whereas others have proposed shifting the beginning day by sooner or later and making up for it on the center of the quarter. 

“A definitive reply has escaped us to date this yr however the quest for the fitting stability goes on for now,” Schultz stated.

Schultz additionally spoke on educational freedom, together with college insurance policies and educational speech. The problem first arose in December with the Elimination of Dangerous Language Initiative (EHLI), a complete information on alternate options to discriminatory phrases. Among the many information was recommendations to make use of “masked research” versus “blind research” and “odd individual” in lieu of “regular individual.” 

The information was taken down in early January after widespread opposition. The School Senate then created a committee tasked with assessing the College insurance policies that concern educational speech and recommending vital steps. 

“This isn’t an issue we’re going to have the ability to legislate away,” Schultz stated. “We have to provide you with revolutionary methods to assist school on navigating discussions on tough subjects and strategy college students on delicate and disturbing subjects.” 

President Tessier-Lavigne’s report

Tessier-Lavigne began off his report commending school and employees for his or her contributions to permitting the College to navigate a brand new sense of regular post-pandemic, in addition to recognizing numerous awards and elections. In keeping with Tessier-Lavigne, the College invested an extra $100 million in analysis assist over the previous two years. 

For the previous two years, Stanford has been within the “quiet part” of the Lengthy Vary Plan (LRP), which is the plan for the college to reinforce undergraduate and graduate training by way of developments in analysis, accessibility and community-building. Throughout this part, every of the seven colleges generated philanthropic assist that may anchor the remainder of the marketing campaign. Tessier-Lavigne introduced the funding has exceeded the $6.2 billion raised throughout the Stanford Problem, which was a serious fundraising marketing campaign launched in 2006 to offer funds for the need-blind admissions coverage and development. 

“It’s a testomony to the vital work that you simply, our school, are doing to advance basic discovery, to use information and to teach the subsequent era of leaders,” he stated. 

Tessier-Lavigne reiterated that, subsequent fall, households with annual incomes of lower than $100,000 can be eligible without spending a dime tuition and room and board, up from the earlier threshold of $75,000. For enrolled college students, he stated that the College is working to enhance college students’ social life, together with loosening constraints throughout the neighborhood system, bolstering social life by offering occasion areas and making the method for student-led occasions extra environment friendly. 

The President particularly highlighted developments inside three areas of Stanford: the Doerr College of Sustainability, the Civic, Liberal, and International Schooling (COLLEGE) program and the Inclusion, Range, Fairness, and Entry in a Studying Atmosphere (IDEAL) initiative. In Doerr’s first yr of operations, the varsity has funded 30 groups of scientists who’re tackling issues associated to environmental sustainability, established the primary flagship vacation spot and superior numerous training initiatives, in line with Tessier-Lavigne. 

COLLEGE, which changed the Pondering Issues (THINK) requirement for undergraduates, has now change into a compulsory two-year monitor for first yr college students, increasing its coated ideas to numerous interdisciplinary subjects. 

“I consider passionately within the subsequent era for lives of energetic citizenship and to supply [students] the instruments they should interact productively to learn to disagree with out being unpleasant,” Tessier-Lavigne stated. 

Underneath the IDEAL initiative, the division of African & African American research (AAAS) is predicted to launch in January 2024, pending board approval. Ato Quayson, English division chair, will function the brand new division’s inaugural chair. The College may even set up a brand new institute on race, which can be led by Tomás Jiménez, professor of sociology, and Brian Lowrey, professor on the Stanford Graduate of Enterprise. 

Tessier-Lavigne closed his report with recognition for Provost Persis Drell, who can be stepping down after six years within the place.

“I’m grateful for her partnership as we developed the College’s Lengthy Vary Imaginative and prescient along with her assist,” he stated. “I discovered it enormously fulfilling to work so intently collectively.”

ChatGPT panel

Following remarks to the Senate by Schultz and Tessier-Lavigne, senators heard a panel on “ChatGPT, Generative AI, and the Way forward for Instructing and Studying” concerning the function AI will play in training at Stanford. The panel really useful that teachers leverage the usage of AI for studying and embrace the forthcoming adjustments that AI will deliver to training. 

The panel was moderated by Daniel Schwartz, Dean of the Graduate College of Schooling, and featured quite a lot of tenured and non-tenured professors. Ge Wang, affiliate professor of music, spoke concerning the current phenomenon of teachers feeling obligated to make use of synthetic intelligence, which he stated he observed in his cross-listed music and laptop science course. 

“That may be outlined as not simply the concern of lacking out however the concern of being left behind. It’s the sensation of virtually a way of obligation to include AI into our work, nearly as if that’s the one strategy to really feel validated,” he stated. 

Wang stated that he sees AI remodeling into extra of a contemporary oracle, the place college students can take their questions and it’ll generate a solution with out exhibiting how the reply got here to be. However he stated that he additionally sees AI as a instrument that college students can use to get higher at abilities. 

Distinguishing between the 2 and discovering which means in it, he says, is vital in determining what function AI performs in our society. “It’s extremely vital to determine how a lot of it ought to be oracle or like an oracle and the way a lot ought to be a instrument that people can wield,” he stated.

Schwartz then launched an surprising visitor: ChatGPT. 

“Is training coming into an existential second with ChatGPT?” he requested. 

Sarah R. Levine, assistant professor of training, adopted up along with her views on the function of AI within the Okay-12 area. On one hand, Levine stated that prime schoolers really feel annoyed not having counter arguments to their work and concepts, whereas academics really feel annoyed on the high quality of labor that college students submit. Levine added that ChatGPT permits college students to have an entity to argue towards and academics to have examples of educational arguments that college students can be taught from. 

“Turning into extra comfy with AI so you’ll be able to learn to manipulate it’ll assist children change into the inventive and growth-oriented college students that we hope they’ll be,” Levine stated.

Dora Demszky, assistant professor of training, agreed with Levine on leveraging AI to make the sector of educating extra pleasurable, environment friendly and engaging. Extra particularly, with no educating assistants or extra assist, Demszky stated that academics can use ChatGPT to offer extra reactive suggestions. 

“Typically I give suggestions to my college students at like 11 p.m. and I’m simply so drained,” Demszky stated. “What if AI may draft one thing that’s constructive, that helps the expansion mindset and actually lets you be simpler and concentrate on the issues that require your experience?” 

Victor Lee, assistant professor of training, spoke about how the subsequent era might be geared up for an AI-centered world. 

“AI is touching the whole lot,” Lee stated. “Understanding that this isn’t only for the pc scientists — and I’d contend it ought to positively not simply be for under the pc scientists — we want the humanists concerned, social scientists, journalists. We’d like everyone to have the ability to speak about this.” 

With AI being built-in into the very fundamentals of the social cloth, Schwartz stated, the significance of making new conversations about AI laws turns into particularly vital within the context of pupil teachers. 

“I believe the factor you govern just isn’t the expertise, you govern the outcomes you need,” Mehran Sahami, tencent chair of the pc science division stated. “You don’t should have new regulation for the actual form of expertise, you must have regulation for the form of values you need the expertise to advertise.”