IGNATIUS AJURU UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION( IAUE( ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE GOVERNANCE POLICY (IAUE-AIGP)

Policy Title: Ignatius Ajuru University of Education Artificial Intelligence Governance Policy(IAUE-AIGP)
Policy Owner: Ignatius Ajuru University of Education Centre for Artificial Intelligence (IACAI)
Responsible Executive: Director, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education Centre for Artificial Intelligence
Effective Date: __________________
Review Cycle: Every year, or earlier where significant technological, regulatory or institutional developments take place.
Version: 1.0
Status: Proposed

PREAMBLE

Artificial Intelligence (AI hereafter) is changing the way knowledge is being produced, shared, learned, researched, managed and used within society. The universities are especially vulnerable, since they are both producers, users and evaluators as well as custodians of knowledge. Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUE), being a University dedicated to excellence in education, research, innovation, community service and human development, understands that Artificial Intelligence is a strategic technology that has the potential to make great impact in the University’s academic, administrative and developmental activities. AI offers substantial opportunities in managing the school’s financial resources; supporting personalised and inclusive education; enhancing education, teaching and learning;  improving administrative efficiency;  strengthening institutional decision-making;  providing assistance for innovation and entrepreneurship; expanding community engagement; developing new academic programmes and research areas; Increasing the competitiveness of the institutions;  and Positioning IAUE as a leading AI enabled University in Nigeria and Africa.

Meanwhile, AI also poses major risks, such as misinformation, algorithmic bias, discrimination, privacy violations, cybersecurity, intellectual property, academic integrity, too-reliance-on-AI, inaccuracy, deepfakes, surveillance, manipulation, processing of personal or confidential information, etc. UNESCO promotes a human-centred approach to generative AI in education and research, focusing on privacy, ethical validation, human agency, equity and institutional preparedness. In line with this, Nigeria’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy also sees AI as a tool for national productivity, innovation, sustainable development, research and wellbeing. Therefore, IAUE will adopt a policy of responsible AI usage and responsible AI development. The University will not only consume AI technologies. It shall build the institutional skills to comprehend, assess, manage, study, create, adopt and innovate with AI.

Title: This Policy shall be known as the: Ignatius Ajuru University of Education Artificial Intelligence Governance Policy (IAUE-AIGP)

2 PURPOSE OF THE POLICY

The purpose of this Policy is to establish a comprehensive governance framework for the ethical, responsible, inclusive, transparent, secure and beneficial development, procurement, deployment and use of Artificial Intelligence in IAUE.

The Policy shall:

1. provide institutional direction for AI adoption and use;
2. establish governance structures and accountability mechanisms;
3. promote responsible and ethical AI;
4. protect students, staff, research participants and other stakeholders;
5. protect University data and intellectual property;
6. promote AI literacy across the University;
7. guide AI use in teaching, learning and assessment;
8. guide AI use in research and scholarly activities;
9. regulate AI use in University administration;
10. establish AI risk-management procedures;
11. provide a framework for procurement and deployment of AI systems;
12. promote AI research, development and innovation;
13. support interdisciplinary and industry collaboration;
14. establish procedures for AI-related incidents and complaints;
15. promote transparency, inclusivity and accountability;
16. support compliance with Nigerian laws and regulatory requirements; and
17. position IAUE as a responsible leader in AI-enabled education and research.

3 SCOPE

This Policy shall apply to: (a) Persons (all academic staff; non-teaching and administrative staff; undergraduate students; researchers; postgraduate students; visiting scholars; adjunct and contract staff; consultants and contractors; volunteers and interns; and generally, any person acting on behalf of the University), (b) University Structures (Council; Senate; Management; faculties; departments; institutes; centres; schools; units; directorates; administrative offices; student organisations; research groups; laboratories; campuses, colleges and other University structures), (c) AI Activities (AI development; AI procurement; AI research; AI deployment; AI-assisted teaching, learning; AI-assisted assessment; AI-assisted research; generative AI; machine learning; deep learning; predictive analytics; computer vision; natural language processing; robotics; intelligent agents; recommender systems; autonomous systems; AI-enabled decision-support systems; AI-generated text, images, audio, video and code; AI-enabled administrative systems; and other technologies reasonably classified as AI).

4 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

1. Artificial Intelligence: Artificial Intelligence(AI) means computational systems capable of performing tasks that ordinarily require human intelligence, including learning, reasoning, prediction, classification, generation, perception, recommendation, decision support or autonomous action.
2. Generative Artificial Intelligence: Generative AI means AI capable of generating new content including text, images, audio, video, software code, designs or other materials.

• AI System: An AI System means a computational system that generates predictions, recommendations, decisions or content with varying degrees of autonomy.

1. High-Risk AI: An AI system shall be considered high-risk where its failure, misuse or inappropriate operation could materially affect: a person’s rights; academic progression; employment; financial status; privacy; safety; research participants; institutional reputation; legal obligations; or other significant interests.
2. AI-Assisted Work: AI-assisted work means work in which a person has used an AI system to support, enhance or transform part of the work while retaining human responsibility.
3. AI-Generated Content: Content substantially generated by an AI system, including text, images, audio, video, software code or other creative output.

• Human-in-the-Loop: A process in which a qualified human reviews, validates or authorises AI output before consequential action is taken.

5 IAUE AI GOVERNANCE PRINCIPLES

5.1 Foundational Principles

All AI activities at IAUE shall be guided by the following principles.

1. Human-Centred AI: AI shall serve human development and institutional objectives. AI shall augment rather than unnecessarily replace human judgement, particularly in matters affecting students, staff, research participants and the wider community.
2. Human Accountability: An AI system shall not be treated as the accountable party. Where an AI system produces an error, decision, recommendation or output, responsibility shall remain with the person or institutional unit responsible for deploying or using the system.

• Beneficence: AI shall be deployed primarily where it creates demonstrable educational, research, administrative, social or institutional benefit.

1. Non-Maleficence: AI shall not knowingly be used to cause harm, facilitate fraud, manipulate individuals, discriminate unfairly, compromise privacy or undermine academic integrity.
2. Inclusivity, Fairness and Non-Discrimination: AI systems shall not unfairly discriminate against individuals or groups. AI shall promote inclusivity.
3. Transparency: Where AI materially contributes to a University activity, appropriate disclosure shall be made. It should be state clearly: whether AI was used; the purpose for which it was used; the nature of its contribution; important limitations; mention the AI tools used; and where responsibility resides.

• Explainability: Where AI is used for consequential decisions, the University shall seek an appropriate level of explanation of how the system reached its output.
• Privacy and Data Protection: AI systems shall comply with applicable data-protection requirements especially the provisions of NDPA, 2023.

1. Academic Integrity: AI shall not be used to facilitate: plagiarism; fabrication; falsification; contract cheating; impersonation; examination malpractice; fraudulent authorship; fabricated references; fabricated research data; or other academic misconduct.
2. Intellectual Property: Users shall respect copyright, patents, trademarks, confidential information, licensing terms and other intellectual-property rights when using or developing AI.
3. Security: AI systems shall be designed and used with appropriate cybersecurity safeguards.

• Accessibility and Inclusion: AI-enabled services should be designed to improve accessibility and should not create unreasonable barriers for people with disabilities or limited technological access.
• Sustainability: The University shall consider the environmental and energy implications of large-scale AI systems and encourage efficient and sustainable AI practices.
• Innovation: Governance shall not unnecessarily inhibit innovation. This policy promotes responsible innovation, rather than innovation avoidance and stagnation.

5.2 Technical and Strategic Coordination

Ignatius Ajuru University of Education Centre for Artificial Intelligence (IACAI) shall serve as the University’s principal technical and strategic AI coordination centre.

IACAI shall: coordinate implementation of this Policy; develop AI guidelines and standards; maintain the University AI System Register; maintain the University Approved AI Tools Register; provide AI advisory services; coordinate AI literacy programmes; support faculties and departments; coordinate AI research and innovation; support AI procurement evaluation; advise on AI risk classification; coordinate AI ethics activities; facilitate AI partnerships; support AI infrastructure development; coordinate AI laboratories; promote interdisciplinary AI research; support responsible AI adoption; develop institutional AI solutions; coordinate AI impact assessments; prepare annual AI governance reports; and serve as the University’s primary institutional contact on AI matters.

• Faculty, Centre, Unit and Departmental AI Focal Persons

Every faculty, department and unit of the University shall designate an AI Focal Person (AIFP). The AIFP shall: liaise with IACAI on AI matters; support faculty-specific AI activities and services; and report significant AI issues to IACAI.

6 AI IN TEACHING, LEARNING AND RESEARCH

6.1 Institutional Position

IAUE shall move from an AI-avoidance model to an AI-literacy and responsible-use model. AI shall be treated as an emerging component of contemporary education.

• AI Literacy

The University shall progressively introduce foundational and advanced AI literacy for: undergraduate students; postgraduate students; academic staff; administrative staff; technical staff; and University management.

6.3 Curriculum Integration

Faculties and departments shall identify appropriate ways of integrating AI into curricula.  AI literacy should not be restricted to Computer Science. The University shall encourage multidisciplinary model of curricula development and AI integration. 

• Student Responsibility

Students shall: remain responsible for submitted work; verify AI-generated information; disclose AI use where required; avoid fabricated citations; protect confidential information; comply with lecturer-specific AI requirements; retain evidence of significant AI assistance where required; and not present AI-generated work as entirely their own where such presentation is misleading.

6.5 Process Workflow in the implementation of AI Check:

• STEP 1 (A): The Anti-Plagiarism Unit of the Postgraduate School will submit electronic copies of students’ dissertations and theses, along with the related anti-plagiarism certificates, to the Centre for AI.
• STEP 1(B) Undergraduate project supervisors will forward completed final year projects and anti-plagiarism certificates to the Centre for AI via the Project Coordinator and Head of Department, concurrent with submission to the NERD Digitization Officer.
• STEP 2: The Centre for AI will validate all submitted works and certificates, generating comprehensive reports on the academic research received.
• STEP 3: Opon receipt of the records from Project Coordinators, duly completed and signed (by researcher and respective supervisor(s)) AI-Content Disclosure Form will be signed and stamped by the AI unit and same sent back to the students through the Project Coordinators of respective departments. The signed and stamped AI-Content Disclosure Form will be added as an appendix to students’ project reports.

6.6  Approved AI-generated content tolerance thresholds:

• PhD (20%): Theses should not have more than 10% of contents generated by AI.
• MSc/MPhil (25%): Dissertations should not have more than 15% of contents generated by AI.
• PGD/Undergraduate (30%): Projects should not have more than 20% of content generated by AI.

6.7. AI Detectors

AI-detection software shall not be treated as conclusive evidence of academic misconduct. An AI detector result may trigger further investigation but shall not, by itself, establish guilt. Cautions:  AI detectors may have variable validity and accuracy and should therefore be interpreted carefully.

• Researcher Responsibility

Researchers shall remain responsible for accuracy originality and integrity of their research works. AI shall not be listed as an author where authorship requires human responsibility.

6.9 Disclosure of AI Use in Research

Researchers shall disclose material use of AI when used. Researchers and students along with their supervisors will sign the AI disclosure form attached herewith as Appendix A.

6.10 Research Data

Researchers shall not upload: identifiable participant information; confidential research data; unpublished datasets; examination data; proprietary research information; restricted University data; or other protected information into public AI systems unless expressly authorised by the Director, IACAI.

6.11 University Intellectual Property

AI-generated or AI-assisted inventions, software, datasets, research outputs or other intellectual property developed using substantial University resources shall be managed in accordance with applicable University intellectual-property policies and agreements.

6.12 Prohibited Uses

AI shall not be used to:

1. impersonate a student, staff member or University official;
2. fabricate academic or research evidence;
3. fabricate research participants or results;
4. manipulate examination results;
5. generate fraudulent University documents;
6. create malicious deepfakes;
7. conduct unlawful surveillance;
8. discriminate unlawfully;
9. expose confidential University information;
10. process personal information in unauthorised AI systems;
11. make fully automated high-impact decisions without meaningful human oversight;
12. circumvent cybersecurity controls;
13. generate malicious software for unauthorised purposes;
14. falsify references or citations deliberately; or
15. undertake any other activity prohibited by Nigerian law or University regulations.

6.13 Administrative use of AI

IAUE shall encourage AI-enabled administrative transformation in all of its administrative areas but must adhere to principles of this document.

7 AI PROCUREMENT AND THIRD-PARTY SYSTEMS

7.1 Procurement Requirement

No faculty, department, centre or unit shall independently procure or deploy a University-wide AI system without appropriate institutional review.

1. CONCLUSION

The University acknowledges that Artificial Intelligence is an evolving field whose opportunities and risks will continue to change. Consequently, this Policy shall be implemented as a living institutional framework, responsive to technological advancements, emerging ethical concerns, applicable legal requirements and the changing needs of the University community. Periodic assessment and review shall ensure that the Policy remains effective, relevant and aligned with the University’s strategic objectives and the broader development aspirations of Nigeria.

Dr. Kingsley Igulu
Coordinator, IACAI