Guiding Principles for AI Adoption

To ensure we stay true to our values, every college and department at Clemson follows specific strategic alignment principles when implementing AI:

Student-Centered Integration

AI initiatives should support and measurably improve the Clemson student experience and contribute to academic success, experiential learning, and career preparation. Teams should focus on projects that give students practical exposure to AI tools through coursework, research, internships, or applied projects. Efforts should always build AI literacy, support creativity, enhance teaching, and prepare students for leadership roles in a rapidly changing workforce.

Research-Aligned Use

AI initiatives should support Clemson’s goal to double research by 2035. Projects should align with established and emerging research strengths across the academic and research enterprise. Teams should use AI to improve research efficiency, support collaboration across disciplines, and strengthen competitiveness for external funding only when it is in our best interest, consistent with our values, and maintains strict adherence to existing policies designed to protect the research enterprise.

Service and Community Impact

AI should be used to address real needs across South Carolina and beyond. Priority should be given to initiatives that support health outcomes, agriculture, workforce development, and economic growth. Teams are encouraged to define clear outcomes and identify how AI-enabled work contributes to Clemson’s land-grant mission and benefits communities, partners, and industries in partnership with them.

Responsible and Secure Use

All AI initiatives must follow Clemson’s policies related to ethics, privacy, security, and compliance. Teams can extend and refine existing university policies but cannot override or ignore existing policies. Teams are responsible for ensuring transparency in how AI is used and for protecting sensitive data. When appropriate university-level training is not available, teams should provide role-specific training and guidance to faculty, staff, and students to support responsible and appropriate use.

Shared and Scalable Approaches

When possible, AI initiatives should be designed for reuse and growth across the University. Teams should coordinate with central resources, share tools and lessons learned, and avoid developing or purchasing stand-alone solutions when shared options are available. Collaboration across colleges, departments, and other functional units is encouraged to build capacity and support a consistent approach to AI at Clemson.