Goshen survey finds an AI use gap across campus
New results show lower AI use among student respondents than employees.
Goshen College’s student newspaper, The Record, released survey results on October 1 showing different AI habits across campus. Some 43 percent of student respondents said they never use AI, compared with 19 percent of faculty and 13 percent of staff.
The survey opened September 22 for seven days and drew responses from 70 students, 31 faculty members and 16 staff members.
Read the sample carefully
These results describe a voluntary sample rather than a representative campus survey. The newspaper acknowledges sampling bias and warns that comparisons with a February campus survey are limited by different questions and unknown overlap between participants. The results cannot establish a campus wide decline in AI use.
What this means for coursework
The college’s existing AI policy and guidelines provide practical context. Faculty must explain permitted AI use in course syllabi. The framework offers three categories ranging from no generative AI use to limited or unlimited use, so permission depends on the course.
Even when use is unrestricted, students remain responsible for the accuracy and quality of their work and must explain which tools they used and how. For limited use, the policy says instructors should identify allowed activities and disclosure requirements while preserving the student’s original ideas and substance.
The guidance also distinguishes study assistance from submitted work. Creating flashcards or practice quizzes is treated as assistive use that does not need disclosure unless a professor requires it. Students reading the survey should therefore check their own syllabus before assuming that classmates’ habits reflect what an assignment permits.
Related coverage explores AI assistance in teachers’ lesson planning.
Featured image is an original AI generated conceptual editorial illustration.
