At its final meeting of 2025, the Stanford University Faculty Senate discussed the increasing presence of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in student academic life and introduced a new task force aimed at strengthening public support for higher education.
Jay Hamilton, Freeman-Thornton Chair for the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (VPUE), presented survey data indicating that most first-year students regularly use generative AI. “They often talk about it as an intellectual sparring partner,” Hamilton said. He noted that students primarily use AI to clarify complex concepts, conduct searches, create study materials, summarize or paraphrase text, edit writing, and assist with research. Generating original text was reported as the least common use.
Hamilton observed a decrease in student visits to faculty office hours and the Hume Center for Writing and Speaking. He also pointed out that while scores on computer science problem sets have increased, midterm and final exam scores have declined. “This is concerning in the sense that if they were using generative AI as a study pal, they weren’t absorbing as much as they might think they did,” Hamilton said.
Students are seeking clearer guidelines regarding acceptable AI use in coursework. Hamilton recommended that faculty explicitly outline permitted uses of AI in their syllabi and explain their reasoning behind these policies. He advised sharing guidance on how to cite AI tools and providing examples of permissible usage.
To address these developments, VPUE has collaborated with the Center for Teaching and Learning to launch AI Meets Education at Stanford (AIMES). The initiative offers resources such as a student guide, professional development opportunities for instructors unfamiliar with AI tools, a repository of sample course policies and assignments involving AI, and summaries of teaching strategies related to this technology.
Hamilton encouraged ongoing department-level discussions about appropriate uses of AI. He emphasized the importance of preparing students for workplaces where familiarity with both assisted and unaided writing or coding will be essential. “I also believe – and this is an assumption – that students need to learn to write and code unaided, to develop critical thinking skills, their agency as citizens, and also meaning – making the ideas that help them understand their own lives,” he said.
Patricia Burchat from the School of Humanities & Sciences raised concerns about declining lecture attendance. She suggested resetting classroom norms by requiring electronic devices be put away during class sessions to encourage engagement.
Some senators voiced worries over how reliance on AI could affect student mental health alongside academic outcomes. Suggestions included increasing one-on-one interactions between faculty and students; however, others cautioned that budget constraints could limit such efforts.
William Barnett from Stanford Graduate School of Business highlighted the university’s responsibility in guiding its competitive student body through changes brought by technology: “It’s up to us to create the constraints so that competition leads to the healthy behaviors that make them better educated people by the time they get out.”
Keith Winstein from Computer Science pointed out broader societal ethical challenges posed by widespread adoption of AI: “We are dealing with this at every level of society,” he said.
James Landay from Engineering argued against viewing rapid technological change solely as a challenge: “We actually have to see this problem less as a problem and more as an opportunity,” Landay said. “How can Stanford lead in rethinking how we teach, how we learn …and have our students be benefiting and being the leading edge of that?”
The meeting also included an introduction by Kathryn “Kam” Moler—vice president at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory—to a new Faculty Task Force on Renewing Public Support for Universities. The group aims to analyze declining public confidence in higher education before developing outreach strategies tailored toward rebuilding trust in universities like Stanford. “I think it is appropriate for all of us to reflect on what is our public value as a university and to reflect on that with some degree of confidence but also some degree of humility,” Moler said.
Brandice Canes-Wrone explained further goals: “We want to support faculty outreach and messaging …and then potentially identify university strategies that could help with this.”
Other senators stressed focusing outreach efforts on issues relevant beyond academia—such as affordability or access—and amplifying voices from community partners outside campus who value collaborations with university researchers.
During its session senators also paid tribute via memorial resolution honoring Ronald “Ron” Lyon—a pioneer geologist specializing in remote sensing applications—who died at age 95 early last year.
