Back to School AI Policy Prep – Checklist for Department Heads
Department head in BC. September is coming and AI policy is one of the things I have to have sorted before students arrive. Sharing my prep checklist in case it’s useful.
Six weeks out from September:
– [ ] Review current board guidance: what’s actually changed since January? (Check board website, don’t assume unchanged)
– [ ] Update course outline language to reflect current approach (specific about disclosure requirements)
– [ ] Confirm consistency across department: are all teachers applying the same rules?
Four weeks out:
– [ ] Draft or update AI literacy component for first week (students need to understand the tools and the rules)
– [ ] Decide on detection tool use: if using, establish the workflow. If not using for formal decisions, communicate this to department.
Two weeks out:
– [ ] Communicate policy to students in orientation week materials
– [ ] Have the conversation with your most skeptical department member now, not in October
First week:
– [ ] Spend actual class time on AI literacy, not just handing out a policy document
– [ ] Model transparency: tell students how YOU use AI in your own professional work
The departments that struggle in October are the ones that gave students a one-page policy and no conversation.
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the consistency check across department is the one that never happens and causes the most problems in October. taking this list and adapting it for my context (no board guidance, so step one is reviewing what I did last year myself).
the checklist approach is right but the missing item is student communication. every back-to-school AI policy prep I've seen focuses on teacher-facing documentation. the student-facing communication plan - what students are told on day one and in what format - is usually an afterthought. that's where policy actually becomes practice.
THE SEPTEMBER IS COMING ENERGY OF THIS POST. Saving this immediately. Sharing with my department head who does not yet realize that September is in fact coming.