FWC AI Guidelines

The Farnham Writers’ Center (FWC) mission is to improve writers, not just writing assignments. Our name reflects who we prioritize: We are the Writers’ Center, not the “Writing Center.” We see value in the unique, collaborative peer-to-peer learning that can’t be replicated by AI tools. To this end, we focus on content, ideas, and the overall organization of a given piece of writing and only address grammar rhetorically.

We believe AI tools can have a place in the writing process when used by advanced writers critically, ethically, and strategically. However, using AI prematurely may hinder a student’s ability to think critically and develop their own written voice. Put differently: “teaching students to recognize good writing and to edit AI-produced drafts is going to be harder if students do not first practice writing without AI” (Bowen and Watson, 2024, p.84). With this in mind, we would like to provide some guidelines for students and faculty.

– Like with plagiarism, FWC tutors are not responsible for reporting student AI use. However, disclosing AI use can lead to a more productive session. Remember, our focus is on your holistic writing process. Failing to disclose AI use can disrupt the
collaborative nature of the session and make it less effective.
– When using AI, we recommend that you use traditional citation methods:
– Citing AI using the appropriate documentation style for your discipline (APA, MLA, etc.)
– It is not enough to state that you used AI. You need to disclose which step(s) of the writing process you used it for (e.g., brainstorming, editing)
– It is not part of a tutor’s role to check your citations to make sure that you are disclosing all instances of AI use.
– Treat each course on a case-by-case basis and follow the rules of each professor’s policy on AI use.
– When applicable, bring your assignment sheet and the course’s AI policy to the tutoring session.
– When disclosed, tutors might engage with you in conversations about ethical AI use.

– Regardless of your stance on AI, it is helpful for both your students and FWC tutors to know your level of comfort with their use of AI tools, ideally through a syllabus statement.
– If you have a specific assignment where you explicitly ask students to use AI, be sure to include some language to that effect in the assignment sheet. (Most students bring their assignment sheets to the writing tutorial).
– Consider your stance on allowing students to use AI as an editing tool—this could be particularly beneficial for second language writers—and create a policy accordingly.

These guidelines were the result of a collaborative effort between the FWC Director, Ghada Gherwash, PhD., and the following tutors:

Anusha Thapa’27, Ash De Curre’27, Asha Butterworth’25, Aubrey Adkins’25, Audrey Mullen’26, Cristina Panaguta’26, Darin Gildea’27, Dev Purhot’25, Deviyani Patel’25, Grace Preston’27, Hunter Mawn’27, Jonnie Hughes’25, Julie Littlewood’27,, Kara Xu’25, Kiara McCellon’26, Lily Hyce’25, Mairead Levitt’25 , Micaela Cosgriff’25, Malia Sung’25, Mollie Block’27, Olivia Mundy’25, Randi Radcliffe’27, Rohan Sajja ‘26, Said Castro-Solano’27, Sara Holden’26, Sarah Byrne’25, Stacy Kim’25, Sydney Pascal’26, Vivian Hu’26

*These guidelines were inspired by Elon University’s statement on AI Use in the Writing Center.