University of Nebraska System President Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, sent the following message to faculty and staff on Wednesday, Nov. 4.
Dear University Community,
Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the way we teach, learn, conduct research and carry out the work of the University of Nebraska System. Across our campuses, faculty, staff and students are finding new and innovative ways to use these tools — and we know many members of our community have already developed AI practices and workflows that work well for them.
As AI continues to evolve, the university has a responsibility to ensure we are harnessing its potential while appropriately protecting university data, sensitive information and intellectual property; promoting safe and responsible AI use; and ensuring that our approach to AI is centered on the people and communities we serve. To help us do that, the NU System has issued Executive Memorandum 48, which establishes university-wide expectations for the secure, ethical and responsible use of artificial intelligence.
As a first step, the University of Nebraska System has obtained an enterprise license to ChatGPT. All faculty and staff are encouraged to take the Generative AI Security Essentials Training in Bridge. Faculty and staff from University of Nebraska at Kearney, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture who take the training will automatically receive access to an enterprise ChatGPT account. UNMC is currently working on implementing access to the enterprise version of ChatGPT; UNMC faculty and staff may take the training now and will receive access as soon as it is available.
Once they have taken the training, faculty and staff who are using a free version of ChatGPT or a non-enterprise version of the tool (e.g., paid for personally or by a lab or department) for university activities should begin moving over to the enterprise version of the tool. Guidance for that process is available here. Please move to the enterprise account by the end of the fall 2026 semester.
For most NU employees, the baseline version of the enterprise ChatGPT account will likely be sufficient. However, for heavy users or those who use AI tools for more specialized work, credits are available to support additional use. You can learn about credits, the work they support and how to request them here.
Faculty may also request access to the enterprise version of ChatGPT for students. Guidance on that process is available here. All NU employees also already have access to Microsoft CoPilot; you can visit the Explore AI Tools page on our website to learn more about how to incorporate this tool into your day-to-day work.
We recognize that moving to approved platforms may represent a significant change, particularly for those who have built workflows around other AI tools. To that end, the NU System is convening a new NU AI Governance Group to enact, manage and align to the specifications of NU Executive Memorandum 48. This group will include representation from instructional and research faculty and staff members across all of our campuses, as well as from the NU AI Institute, and from the legal, compliance, ITS, procurement and business and finance arms of the NU System.
The NU AI Governance Group will work to determine which AI tools are acceptable for routine work, which will need an approved exception prior to use, and provide guidance and applicable examples on how and when to disclose AI input, among other processes. The group will also be responsible for reviewing, managing and responding to the AI exception request process, which will open later this year. In addition, the NU AI Institute will be available to serve as a policy resource for academic units setting their own policies on research and teaching.
For immediate questions about getting started with enterprise AI tools, please contact the NU ITS help desk at nusupport@nebraska.edu or 866-472-3970.
It is important to note that EM 48 does not determine whether AI should be used in teaching or research. Faculty retain the authority to establish expectations for AI use in their courses, and principal investigators retain authority over whether and how AI is used within their research, consistent with applicable university policies and requirements. Instead, EM 48 establishes expectations around the tools and platforms used when conducting university work or working with university information.
AI itself is changing extraordinarily quickly, and universities everywhere are navigating questions that would have been difficult to imagine only a few years ago. Additional resources, guidance and answers to frequently asked questions will be shared in the weeks ahead. We are grateful for your partnership as we continue to learn and adapt together.