The Artificial Intelligence Governance Committee at the University of Washington has been established to guide the responsible, ethical, and effective use of AI across the institution. As AI technologies rapidly evolve, the committee is tasked with developing recommendations for a university-wide framework that aligns innovation with UW’s mission, values, and commitment to equity, transparency, and human-centered practices.
Committee members
- Noah A. Smith, Vice Provost and Endowed Chair for Artificial Intelligence; Professor, Paul G.
Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, College of Engineering, Chair - Jevin D. West, Professor; Associate Dean for Research, Information School, Chair
- François Baneyx, Vice Provost for Innovation and Director, CoMotion, Office of the Provost
- Grant Blume, Associate Teaching Professor; Associate Dean for Teaching & Learning, Evans School of Public Policy & Governance
- Steven L. Brunton, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering
- Ryan Calo, Professor, School of Law
- Trevor Cohen, Professor, Biomedical Informatics and Health Education, School of Medicine
- Brandi M. Cossairt, Professor, Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences
- Melissa D. Cox, Manager of Education Systems, Office of Research
- Rachel Gatlin, Assistant Vice President for HR Benefits, Analytics and Information Systems, UW
Human Resources - Bin Guo, Associate Vice President for Infrastructure, UW-IT
- Joshua Halbert, Interim Director of Operations, Husky Health & Well-Being, Student Life
- Andrew Harris, Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, UW Tacoma
- Edward D. Lazowska, Professor Emeritus, Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, College of Engineering
- Carole J. Lee, Professor, Philosophy, College of Arts & Sciences
- Gina-Anne Levow, Professor, Linguistics, College of Arts & Sciences
- Richard Lewis, Director and Associate Dean of University Libraries, UW Bothell/Cascadia College
Campus Library, UW Bothell - Vani Mandava, Head of Engineering, Scientific Software Engineering Center, eScience Institute /
College of Engineering - Bita Massoudi, GPSS representative, Graduate and Professional Student Senate
- Laura McGarrity, Teaching Professor, Linguistics, College of Arts & Sciences
- Penelope “Pen” Moon, Director, Center for Teaching and Learning, Academic Strategy and
Affairs - Juan Pampin, Professor and Chair, Digital Arts and Experimental Media (DXARTS), College of Arts
& Sciences - Valeria Perez-Leyva, Director of Diversity Efforts, Associated Students of the University of
Washington
Artificial Intelligence Governance Committee Charge
May 7, 2026
Dear Colleagues,
As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies continue to evolve and intersect with the core
mission of higher education, the University of Washington will place responsible engagement
as the highest priority, ensuring that all applications of AI are grounded in ethical principles,
transparency, accountability, and respect for human dignity. It is essential that we develop a
proactive and coordinated approach to guide the ethical, effective, and equitable use of AI
across our institution, aligning innovation with our public mission and our commitment to
human-centered teaching, research, and service.
For the purposes of this charge, “AI” refers to a rapidly evolving set of computational methods
and socio-technical practices that enable machines to perform tasks associated with human
intelligence, while raising interdisciplinary questions about design, use, impact, and
governance. At the present writing, AI is exemplified by multimodal language models
augmented by access to external tools like web search engines and other software, but we
anticipate that new developments will continue to shape the use of the term.
Advisory to the Provost, the AI Governance Committee is charged with developing a set of
recommendations for a university-wide framework and policy on the responsible use of AI.
This framework should guide decision-making, governance, and implementation across
academic, research, administrative, and operational contexts, in alignment with the
University’s mission, values, and strategic priorities. In developing these recommendations,
the committee should build upon prior work of the AI Task Force and other relevant UW
initiatives, identifying gaps, overlaps, and opportunities for coordination.
As a foundational element of this work, the committee should first develop a clear, working
definition of AI that can be applied across academic, research, administrative, and operational
contexts. (The definition given above provides a starting point.) The definition should be
grounded in current scholarship both within the discipline of AI and adjacent disciplines. The
definition should also be tailored to the specific needs of the University of Washington. It
should be accompanied by guiding principles that articulate UW’s values regarding AI use, such
as transparency, accountability, privacy, and human-centered design, and should explicitly
anticipate the need to revisit the definition in the future in response to new developments
relating to AI.
In addition to this definition, the committee’s analysis and recommendations should address,
at minimum, the following domains. Each should include short-term guidance, longer-term
strategy, and a process for periodic review.
1. Institutional Data and Privacy
- Guidelines for the ethical and secure use of institutional data in AI systems.
- Mechanisms for transparency, consent, and accountability in AI-driven data processes.
2. Teaching and Learning
- Recommendations for the pedagogical use of AI in classrooms, including support for faculty and students.
- Strategies to prepare students to lead, as the role of AI in their fields evolves.
- Strategies to maintain academic integrity in the presence of generative AI tools.
- Consideration of AI’s impact on equity and access in learning environments.
3. Research and Scholarship
- Guidance on responsible AI research and scholarship practices, including the use of AI in scientific inquiry, community-engaged research, creative work, data governance, intellectual property, and attribution in AI-assisted scholarship.
- Recommendations to ensure compliance with federal, ethical, and disciplinary standards.
- Approaches to fostering interdisciplinary AI research and innovation.
4. University Administration and Operations
- Considerations for the use of AI in
- Decision making (e.g. hiring, admissions)
- Information services (e.g. chatbot use)
- Streamlining documentation (e.g. compliance processes, meeting records)
- Consider implications for vendor relationships, procurement, and third-party tools that incorporate AI.
- Policies to ensure human oversight.
5. Governance and Implementation
- Recommendations for institutional structures or bodies to oversee AI governance and policy updates, recognizing that AI is rapidly evolving
- Proposals for education, training, and communication to support policy awareness and their ethical underpinnings as well as implementation across campus.
Throughout all domains of this work, a framework for ensuring ethics, equity, privacy, safety,
fairness, transparency, and social responsibility should be paramount, recognizing that these
issues may differ across domains. The committee’s final report should include a proposed
governance structure (e.g., standing committee or office function) and recommended policy
language.
The committee is expected to engage widely with faculty, staff, students, and external experts
as needed and to incorporate input received by the AI Task Force through its consultative
process. For transparency and to create more channels for feedback, all committee members
will be expected to report the status of its work frequently. Benchmarking against peer
institutions and alignment with local, national, and global standards is also expected. Finally,
the committee should ensure that its recommendations are aligned with Washington State
policy, e.g., the December 2025 interim report of the Washington State AI Task Force.
If AI technology is used in the work of the committee, such use should be reported.
The committee is designed to be small enough to do real work and broad enough to benefit
from multiple perspectives. Informed by extensive consultation with diverse voices across the
UW community by the Provost and Vice Provost for AI, its membership reflects a balance of
expertise, institutional vantage points relevant to the responsible use of AI at UW, and
discipline-informed understanding of the potential benefits and risks of AI. No single
committee can include every unit or perspective, so broader inclusion will come through
Sincerely,
Tricia R. Serio
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Professor, Biochemistry