University of Nebraska bars personal AI accounts from handling university data

University of Nebraska faculty and staff face new limits on where they can put university data, even as the system provides enterprise ChatGPT accounts. President Jeffrey P. Gold’s November 5 message introduced university-wide AI expectations covering data protection and human review, while leaving decisions about whether to use AI in teaching and research with faculty and principal investigators.

The rules follow the data—and the answer

Executive Memorandum 48 establishes expectations for secure, ethical and responsible AI use across the university system. Its scope is the tools and platforms employees use for university work or university information—not a system-wide decision that AI must become part of every course or research project.

The memo prohibits putting institutional or research data into an individual’s personal AI subscription, Nebraska Public Media reported. It also bars tools that claim ownership rights or use submitted data to train other models. Those restrictions address what happens to university information after an employee supplies it to an AI service, not simply whether the service charges a subscription fee.

Responsibility also remains with the person using the answer. Users must review AI outputs, check factual accuracy and validate references, citations, calculations and recommendations. The requirement covers both the information an AI tool produces and the supporting material it offers; receiving an answer does not remove the employee’s duty to check it.

Training opens the enterprise account

Alongside the rules, the system has obtained an enterprise ChatGPT license. Gold encouraged all faculty and staff to complete Generative AI Security Essentials Training in Bridge. Access depends on completing that training, with a different rollout status for employees at the medical center.

• Faculty and staff at UNK, UNL, UNO and NCTA automatically receive enterprise ChatGPT access after completing the training.
• University of Nebraska Medical Center employees can take the training now, but enterprise access is still being implemented. They will receive access when it becomes available.

Gold asked employees using free or non-enterprise ChatGPT for university activities to begin moving to the enterprise version after training. That includes accounts paid for personally or by a lab or department. His message sets the transition deadline at the end of the fall 2026 semester.

Gold said the baseline enterprise account would likely be sufficient for most employees. Credits are available for heavier use or specialized work, with guidance on requesting them. Faculty can also request enterprise ChatGPT access for students. Employees already have access to Microsoft Copilot, so ChatGPT is not the only university-provided AI option described in the message.

We recognize that moving to approved platforms may represent a significant change, particularly for those who have built workflows around other AI tools.

Jeffrey P. Gold, University of Nebraska System president

Faculty keep academic choices; a new group sets tool boundaries

Faculty retain authority to establish AI expectations in their courses. Principal investigators retain authority over whether and how AI is used in their research, subject to applicable university policies and requirements. That preserves a distinction between deciding an academic use is appropriate and deciding which platform may handle the work.

The system is convening an NU AI Governance Group to implement and manage the memo. Its membership will include instructional and research faculty and staff from across the campuses, the NU AI Institute, and representatives from legal, compliance, information technology, procurement, business and finance. The planned membership brings academic users and administrative offices into the same policy process.

That group will determine which AI tools are acceptable for routine work and which need an approved exception. It will also develop guidance and examples for when and how to disclose AI input. The exception-request process is scheduled to open later this year, with the group responsible for reviewing and responding to requests.

Separately, the NU AI Institute will serve as a policy resource for academic units developing their own research and teaching policies. Gold said additional resources, guidance and answers to frequently asked questions would follow in the weeks ahead.