Overseeing how GenAI will be integrated and used at Queen’s, or how it will be constrained to eliminate or mitigate its inherent risks, will become the responsibility of Queen’s Digital Planning Committee (QDPC):
- QDPC will ensure that the deployment and use of AI systems is aligned with organisational values and goals.
- An AI Centre of Excellence (CoE) will bring together diverse perspective from pedagogical, operational, legal, technical, ethical and other domains.
- Three AI subcommittees, one for each of the AI domains (teaching and learning, research administration and operational excellence).
- Each subcommittee will be supported by ad hoc working groups that will investigate and make recommendations around use cases and AI technologies to be prioritized for implementation within each domain.
Queen’s Senior Leadership Team executes the strategic direction set by the Board of Trustees’ Finance, Assets and Strategic Infrastructure Committee and acts as the ultimate decision-making body for Queen’s Digital Roadmap (including AI). It establishes the strategic approach and pillars for the use of GenAI at Queen’s, ensuring they are aligned with Queen’s values and respectful of the enterprise risk appetite. It is the final decision authority for resolving strategic AI issues.
Queen’s Digital Planning Committee is the University’s decision-making governance body responsible for crafting a digital vision for Queen’s University, for engaging in the planning activities necessary to guide the strategic direction of Queen’s digitalisation efforts and institution-focused digital integration efforts, and for acting as the governance body that aims to bring constituents together to develop a shared agenda for the intake, prioritisation and investment in IT opportunities that contribute to the evolving digital environment at Queen’s.
Within its existing mandate, QDPC shall make decisions that support the implementation and use of AI in teaching and learning, research administration and operational excellence. Based on the recommendations of the AI Centre of Excellence (led by a senior AI advisor to the Provost), QDPC shall include, as a minimum, in its responsibilities:
- identifying and directing the creation of policies, standards, guidelines and controls in support of responsible AI innovation;
- prioritising and monitoring the portfolio of AI initiatives/projects, assessing them against other strategic priorities for resourcing purposes; and
- mandating the AI Centre of Excellence to work on specific AI-related activities (e.g. the development of an AI risk management framework).
In order to better address these AI-related responsibilities, it is proposed that the membership of QDPC be refreshed as follows:
|
CURRENT |
PROPOSED (new/revised in red) |
|
Dean, FAS (Co-Chair) |
Dean (TBD) |
|
CIO & AVP (ITS) (Co-Chair) |
CIO & AVP (ITS) (Co-Chair) |
|
Vice-Provost & Dean, SGSPA |
Vice-Provost & Dean, SGSPA |
|
Vice-Provost & Dean, Student Affairs |
Vice-Provost & Dean, Student Affairs and/OR University Registrar |
| -- | 1 Dean (or delegate) for additional faculty representation to ensure balance in academic and administrative membership (to rotate every two years) |
|
University Registrar |
-- |
|
Vice-Provost, Teaching & Learning |
Vice-Provost, Teaching & Learning |
|
Vice-Provost & University Librarian |
Vice-Provost & University Librarian |
|
AVP, Finance & Administration |
AVP, Finance & Administration |
| -- | AVP, HR (or other senior HR representative) |
| -- | AVP, Research |
|
Executive Director, Digital Strategy, UR |
Executive Director, Digital Strategy, UR |
Guests may be invited to participate in QDPC meetings depending upon the meeting agenda; for example: legal/privacy/security experts; experts with deep understanding of AI technologies; or representatives from key constituent groups to include the voices of those impacted by AI decisions.
This diversity of this proposed membership will be effectual in balancing the technical possibilities of AI with the ethical, legal, and social implications of its use, ensuring responsible stewardship of this new type of technology.
The AI Centre of Excellence, to be led by the Senior AI Advisor to the Provost, comprises three domain-specific AI subcommittees, each with their own area of expertise. The CoE will:
- stay abreast of AI trends within higher education, identifying opportunities and proposing AI initiatives that, if implemented, will advance Queen’s AI maturity level and drive the adoption of best practises;
- identify risks and issues associated with the use of GenAI and collaborate with the risk management team to recommend necessary guardrails and mitigations;
- assist the Security Assessment Process team to conduct AI-specific assessments to ensure that AI applications (purchased or developed in-house) comply with relevant laws, regulations, and organizational policies;
- develop standards for AI architecture to be used by the Queen’s ARB, and collaborate with Queen’s Enterprise Architect to ensure alignment with enterprise architecture practises;
- provide guidance for our community members by developing guiding answers in support of each of the proposed self-assessment questions;
- develop an AI literacy program and suggests training opportunities for Queen’s employees;
- collaborate with data science teams, following Queen’s data governance practises to resolve any issues or concerns related to data sources and models; and
- facilitate communication and collaboration amongst constituents to elicit input on and address AI-related concerns.
The structures shown and described above are explicitly related to AI governance. However, it is important to remember that AI governance will exist within the broader University governance ecosystem that includes other formal governance bodies (such as Queen’s data governance bodies, e.g. the Data Governors Council and its sub-committee; the Data Trusteeship Committee) as well as University units and frameworks that have been established to provide oversight and guidance, such as the Enterprise Risk Management Framework, Queen’s Cybersecurity Program, Internal Audit, the IT Change Advisory Board, etc.