ChatGPT FAQ

ChatGPT Edu is a custom version of ChatGPT tailored for students, faculty, and staff at educational institutions. ChatGPT is generative AI technology that processes natural language, enhances productivity, and assists with teaching and learning.

Invitations to students, faculty, and staff went out on April 15th and will automatically be sent to those groups as the campus grows.

OpenAI’s data centers impact the environment through energy and water use. Their main partner, Azure, aims to be carbon negative by 2030, use 100% renewable energy by 2025, and achieve water positivity, zero waste, and net-zero deforestation by 2030.

There is no cost to individuals or departments; funded by the CSU Chancellor’s Office.

The CSU is committed to closing equity and accessibility gaps, providing access to high-quality AI tools to support academic achievement to its student and employee communities.

There are 500,000 user licenses available system wide. These licenses were purchased to cover employees and students only. Licenses are not intended for alumni, auxiliary employees, emeriti, Extended Education, non-matriculated students, or other campus community members such as volunteers and guests.

The CSU is providing ChatGPT Edu, a plan built for universities to responsibly deploy AI to students, faculty, researchers, and staff and to protect their privacy and intellectual property. OpenAI does not use Cal Poly Humboldt ChatGPT Edu data to train their underlying Large Language Models.

Cal Poly Humboldt will not monitor individual user interactions or conversations with ChatGPT. Humboldt will collect basic use statistics to understand the extent of adoption and use, and data will only be reported in the aggregate. Individual responses, records, or identifying details will not be shared separately. Data will only be compiled and presented as a summary or group-level analysis.

The CSU’s agreement with OpenAI includes language that ensures your ChatGPT interactions and data are not used to train their underlying large language models or improve their services.

Yes, the ChatGPT Edu plan allows institutions to build custom GPTs tailored to specific courses or administrative functions, which can be shared within the campus workspace to enhance learning and operational efficiency. Custom GPTs require the use of the GPT-4o model. Users will be able to create and share GPTs with individual users using the invite feature.

Yes, OpenAI provides applications for various platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS, ensuring users can access ChatGPT across different devices. Additionally, the applications can be configured for platform-specific integrations.

You can upload non-sensitive data that does not contain Level 1 (L1) classified information, as well as public or openly shareable data that does not require special access controls. De-identified data, which has been stripped of personally identifiable information (PII) or other sensitive details, is also permitted.

Additionally, you may upload non-copyrighted material that you have permission to share and process.

For current faculty, staff, and students at Cal Poly Humboldt who qualify for ChatGPT Edu and are using the Free plan, you will be prompted to archive or transfer your existing chat history into the Humboldt ChatGPT Edu workspace upon logging in after receiving your invitation.

If you are using a paid plan, your subscription will be deactivated once you are invited to the Humboldt ChatGPT Edu workspace. As with Free accounts, you will be prompted to archive or move your existing chat history into the Edu workspace upon login.

Please note that any custom GPTs you created previously may need to be recreated. GPTs in the Humboldt workspace are invite-only, and third-party GPTs require administrator approval.

If you are no longer affiliated with Cal Poly Humboldt, or are not eligible for ChatGPT Edu, your ChatGPT account associated with your @humboldt.edu email address will remain active but will not be connected to the University’s ChatGPT Edu workspace.

NOTE: Accounts made with vanity or non-username e-mail addresses (first.last@humboldt.edu) cannot be added to the ChatGPT Edu Workspace

The Center for Teaching and Learning has compiled GenAI resources on this page:
CTL Generative AI Tools

Additionally, self-paced learning resources are available below:

• OpenAI, LLMs & ChatGPT (05:34)
• Multimodality Explained (10:24)
• Introduction to Prompt Engineering (05:52)
• Introduction to GPTs (06:40)
• ChatGPT Search (05:43)
• Advanced Prompt Engineering (08:50)
• ChatGPT for Data Analysis (04:48)

At this time, the web browser version of ChatGPT has known accessibility barriers. These barriers may interfere with assistive technology, including screen readers.

Faculty should not require the use of ChatGPT Edu to complete assignments or assessments, unless you provide an alternate method that does not require ChatGPT.

The contract for ChatGPT Edu from the CSU Chancellor’s Office includes a commitment from OpenAI to fix the accessibility barriers.