Queen’s AI (artificial intelligence) governance model provides a coordinated approach for guiding the responsible use of artificial intelligence across the university.
The structure connects academic and administrative decision makers, supports informed planning, and ensures that AI activity aligns with institutional values, strategy, and academic policy.
The AI Nexus provides advice and recommendations to the Queen's Digital Planning Committee, and where academic matters are implicated, to Senate subcommittees.
Role of the Queen’s Digital Planning Committee
The Queen’s Digital Planning Committee (QDPC) oversees how GenAI will be integrated and used at the university and how risks will be reduced or mitigated. QDPC ensures that AI deployment aligns with organizational values and goals. Within its mandate, QDPC will:
- guide the development of policies, standards, guidelines, and controls that support responsible AI innovation.
- prioritize and monitor AI initiatives and projects, assessing them against other strategic needs.
- direct activities such as risk management, technical standards, and implementation planning.
QDPC serves as the central body for guiding digital strategy, digital integration, and university wide AI priorities.
The Queen’s AI Nexus
The Queen’s AI Nexus (Q AIN) is the advisory body that provides expert recommendations to the Queen’s Digital Planning Committee. Its work informs QDPC decisions on AI policy, priorities, and risk management, ensuring that campus wide implementation reflects academic, operational, ethical, and technical considerations.
The Nexus brings together pedagogical, operational, legal, technical, ethical, and research expertise under the leadership of the AI Special Advisor to the Provost.
It includes three subcommittees covering:
- teaching and learning
- research and research administration
- operations
Each subcommittee is supported by working groups that examine use cases and AI technologies for possible implementation.
The Nexus will:
- monitor AI trends in higher education and identify opportunities for Queen’s
- propose initiatives that strengthen AI maturity and best practice adoptio
- identify risks and work with risk management teams to recommend mitigations
- support AI specific security and compliance assessments
- help develop AI architecture standards and coordinate with enterprise architecture teams&
- create guidance and literacy resources for the Queen’s community
- collaborate with data governance teams to address data and model considerations
- provide advice and recommendations to QDPC and, where academic matters arise, inform Senate committees
Queen’s Senior Leadership Team
The Senior Leadership Team receives recommendations from the Queen’s Digital Planning Committee and implements the strategic direction set by the Board of Trustees through its Finance, Assets, and Strategic Infrastructure Committee.
It serves as the senior administrative body responsible for university wide digital and AI priorities.
When responsibilities intersect with the academic mission, including teaching, learning, and research, this work proceeds in parallel with Senate’s academic authority.
Broader University Governance Context
AI governance operates within the University’s broader governance ecosystem, which includes both academic and administrative oversight structures. On the academic side, Senate and its committees hold responsibility for academic policy, academic standards, and the integrity of teaching, learning, and research. AI-related initiatives that affect academic work are therefore situated within Senate’s governance framework.
In parallel, AI governance also aligns with established administrative and enterprise oversight bodies, including the Data Governors Council, the Data Trusteeship Committee, and units responsible for institutional compliance. It is informed by University-wide frameworks such as the Enterprise Risk Management Framework, the Cybersecurity Program, Internal Audit, and the IT Change Advisory Board.
AI Oversight
![[graphic displaying AI governance structure and oversight at Queen's]](/ai/sites/quaiwww/files/uploaded_files/AI%20governance%20structure.jpg "Figure 1")