  Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT have recently gained significant
attention in higher education. This study aims to understand how universities
establish policies regarding the use of AI tools and explore the factors that
influence their decisions. Our study examines ChatGPT policies implemented at
universities around the world, including their existence, content, and issuance
dates. Specifically, we analyzed the top 500 universities according to the 2022
QS World University Rankings. Our findings indicate that there is significant
variation in university policies. Less than one-third of the universities
included in the study had implemented ChatGPT policies. Of the universities
with ChatGPT policies, approximately 67 percent embraced ChatGPT in teaching
and learning, more than twice the number of universities that banned it. The
majority of the universities that ban the use of ChatGPT in assessments allow
individual instructors to deviate from this restrictive policy. Our empirical
analysis identifies several factors that are significantly and positively
correlated with a university's likelihood of having a ChatGPT policy, including
the university's academic reputation score, being in an English-speaking
country, and the general public attitudes toward ChatGPT. In addition, we found
that a university's likelihood of having a ban policy is positively associated
with faculty student ratio, citations, and the English-speaking country dummy,
while negatively associated with the number of peer universities within the
same country that have banned ChatGPT. We discuss the challenges faced by
universities based our empirical findings.
