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This semester marks our transition to Canvas SpeedGrader as the main tool for submission, marking and feedback.

While Turnitin is no longer used for this, it remains the tool used for similarity checking. Turnitin similarity reports will only appear if students accept the Turnitin End User Licence Agreement (EULA) at the point of submission. We are aware of incidents where similarity reports have not been generated due to students not accepting the Turnitin EULA, which causes delays to marking.

This article gives information about comms which are being sent to students, to help reassure them that Turnitin is not using their submissions to train AI. There are also some practical ways you can help support the messaging.

Student comms 

Students will be sent the following information, assuring them that Turnitin has not and is not using their submission to train AI models.

Why you should accept the Turnitin End User Licence Agreement (EULA)

You may be aware of concerns raised in the media about student work submitted to Turnitin being used to train AI models. Please be reassured that student work submitted through Turnitin at Sussex is NOT being used in this way. We continue to closely monitor updates and changes across all our platforms and make informed decisions as needed in dialogue with staff and students.

At Sussex, Turnitin continues to be used to check the originality of your work. Students can also use the tool to review and improve drafts of their work before submission, ensuring that the effort they have put in is properly recognised. We know many students rely on this service and you can continue to do so with confidence that their work is safe, secure and not used for the development of any AI services.

Accepting the licence agreement remains the recommended option for students. If you have already declined the agreement, you can visit the assignment submission on the Draft Checking site to accept it. This is a one time event and will reduce the potential for delays and technical issues during the upcoming assessment period.

How you can help

To help make the assessment period run smoothly here are some ways you can help. For assessments that require a Turnitin similarity report please talk to your students to:

• tell them to avoid using the Canvas mobile app to submit assignments. 
• encourage them to accept the Turnitin EULA when prompted (as per the comms above). 
• reassure any students who raise concerns about student work submitted to Turnitin being used to train AI models, that student work submitted to Turnitin at Sussex is not being used in this way.

If you are marking a submission where a student has not accepted the EULA, in Canvas Speedgrader you will see the message “Asset cannot be processed because the EULA has not been accepted”.

If this happens you can:

• encourage the student to accept the Turnitin EULA when next prompted. 
• ask the student to submit something to the Student Draft Check site, via a web browser (not the Canvas mobile app). This should prompt the student to accept the EULA. A link to the Draft Check site is in the left-hand menu of all Canvas module sites. 
• Once the student has accepted the EULA, the marker can then click Resubmit All Files on the student's submission in Canvas Speedgrader to generate a report for the student’s submission.

Alternatively markers can download the submission from Canvas Speedgrader and submit the student’s work to the Similarity Score Draft Check for Staff Canvas site. This will generate a Turnitin similarity report.

We have more detailed guidance availabe, but of course if you have any questions, please contact Educational Enhancement on ee@sussex.ac.uk