UC Riverside’s Information Technology Solutions (ITS) team is encouraging the campus community to prioritize data security by using a growing number of university-vetted artificial intelligence (AI) platforms.
As AI becomes a standard tool for research and administrative tasks, UCR has secured an enterprise agreement with Google to provide protected access to its generative AI platforms Gemini and NotebookLM.
The primary benefit of using these tools via a UCR Google account is the closed-loop system. Unlike public versions of AI platforms, which may use uploaded data to train their models, UCR’s agreement ensures that uploaded information remains private and is not used for model training or stored for other purposes. This may include unpublished research, grant applications, and personnel emails.
“It’s written into our agreement that the data we provide to these tools is not going to inform their large language models,” said Alexandra Chrystal, communications and training manager for ITS. “It's not being used to train their AI. It is our data.”
Gemini and NotebookLM are now available to students, faculty, and staff through the UCR Google Workspace suite:
● Gemini: Operates similarly to ChatGPT, drafting content and answering questions based on public web knowledge.
● NotebookLM: Designed for research, allowing users to upload up to 1,500 pages of their own documents. It only responds based on the provided sources, which significantly reduces AI “hallucinations.”
Another powerful and secure AI tool will be available to the UCR community in the coming weeks. UCR is preparing to launch a central search assistant called the Grove, which is built on Gemini Enterprise and directly connected to UCR information systems, Chrystal said.
“The Grove’s time-saving potential is exciting,” Chrystal said. “Faculty, students, and staff have told us that information and tool overload are major barriers to their success. The Grove is designed to solve for that by transforming UCR’s complex data landscape into an organized, fruitful resource.”
Gemini Enterprise uses Agentic AI. It’s designed to connect to UCR’s resources, securely gathering information from systems like Google Workspace and ServiceNow. The system is structured around specialized AI assistants called agents that automate multi-step processes, like helping students plan schedules or staff manage tricky financial workflows.
“The Grove is new, and therefore we’re starting with only a few ‘trees’ or data-connected agents,” said Chrystal. “But, over time, our hope is to connect all relevant UCR information systems so that we can reach the vision of the Grove being a true centralized resource with customized assistance and time-saving integrations and automation.”
Because of the protections in UCR’s contract with Google, even highly sensitive university data, known as P4-level data, can be processed safely with consultation with ITS staff. It includes information that, if disclosed, could result in regulatory violations or significant fines. However, Chrystal emphasizes that users must be logged into their official UCR account—not a personal Gmail—to ensure these protections apply.
Chrystal added that even personal AI platform accounts with strict privacy settings do not offer the same privacy guarantees as the university's enterprise agreement.
UCR was the first university in the country to establish a campus-wide enterprise agreement with Google covering emerging AI tools. This contract, finalized roughly three years ago, gave UCR a head start over other platforms.
While the UC system recently reached an agreement for ChatGPT Enterprise, access is not yet widespread. For now, Google remains the primary, secure source of AI tools.
AI tools offer significant productivity boosts, such as summarizing themes across multiple emails or helping graduate students organize findings from multiple sources. However, Chrystal advises users to view AI as a helpful assistant rather than a final editor.
“The output is never perfect, and I can’t overemphasize the importance of a human in the loop,” she said. “But if it saves time on repetitive or cumbersome tasks, that’s a win.”
For more information and access to user guides, students and staff can visit its.ucr.edu.
