Religious and Ethical Perspectives on Generative Artificial Intelligence Governance: How University Leaders Interpret and Enact AI Policies in Private Higher Education

Abstract

The fluctuating nature of technology, its applications, and its dangers have compelled universities to devise regulations as generative artificial intelligence evolves. This paper discusses the interpretation and implementation of these rules by the leaders of universities in the private higher education sector. This secondary qualitative thematic synthesis is based on 15 primary empirical studies conducted between 2023 and 2026. The research was also not linked to evidence in the literature review, and the studies were interpreted by policy enactment and organizational sensemaking. Three themes were identified. The first approach involves how leaders and scholarly policy participants are more likely to embrace rules like working guardrails, not fixed taboos. Second, there is decentralization of policy power; hence, wide-ranging institutional utterances are subjected to disciplinary judgment and assessment planning. Third, it relies on implementation based on capability, calibrated trust, infrastructure and relational legitimacy. The argument in this analysis is that ambiguity is not a mere deficiency in drafting. It may guard professional discretion, yet it may also catapult risk into personnel and create imbalanced student experience. Should there be a policy, governance is more effective in privately owned institutions where reputation, responsiveness, and resource discipline are more pronounced. This necessitates a system of enactment that links principles, local decision rights, staff development, assessment reform, and review. The paper concludes that establishing credible governance of GenAI is iterative, participatory, and evidence-based, but not prohibition-based.