EDUCAUSE | Contributed by Organizations or Campuses; Articles, Papers, and Reports; and FERPA

U.S. Proposes New Rules on Student Privacy

ckeller — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:46:08 -0500

"The federal law designed to protect the privacy of students’ educational records has been under scrutiny and stress from a variety of angles in recent years, most recently from those concerned (in the wake of last year’s shootings at Virginia Tech) about whether the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act gives college officials sufficient latitude to report their fears about mentally ill students. "

Well, if They’re Already Using It ...

ckeller — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 11:30:16 -0500

College representatives at Educause conference ponder outsourcing e-mail to Google and how to embrace students’ Facebook habits.

FERPA and Campus Security

ckeller — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 13:00:39 -0500

This is a NACUA Notes from August 6, 2007, that discusses the issue of questionable student behavior and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ("FERPA"). This publication answers several student privacy questions concerning this issue.

Congress Mulls Change in Student-Records Law to Help Prevent Violence

ckeller — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 10:30:11 -0500

"In the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre last spring, Congress is considering a change in a key federal privacy law to encourage colleges to relay information to the parents or guardians of deeply troubled students. Some critics of the measure argue, however, that will only compound the colleges' confusion regarding what information they are allowed to share."

Report of the Virginia Tech Review Panel

ckeller — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 10:22:27 -0500

This is the report on the Virginia Tech shooting by a review panel appointed by the governor of Virginia.

The report covers the following topics, physical security, privacy laws, mental health of students, and emergency response.

FERPA Allows More Than You May Realize

ckeller — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 10:42:52 -0500

"Recent campus incidents have highlighted the importance of effective communication among administrators, faculty, and staff, as well as between campus representatives and students, families, and surrounding communities. Some commentators have argued that these incidents prove the need to amend the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, the federal statute known as FERPA that protects student privacy, in order to permit greater disclosure of information about troubled students. Actually, the current law works well, but colleges and universities need to better understand what that law really provides — and each institution needs to develop an internal consensus on how to approach the policy choices FERPA allows it to make. "

Fuzzy Understandings of FERPA

ckeller — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 16:41:43 -0500

"A federal report on the Virginia Tech shootings considers the misunderstanding of federal and state privacy laws to be a “substantial obstacle” to the information sharing needed to protect students. "

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GLB) Act versus Best Practices in Network Security

drupal — Fri, 25 May 2007 12:58:26 -0500

The GLB Act, signed into law by President Clinton on November 12, 1999, is a sweeping piece of legislation affecting all financial institutions in areas from fair treatment of women by financial advisors, to the rescission of Glass-Steagall.1 But the section that is getting the most attention is Title V, section 502, entitled "Obligations with respect to disclosures of personal information." Most everyone has received a notice from your bank, brokerage firm or insurance company explaining their position on privacy as it relates to your personal information. I would advise you to read it carefully. The law provides that larger financial institutions allow for an "opt-out" provision to be made available. If you do not opt-out using one of the proscribed methods, they can use your private information in any way they see fit. Financial institutions are scrambling to implement the specific provisions of section 502 by July 1, 2001, but in my opinion they are missing the mark. The focus of this paper is on a lesser known, but potentially more problematic section. Title V, section 501, "Protection of nonpublic personal information". This section mandates that financial institutions implement "administrative, technical and physical safeguards" for customer records and information.

University Campus Safety Final Report

drupal — Fri, 25 May 2007 10:07:30 -0500

In light of the recent tragedy at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Florida Governor Charlie Crist signed an executive order April 30, 2007, creating a Gubernatorial Task Force to research University Campus Safety in Florida. The Task Force, chaired by Department of Children and Families Secretary Bob Butterworth, will evaluate the security risks at the college and university campuses throughout the State. Other members include representatives of law enforcement, education, disaster planning, the Attorney General's office and students. The Task Force will meet in several locations across the State before submitting their findings and recommendations to Governor Crist on May 24, 2007

Privacy vs. Security

drupal — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 16:57:32 -0500

"Even before all the details emerged in last week's mass shootings at Virginia Tech University, a specific chain of responses seemed certain: The university would announce an internal investigation, an outside law enforcement agency would commence its own, colleges across the country would promise to revisit their safety procedures and Congress would hold a hearing."