3.1.2 Standards for Distribution of Student Assignments, Assessments, and General Information

Responsible Position

Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs

RELATED ITEMS

Minnesota State Board Policy

Minnesota State System Procedure

PROCEDURES

In compliance with state, federal and system mandates for protecting student data privacy, the following standards for distribution of student private and public information have been approved by the Academic Affairs Standards Council (AASC).

  1. Any documents or projects that contain information that is unique to an individual student and is not defined by policy 3.13, Information that is of a Directory Nature, as "directory" data will be considered as private student date and will be protected from public access or view. This includes grades, individual project feedback, home addresses and student ID numbers.
  2. Private Student Data storage will include a visual warning that the information enclosed is Confidential, which implies that unauthorized access is prohibited. This is to apply to physical file storage, individual student files and individual documents in storage. The storage standard applies to all individual offices, departments and classrooms.
  3. Electronic distribution of private student data will be distributed in an encrypted electronic environment through a method that required electronic student authentication to access the content. Examples of this would include the use of the college e-mail address, the student D2L Brightspace account, or authenticated web access accounts.
  4. Distribution of printed materials will individually identify the student recipient and protect content from public view. Privacy will be protected through the use of college-designated individual drop boxes, direct distribution to the student, or through supervised distribution that ensure the match between the individual student and distributed content.
    • College drop boxes may be used by programs and divisions with the following restrictions.
      • The location and program use of the drop box is inventoried in the college Academic Affairs office.
      • All drop boxes will have a printed designation that identifies the content as being confidential and limited to the individual identified on the printed material.
      • All locations of drop boxes must be in a supervised area which could be a classroom or shop, a department office location, or in a protected area of support services at the college that have unrestricted public access.
      • Unclaimed materials are to be removed after one week or on the distribution of subsequent material.
    • Distribution of printed material will protect content from visual review by:
      • Folding and stapling materials to protect content,
      • Inserting printed material into a file or envelope,
      • Providing a cover sheet attached on the return material, or
      • Other appropriate methods.
  5. Public posting of grades or other private information is not allowed at any location in the college.

Related ATCC Documents:

 

Approved by: Leadership Council

Effective Date: 2/3/2021

Next Review Date: February 2024

Archive: