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Brad Houston, University Records OfficerNovember 15, 2012
Created whenever you interact with students Gradebooks Student Coursework Email
Correspondence Retained for grade
appeals, audits Privacy laws and
concerns: dictates disclosure
Introduce participants to relevant policies and schedules for student records
Discuss retention and privacy requirements under Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
Focus on electronic records and requirements for storing and producing digital files PAWS D2L
Procedures, retention, best practices
Recorded information, in any format, that allows an office to conduct business Value determined by content
Four types of record value: Administrative Legal Fiscal Historical
Personal materialsWorking notes and drafts
Once a draft is shared with colleagues, it becomes a “record”
Envelopes and routing slipsDuplicate copies
Includes vast majority of “cc” email
Any Record created in the course of dealing with students or their information Vital▪ Transcripts, accounts, enrollment lists
Administrative▪ Transcripts, Add/Drop forms, etc.
Academic▪ Grades, Coursework, Exams, etc.
Advising▪ Case files, disciplinary files, email or written
correspondence
Essential records covering student’s entire career
Most of these records either permanent, or very long-term temporary Key example: Student
Transcripts, 75-year retention
Student Accreditation records?
Copies are NOT essential and may usually be destroyed when no longer needed
Records created for day-to-day administrative tracking of students
School/Department offices most likely to have these records
Generally high administrative value, little to n0 long-term value
Credit/no-credit approvals: 1 year after submitted
Add/Drop Records: 1 year after submitted
Entrance exams/placement tests: 5 years for enrolled students, 2 years for non-enrolled
Audit authorizations: 1 year after submitted
Records created over course of academic course
Usually held by individual instructors
Very high administrative value; almost no long-term value
Academic and Grade Appeals! UWM Select Policies S-28 and S-29 Students have up to one year to appeal grades Records kept through ALL levels of appeals
Academic Records must show: No error made in grade calculation Grade conforms to announced grading policy Work done by students removing incomplete Consistent grade calculation for new
incompletes
Grade Books: 1 year after grades assigned Student Coursework: 1 year after grades
assigned Usually final exams the only example of these
materials that are retained Copies of papers, midterms, etc. fall under this
Course Syllabi: 2 years after semester ends and transfer to archives Why? Proof of grading policy consistency
Email correspondence with students IS a record (UWCOMM001)
If you discuss grading policy/rationale with students, that correspondence CAN be used in appeal or litigation
If in doubt, discuss grades only in person
Records relating to student academic career, but not necessarily academic in nature
Often copies of vital or administrative student records
Usually held by department/office; may be held by Dean’s Office or Student Life
Most inconsistently scheduled of the main categories
Honors College Student Files: 5 years after creation
Academic dishonesty records: 5 years after close of case (Dean of Students)
CIE International Student Files: 2 years after closed
See also UWSA General Schedule: http://www.wisconsin.edu/gc-off/records/schedules/GRS.Academic.Advising.pdf
The brief version: 3 years for UG+Grad, 8 for certificates, 2 for prospective
Determine any statutory requirements for retaining records
Determine administrative/reference use beyond statutory requirements
Contact UWM Records Management to create records schedule Usually about a 3 month lag between
submission and approval by state Public Records Board
Disclosure rules for Student Records
Students have right to view educational records
Educational records are only accessible to student Student may authorize disclosure
Directory Information may be made available Exception: if a student has opted-out
Certain other exceptions exist
All records pertaining to students maintained at UWM
Presumption of confidentialityMajor exceptions:
Instructor personal/sole possession notes
Employment Records Campus Security Records Alumni records
Defined as information publicly available: Name, Address, Contact Info Year in school, major, enrollment status Participation in activities Degrees, graduation date, awards received
Students may choose to opt out of directory information release Contact Enrollment Services Campus Directory?
Individual Students UWM Employees with “Genuine
Educational Interest” Exempted classes
Financial Aid Providers Other educational institutions (for transfers,
etc.) Specifically exempted officials (FERPA
Manual) Accrediting groups/student study groups
Students must provide WRITTEN consent (with signature), including: Specification of records to be released Identify to whom records may be released Indication of purpose of release
Provide requested records within 45 days No consent needed if records are
subpoenaed or requested via public records request But contact Records Custodian first to determine
validity of subpoena
Keep a log of all disclosures of FERPA-protected information Exceptions: access by student or student-
permitted party, directory info disclosure Keep a log of notifications to students
of disclosure Maintain letters of consent for AT
LEAST six years after student graduates/leaves UWM
Release FERPA-protected information to parents Exception: if student is
under 18 Post test or course
grades using social security numbers
Provide records to UWM staff without “legitimate educational interest”
Yes! But make sure first: You have the
student’s permission
You have redacted any identifying information from copies displayed or distributed
Do not disclose student information if you have ANY doubt re: permissions Contact Legal Affairs for guidance Advise requestor to direct request to
Public Records Custodian Current Legal Affairs stance: presume
ALL student information is private Why? Directory Info “Opt Outs”
Wisconsin Administrative Rule 12, D2L, PAWS
Electronic documents are records too, and subject to public records request!
Records in Content Management Systems (e.g. D2L or PAWS) may be used as evidence in grade appeals/grievances
PAWS/D2L issue: what constitutes the “record” in these databases?
D2L COURSE SITE
Components that remain the same across iterations of the course
Non-student specific Built into the site
structure Usually not used for
documentation
D2L COURSE MATERIALS
Components that change across iterations of the course Example: grade
information Usually student-specific Content created for
course Example: Discussion
Forum Threads Main source of course
documentation
“Examinations, coursework, assignments, etc. as retained by academic departments to serve as source documents for submitted official grades.”
Retention time: 6 months after grades submitted n.b. If D2L records are ONLY copy of grade
records, save for 1 year after submission instead▪ Export, export, export!
Remember to go in and remove relevant documents/records once retention expires Course data that “hangs around” could be
subject to discoveryUW System has established annual
cleanup cycle for all course sites Courses after certain retention period deleted
yearly If you do want to save something, make local
copies
In general, records created through PAWS are responsibility of Enrollment Services
Access to student records subject to same FERPA privacy/disclosure requirements
If you submit grades through PAWS, retain your own copy for record-keeping purposes
Puts forth criteria for maintaining electronic records
Mandates design and use of information systems to support e-records
Does NOT require departments to maintain records electronically
DOES apply to records already being maintained electronically exclusively
Electronic records must be: Accurate: reflects the original record Accessible: Record can be retrieved Authentic: can be substantiated as accurate Reliable: produces the original record every time Legible: letters and numbers are identifiable Readable: Groups of letters recognized as words
All of these properties must be maintained throughout a record’s active life
Online (within D2L or PAWS system) Convenient, but may involve access
restrictionsOff-line (Print out)
Most reliable, but most unwieldyNear-line (PantherFile or Dept. LAN)
Reliable, moderately accessible Don’ t rely on one hard drive for this
“Cloud computing” lets you store and access records remotely Dropbox, Google Docs,
etc. UWM does not have
contracts with any of these services Security, Access not
guaranteed Be aware of FERPA
concerns
Summary and resources
Retain most student academic records for at minimum 1 year
Retain administrative or advising student records according to schedules
Do not disclose student records outside of specific exceptions
Prepare to preserve or purge electronic records, as appropriate
UWM FERPA Guide https://www4.uwm.edu/current_students/
records_grades/ferpa_facstaff.cfm UWM Select Policy 29: Grade Records and
Retention http://www4.uwm.edu/secu/acad
%2Badmin_policies/S29.htm UWSA General Records Schedule for
Academic Records http://www.uwsa.edu/gc-off/records/schedules/
studentrecsboilerplateUWROC.pdf
UWM General Records Schedules http://www4.uwm.edu/libraries/arch/
recordsmgt/common.cfmRecords Management Guidelines
http://www4.uwm.edu/libraries/arch/recordsmgt/guidelines.cfm
D2L Cleanup Blog http://d2lcleanup.blogspot.com/
This presentation available online: http://www.uwm.edu/Libraries/arch/
recordsmgt/legal.ppt
Or, contact UWM Records Management: [email protected] (Brad Houston) 414-229-6979 http://www.records.uwm.edu