AACRAO's Recent Security-Related Events

Identity Management Workshop. On July 9–10, AACRAO partnered with EDUCAUSE and Internet2 to host a conference on "Identity Management: Moving Your Institution Forward." Participants were Registrars and IT staff, who gathered to work together on electronic identity issues and to discuss priorities for continuing collaboration to handle the challenges faced by higher education institutions in this arena. Read more >

AACRAO Technology Conference. The fifth annual AACRAO Technology Conference, held in Baltimore, MD July 10–12, included a number of sessions that dealt extensively with electronic security issues. For example:

• Privacy and Security Considerations for Student Information. This presentation by Rodney Petersen, Government Relations Officer & Security Task Force Coordinator, EDUCAUSE provided an overview of the legal and regulatory landscape (including proposed rules for FERPA to address changes in information technology) and the Confidential Data Handling Blueprint developed by the EDUCAUSE/Internet2 Computer and Network Security Task Force.
• Opportunities and Efficiencies: Supporting Student Services with Federated Identity.(pdf) Presenters Nancy Krogh, University Registrar, University of Idaho; and Ann West, NMI-EDIT Outreach Coordinator, EDUCAUSE/Internet2, Michigan Technological University, discussed the work of a group of IT and Registrar campus representatives who have been meeting for a year on access management problems for off-campus or inter-campus student services. With some support from AACRAO, EDUCAUSE, and Internet2, their work has covered such areas as outsourcing anonymous student course evaluations, working with large data partners such as National Student Clearinghouse to streamline and better secure access to their services, and tools for communicating to Registrars about federated identity.

Many other handouts from the Conference are available on the site: http://handouts.aacrao.org/tech08/display.php

FERPA Update with LeRoy Rooker. The Director of the Family Compliance Office with the U.S. Department of Education presented his latest FERPA update for AACRAO at the Technology Conference. It is available, for a registration fee, at webinar.aacrao.org/ferpa_update/.

Coping with the Aftermath of Campus Violence Webinar. On August 6, AACRAO hosted a webinar concerning faculty, student, registration and classroom issues faced by the Registrar's Office in the wake of a disaster. Presenters were from the University of Texas at Austin–Linda Pendergrass, Associate Registrar; Shelby Stanfield, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Registrar; and Mike Kirkendall, Associate Registrar. They included information from others at UT Austin; Virginia Tech, Delaware State, and Northern Illinois, universities that have been shaken in the past several year by violent incidents. Urgent considerations included: If faculty are killed, will their classes be continued by another instructor? Will grades be assigned by the chair of the department? Will students be allowed to withdraw, with or without a refund, if they are too impacted by the event to continue for the semester? Should grades be assigned based on the grade earned at the time of the event? If students are killed in the event, should posthumous degrees be awarded, and to which students? This webinar is available to those who registered for the event at: webinar.aacrao.org/campus_violence/.