The current setup of the Tufts Student Information System (SIS) service leaves the privacy of students open to abuse, according to a resolution passed on Sunday by the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate.
Currently, any professor that was ever an advisor to a student can access the student's transcripts, as can some on-campus employers and administrative assistants.
In reaction, the Senate decided to urge the administration to restrict SIS access solely to students, their advisors and the administrators themselves.
"I think the point of the resolution that we passed is to show the administration that this is an issue that students care about, this is an issue that Senate cares about, and we're not going to stand for our transcripts to be available to people besides our advisors," TCU Historian Neil DiBiase said.
The Senate also called for an update of every semester of SIS's advisor database to prevent former advisors from accessing students' records. The resolution suggests that if professors view the grades of their current students, then "that information can potentially bias a given professor."
According to DiBiase, wider access is available now because staff and professors complained when their access was revoked several years ago, feeling that some legitimate decisions necessitated the ability to look at the records.
Those that support the resolution, however, feel that anyone seeking a student's transcript should first consult the student, at which point the student may provide the inquirer with a physical copy of the requested records.
According to Senator Amanda Richardson, who drafted the resolution, this commitment to privacy is something that rang true with her colleagues when she first mentioned the proposal.
"I mentioned it at a Senate meeting ... just to see what people's feelings were about it, and the majority of people in Senate were in favor of a resolution stating how the student body felt about privacy and access to SIS across the university," she said.
The resolution, having passed with a large majority in its favor, will now be sent to the Registrar's Office and the Dean's Office.
The resolution also cites the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), a federal law that restricts access to academic records to a need-to-know basis.
This is not to say, however, that Senate believes Tufts is violating FERPA, Richardson said.
"The only reason I mentioned [FERPA] was because it's something that needs to be considered - obviously you can't regulate privacy unless you know the federal regulations," she said.
"I have confidence that Tufts is completely abiding by federal regulations," she said, "and I'm certain that the Registrar's Office is concerned about this as well because they were there when the issue was brought up [several years ago]."
TCU President Mitch Robinson also said that he is confident that the administration is already concerned about privacy, and that the bill is not meant to imply any lack of commitment from administrators.
"We're taking preventative measures," he said.
