The Arts, Sciences and Engineering (ASE) faculty will consider a resolution next week that would restrict their access to students' information on Tufts' online Student Information System (SIS).
Currently, any faculty member who is or has been an advisor has unfettered access to the transcripts and confidential records of all students, potentially in violation of a federal law.
The proposed change, which the faculty will consider on Nov. 28, would create a tiered system. Advisors would only have access to information about their current advisees, while deans and department chairs would be able to see records for all students. Each department administrator would be able to see records for only the students whose majors are within his or her purview.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 contains provisions about the confidentiality of student records and many students and faculty members believe that the current SIS privacy policy violates the law.
According to Dean of Undergraduate Education James Glaser, Tufts' legal counsel is "very uncomfortable with the access policy at present."
"Without taking away from the information that [the advisors] absolutely need, students [should] have the privacy they feel that they're entitled to," Tufts Community Union (TCU) Historian Alex Pryor said.
Students first voiced concerns about the accessibility of records in a Senate survey conducted last year. Students responded negatively to the idea that all faculty members are able to view their academic records. The Senate then passed a resolution last semester urging the administration to restrict the access.
According to senior and TCU Senate Education Chair Amanda Richardson one of the main disadvantages to the current system is the potential for professor bias. When professors look at the transcripts of the students in their classes, previous grades could have an unfair influence.
"Whether it's intentional or unintentional, viewing those transcripts has an effect on their grading," Richardson said.
Local schools like Harvard, MIT, Wellesley, BU and BC all restrict the access of faculty to students' records more than Tufts does.
"We are completely by ourselves at the moment," Glaser said.
The faculty discussed the current proposal at the last ASE meeting, which occurred last month. It says that "FERPA requires that the university be particularly vigilant about protecting the privacy of student records" and "changes to faculty access are mandated by new interpretations of FERPA."
According to Richardson, if the faculty passes the resolution during the meeting, "it doesn't have to go through any other red tape."
Glaser said that approving the proposal would only "change in a very modest way how faculty do their jobs," but some feel differently.
Specifically, some faculty members feel that the resolution would make it harder for them to help students and keep track of their progress.
Glaser said that some faculty members also want access to transcripts so they can nominate students for scholarships and write letters of recommendation.
But he said that these concerns could be mitigated by allowing students to still grant professors access to their information, but only if they want to.
As such, students might be able to use SIS - even if the resolution passes - to send unofficial transcripts.
