IT and Legal Issues
The Chronicle of Higher Education’s latest episode of Tech Therapy, which spotlights technology and legal issues, was well-timed for me. Last Thursday and Friday I had the pleasure of hosting the attorney that SUNY Administration has assigned to SUNY Cortland. We are fortunate that two of his three areas of specialization are privacy and information sharing of electronic records such as FERPA and HIPAA, and issues related to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). His third area of expertise involves legalities related to University Police, including First Amendment rights of students and employees.
We spent some time reflecting — and chuckling about –how IT so often takes the lead on developing policies about the sharing and protecting of institutional records, even though IT is rarely, if ever, the creator or custodian. Similarly, it is typically the IT group that shepherds through policies on security and the use of e-mail, the Web and other communications tools. Why? Because these records and communications tools, along with so many learning modes, are electronic and the need to protect institutional data has become paramount.
In reality the focus of the policies should not be on the format, but nevertheless in this digital era that is usually the case. At Cortland, I typically coordinate the development of such policies, of course relying on the resources and expertise all of the appropriate offices such as the Registrar, Student Accounts, and Student Affairs, etc. Most recently I have been organizing efforts to develop a comprehensive College FERPA policy that protects student privacy, yet allows the campus to share information as necessary to conduct the business of the institution and adhere to Federal law requirements.
During the two days our Legal Counsel was on campus we met with a number of different campus groups including the President’s Cabinet, which ultimately approves most of the important campus policies. We spent a lot of our time discussing FERPA and the implications for the many offices who are custodians of records. We talked about illegal file sharing and proceedures for handling DMCA complaints. We also talked about HEA reauthorization, and what instituions will need to do be be in compliance.
Getting back to the Tech Therapy Webcast, it was the first of two Webcasts to examine how legal issues impact IT and vice-versa. In these days of eLearning and creation of online intellectual property, and with so many records and communications in electronic format, IT’s integral part in the educational enterprise has many legal implications. In addition to regulars Scott Carlson and Warren Arbogast, three attorneys participated in a lively conversation about legal issues that are impacting all of us. Tune in for a thought-provoking discussion on a timely topic.