Student Privacy

Instructors need to take extra steps to maintain students' privacy and a safe learning environment. The University's General Counsel's office has provided guidance.

Notice of Recording

The following statement should be shared with students.

The University wants to make students aware that a course may be recorded by the faculty member for later use.  Please understand that each faculty member makes an individual decision on whether recording and/or sharing their class materials is warranted.  Any recordings that a faculty member makes available are for use by students enrolled in the class and are for the purpose of individual or group study only.  The recordings may not be reproduced, shared with those not in the class, or uploaded to publicly accessible web environments. Please do not independently record the course without prior authorization from the faculty member or an approved accommodation from Student Access and Accommodations Services office.

FERPA and Online Learning

FERPA, or the Family and Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, applies to all education records produced during distance learning instructional sessions. Under FERPA, educational records can only be disclosed to third parties (which includes posting on social media) with the student's consent or if a FERPA exception applies.

Distance learning education records could include: video recordings or image captures of Zoom sessions because the student may be personally identified, chat or message logs that identify the student, or other types of communications between instructor/student. These records are subject to the same privacy protections that apply to records created in a face-to-face instructional setting and should be treated with the same care as other student records. Please remember not to post FERPA-protected information, like student images or recordings, on social media.

More information about FERPA is available on the Registrar's website.

If you have questions about how FERPA impacts distance learning, please contact the Office of the Registrar at Registrar@IllinoisState.edu or the Office of General Counsel at GeneralCounsel@IllinoisState.edu.