Federal Requirement 4.8.2

Distance and Correspondence Education - Privacy

An institution that offers distance or correspondence education documents each of the following:

4.8.2 has a written procedure for protecting the privacy of students enrolled in distance and correspondence education courses or programs.

Judgment of Compliance: Compliance

Narrative/Justification for Judgment of Compliance:

Executive Summary

St. Petersburg College is in compliance with this requirement by maintaining and upholding a written procedure for protecting the privacy of all students. The College delivers pertinent privacy information to students via the College website. Links to various privacy statements are included in the footer of all main College webpages.

 

Right of Privacy

The College adheres to the same privacy standards for online students as it does for traditional students, as stated in SPC Board of Trustees Procedure P6Hx23-4.37 below:

D. Right of Privacy and Disclosure of Personally Identifiable Information in Student Records

1. A student may provide written consent to release personally identifiable information which identifies the party or class of parties to whom disclosure may be made and what information may be released. Such documentation shall be maintained by the College.

2. A student has a right of privacy with respect to the records maintained by the College on the student. The College shall not permit the release of personally identifiable records of a student, other than directory information, without the written consent of the student, to any individual, agency, or organization, except the following:

a. Officials of other educational institutions in which the student seeks to enroll or is enrolled so long as the purpose of disclosure is related to enrollment or transfer of enrollment. Student records disclosed may include updated or corrected information, as well as disciplinary records where it is related to a student’s enrollment or transfer, and a copy of such records or reports shall be furnished to the student upon request;

b. In connection with a student's application for, or receipt of, financial aid;

c. Accrediting organizations, in order to carry out their accrediting functions;

d. Individuals or organizations conducting studies for the College for the purpose of developing, validating, or administering predictive tests, administering student aid programs, or improving instruction, if such studies do not permit the personal identification of students and if such information is destroyed after its use;

e. In an emergency, where there is determined to be an articulable and significant threat to the health and safety of a student or other individuals given the totality of the circumstance, information found in student records may be disclosed to any person whose knowledge is deemed necessary in that situation. Parents may be considered the appropriate persons to receive protected information in a health and safety emergency. A record must be created and maintained outlining the basis for the disclosure, as well as the information disclosed and the names of persons receiving the disclosure;

f. In compliance with a judicial order from a court of competent jurisdiction or to the attorney of record pursuant to a lawfully issued subpoena, upon the condition that notification of the order or subpoena is sent to the student's last known address in advance of compliance therewith;

g. The State Auditor General in connection with his/her official functions;

h. Other federal, state and local governmental officials as required by law; and

i. In connection with personally identifiable information received under a community notification program about a student who is required by law to register as a sex offender.

3. All requests for release of information from the records of a student shall be incorporated into the student's records.

4. All information transferred to a third party under a.-i. above will bear the following statement: "The attached information has been forwarded to you with the understanding that it will not be released to other parties. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 prohibits release of this information without the student's written consent. Please return this material to us if you are unable to comply with this condition of release."

5. College officials shall have access to all student records for legitimate educational purposes. Officials shall include employees, contractors, consultants, volunteers, or other parties to whom the institution has outsourced institutional services or functions provided the party: (a) performs an institutional service or function for which the College would otherwise use employees; (b) is under the direct control of the College with respect to the use and maintenance of student records; and (c) is subject to the College’s policy governing the use and re-disclosure of information from student records.

6. In the case where a student is under the age of 21 and such student was found to have violated the College’s Code of Conduct relating to alcohol and/or a controlled substance, and where it is also a violation of federal, state or local law, and where it has been determined that the student’s behavior demonstrates a health or safety risk to him or herself, or to others, the College may release to the student’s parent(s) those portions of student records that relate to the violation.

7. Directory information may be released to the general public, upon request, unless a student has requested in writing that such information not be released.

8. In addition to directory information, the United States armed forces may be furnished with student recruitment information which shall include the dates of birth, addresses, telephone listings, levels of education, prior military experience, major fields of study, most previous educational institution enrollment, and degrees and awards of enrolled students. Student recruitment information which is included in directory information of former students may be released to a military recruiter. Where a student has requested a non-release of directory information, student recruitment information shall not be released.

9. College employees who have access to student records must report any improper requests for access to student records to their supervisors

 

Access to student directory information for online students mirrors that of students in traditional classes and is protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Students can opt out of allowing the College to disclose directory information by choosing that setting in MySPC’s My Information screen. SPC’s FERPA statement reads as follows:

 

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

Students and eligible parents and guardians have the rights as afforded by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and delineated under the Board of Trustees Rule 6Hx23-4.37 to:

 

  • Inspect and review education records within 30 days of the day the college receives a request for access
  • Request the amendment of a student education record the student believes is inaccurate
  • Consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student’s education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent

You may obtain a copy of the college’s policy on student records from the office of the associate provost on each campus, center or site.

Students also have the right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning any and all alleged failures by a state college to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the office that administers FERPA is

Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202-5901

Under FERPA, students have the right to restrict the release of directory information. This can be done in the My Information section of MySPC. Note that when you choose to restrict information, that information will not be released to any source, including publications such as telephone directories or other institutional publications. Directory information shall include:

  • Name and dates of attendance of students
  • Names of recipients of degrees conferred or to be conferred
  • Names of recipients of honors or special awards
  • Weight and height of athletic team members
  • Student addresses for use by the College’s Foundation and Alumni Association upon review by the Strategic Committee and the approval of the President
  • Addresses of students who have applied for graduation may be provided to Florida public universities and independent colleges and universities of Florida
  • Student addresses upon request of a local, state or federal law enforcement agency

For more information visit the U.S. Department of Education’s website, and search for FERPA. A copy of FERPA rights provided upon request.

In addition to “directory information,” the college is required by law to release to the United States Armed Forces:

  • Student’s address and phone number
  • Date and place of birth
  • Level of education
  • Prior military experience
  • Major fields of study
  • Student’s or former student’s degrees and awards

A student may request in writing that all or a portion of such directory information not be released. Said written request should be made to student’s campus associate provost or designee.

 

Additional Privacy Policies and Procedures

College policies regarding the Internet, email, and social security numbers are linked from the Statements and Policies webpage. Links to the Social Security Number Collection and Usage webpage and the Internet Privacy Policy are located in the footer of SPC's Homepage.

SPC's Internet Privacy statement:

 

Thank you for visiting the St. Petersburg College website. Your privacy is very important to us. Simply stated, our policy is to collect no personal information about you when you visit our website unless you affirmatively choose to make such information available to us.

This site uses Google Analytics*, a web analytics tool that helps us analyze how visitors use the St. Petersburg College website. When you visit our website, a cookie is generated that recognizes the date, time, website pages accessed, and the Internet domain and IP address from which you accessed our website. We do this so that we can improve the content of our website, and this information is not shared with other organizations. This information does not result in the identification of your personal e-mail address or other personal information.

If you choose to share personal information with us--by sending us a message or filling out an electronic form with personal information -- we will use the information only for the purposes you authorized. Some of the information may be saved for a designated period of time to comply with Florida's archiving policies, but we will not disclose the information to third parties or other government agencies, unless required to do so by state or federal law.

If you have other questions about our privacy policies, or have ideas about improving our policies, please feel free to contact us at information@spcollege.edu or 727-341-4772.

*Google Privacy Policy

Password Changes

Distance students interact with the College primarily through the ANGEL Learning Management System (LMS) which ensures privacy through its password protected secure login (see FR 4.8.1). Students choose their own passwords, and may at any time choose to change their passwords via MySPC, where the password was set initially. The ANGEL LMS password mirrors the MySPC password, so any change in MySPC is reflected in the LMS password. Students are prompted to establish security questions and record the correct answers that will allow them to reset forgotten passwords online. Links for creating and/or changing a password can be found below the login box on the MySPC homepage, as shown below.

 


In the event that a student forgets his/her password and is also unable to answer his/her own security question in MySPC, there is a procedure for resetting the password. When a student requests the reset of a password through a call to the Technical Support staff, a series of questions must be correctly answered. If the student’s identity cannot be positively verified, the student is asked to visit campus or confer with the Technical Support staff via webcam. During a webcam session with Technical Support, the student is asked to show a picture ID. If the picture ID does not match the student’s appearance, or if the student fails to answer questions about their demographic data on file correctly, the student will be asked to visit a campus.

 

Supporting Documentation

In order to preserve the integrity of the supporting documentation in case of updates occurring between the submission of this document and the review, the narrative above links to pdf versions, whereas live links are included below.