Friday, October 17, 1997
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 3
Grade posting could fail legal test
Continued from page 1A
Students grading students' work
Lonnie Sauter,graduate teaching assistant in mathematics,said students graded each other's work in the Math Bock he is assisted with
this semester but more on occasion than as a rule.
"I have never been informed that this might not be acceptable," he said.
The loose definition of what constitutes student privacy is what leads to abuse at universities, said Mike Wiesner, Research Manager.
ment expert and staff attorney at the Student Press Law Center in Arlington, Va.
section of the Buckley Amendment and student privacy, Hiestand said.
If student Y evaluates or grades student X's work in class, then that technically could be seen as a viola.
Linda Mullens, assistant vice chancellor of student affairs, said she had not heard of any negative
repercussions from students grading each other's papers or tests.
"The issue of students grading each other's work has not been brought to our attention yet but I
can see how that could be problematic," she said.
Leaving graded work unattended Lisa Wagner, Wichita senior, said that she had been in an English
nau to pick up graded papers from a box that the professor left unattended by his office door.
Eric Meyer, assistant professor of civil engineering, said he occasionally left graded homework in a box outside his office for students to pick up.
"It seems to be a common practice," he said. "As you walk down the hall, you see a lot of this kind of thing."
Mary Sechriest is associate of the university council at the University of North Carolina and deals with issues involving student privacy and education records, such as grade distribution.
"One of the problems we face is when professors leave students their office mailbox number and leave the tests there, unattended, for students to pick up." she said.
Any student could look through the exams and look at classmates' grades, and that is a possible violation of the Buckley Amendment, she said.
Postina arades by KUID number
Many professors that teach large lecture classes at the University avoid violations of student privacy by obtaining the necessary written consent from students. Then they can post grades by the students' social security or KUID numbers.
"Our position has been - because of the confidential nature of the student KUID number - to try and discourage its use in posting grades," Mullens said.
The University recommends that an instructor post grades by assigning each student an arbitrary number rather than using
Leslie Dienes, professor of geography, said he had not received written consent from his students before posting their grades by KUID number because he was not aware that it was necessary and no student ever had complained to him.
KUID numbers, she said.
"This is the way I have always done it, and this is the way I'll continue to do it," he said. "Students have not said anything to me about it."
Edward Wiley, professor of biological sciences and senior curator at the Natural History Museum, said that he had students sign a release form before they took an exam.
"If they sign the release form, we post their grades; if not, we have to find some other way of getting them their grades," he said. "If it means handing students their tests and grades one-by-one, then that is what we'll have to do. It is not an issue of whether it is too time consuming."
Craig Martin, professor of botany, is one professor who distributes grades the old-fashioned way. He writes each student's grade on each of their exams - including the final course grade on the final exam - and hands the exams back to each student.
"I think every professor should put the grade on each exam and give it back to the student," he said. "After all, it is the students' exam, and they worked hard on it."
Martin said he was a firm believer in the Buckley Amendment and student privacy.
"I don't distribute grades by e-mail," Martin said. "I don't post grades by ID numbers, and I don't give another professor a student's grade. Students should be able to come discuss their grades face-to-face with their professor."
The implications
Hiestand said that federally funded universities emphasized the importance of the Buckley Amendment mostly to protect student privacy but also because the penalty for violating the amendment involved withdrawal of all federal support and funds.
Lindy Eakin, associate provost for support services, said that although the penalty for violating the amendment was severe, he had never heard of any instances where federal funds had been pulled from a university as a result of Buckley Amendment violations.
He said there was no simple way to ensure that all instructors complied with the Buckley Amendment.
"All we can do is tell them to quit doing it," he said. "We would have to approach each individual issue and try to fix each problem."
Sechröst said it was unlikely that all of the faculty members at the University of North Carolina or at any university were in full accordance with the Buckley Amendment.
"The most we can do is make sure people are aware of the law and any infractions," she said.
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Classroom bulletin boards no place for commercialism
Jennifer A. Yoon
jyeoman@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Advertisements, such as these, may soon vanish from classroom bulletin boards.
If you are curious about bands at the Bottleneck, need a roommate, or want to apply for a credit card, don't look for filers in University of
At least they shouldn't be.
and Registered Organizations states that use of bulletin boards within campus classrooms is
restricted to instructional information as defined by the instructors who use each room.
Kansas classrooms. They won't be there.
Few people are aware of this policy, and even fewer people obey it.
This semester, however, the provost's office is looking for a way to police the boards and inform faculty about the policy.
"There really should not be ads for Coca-Cola or anything else in a classroom," said Jeanette Johnson, assistant to the provost. "Only syllabi or course work related to that class should be posted on those boards."
Bulletin boards that are not labeled as for departmental use only are open to commercial filers. But even those boards are under attack.
Bulletin boards in the hallways of Wescoe Hall are covered with large signs that say "No Bulletins" signed "The Universalist."
"I think somebody is playing a joke," Johnson said. "Obviously someone is taking things into their own hands because they don't like the commercialism."
"The Universalist" isn't the only one tired of the commercialism.
As of yet, though, no memo has been sent out, Johnson said. She said the provost's office was looking for a more efficient way to inform faculty members of the policy.
"I think that the bulletins in the class distract students, and many are not particularly in good taste," said David Dineen, professor of French.
meeting, Provost David Shulenburger promised to circulate the policy.
Robert Basow, associate professor of journalism, suggested at the meeting that the companies who hired students to place the fliers be informed of the policy.
"I just tear them down," Dineen said. "We're doing it on our own in our department. I think that its important that the commercial fliers are taken down so the boards can be used properly."
For now, though, instructors will be responsible for policing classroom bulletin boards, although some people have suggested that housekeeping workers remove the filers, Johnson said.
Earlier in the semester, Robert Minor, professor of religious studies, expressed frustration to the Faculty Council that the policy forbidding commercial advertising on classroom bulletin boards was not being enforced. Minor said that faculty members needed to be informed about the policy and their right to remove commercial fliers.
"It's not appropriate for housekeeping to be responsible for tearing down bulletins, although they do often tear down bulletins that are past date," she said.
According to minutes from the
Daisy Hill voting debate continues
By Tim Harrington tharrington@kansan.com Kansan stuff writer
The issue of putting a Student Senate elections polling site on Daisy Hill will reach Senate committees next Wednesday in the form of a student-initiated bill.
A student initiative is legislation that has at least 1,000 petitioned signatures backing it. Even if the initiative falls in Senate, it will go on the ballot in the next Senate election.
Seth Hoffman, scholarship hall senator and likely presenter of the bill, said he hoped that it wouldn't come to that.
"I'm hoping we'll be voting on other issues at the polling site on Daisy Hill." he said.
Supporters of the initiative are members of Delta Force, the Association of University Scholarship Halls, the All Scholarship Hall Council and Ken Stoner, director of student housing.
Mike Schindler, ASHC president, said that his council supported the bill even though there were no scholarship halls on Daisy Hill.
"There are a lot of freshman up there," he said. "It'll be a lot easier to get them involved in Senate if we just get to them earlier."
The bill states Daisy Hill has the highest population density of any housing area on campus and a polling site there would increase voter turnout, which usually is about 15 percent.
Scott Merchant, business senator, said a such a site wouldn't address the real problem behind low voter turnout and a trip to campus to vote was the equalizing factor in elections.
"The only thing that all students have in common is that they have to come to campus. It's the common bond," Merchant said. "We need to give people a reason to vote no matter where the polling site is."
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