Sitting in his office, Eric Kingson demonstrated how he can access the academic information of any student at Syracuse University with three clicks.

Kingson, a professor and faculty adviser at the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, was on Degree Works. SU advisers use the online platform to keep track of student grades and course requirements.

The platform gives him access not only to the records of his advisees in the college’s School of Social Work, but of all students enrolled at SU, he said.

“I could look at everyone, if I wanted to,” Kingson said. “Go to Degree Works, hit ‘find,’ put a name in. That’s it.”

It’s an issue that violates the privacy rights of students and puts the university at risk, Kingson said.

The webpage Kingson pulled up displayed the name, GPA, major, course requirements and course grades of a student whom he didn’t advise and who was enrolled outside of the School of Social Work. The student had consented to Kingson viewing his academic information beforehand.

Kingson has shared his concerns about Degree Works with several members of the university administration, including Chancellor Kent Syverud, the registrar’s office and both the current and former provost, he said.

“I thought this must be a mistake,” Kingson said. “Who would want eight, nine hundred people to have access to the records of 22,000 or so?”

The administration is aware of Kingson’s concerns, said Chris Johnson, associate provost for academic affairs, in a statement. However, the current level of access is both easier to manage and more convenient when students transfer between SU schools and colleges, he said.

Adjusting the system would be a complicated process that may create additional problems, Johnson said.

“Human error in assigning roles to hundreds of faculty and staff for thousands of students are inevitable and will be frustrating for students,” Johnson said. “None of which is to suggest that it can’t be done — it’s just more complicated than it would seem to be on the face of it.”

Degree Works also allows advisers to filter students by major, academic year and disciplinary status, Kingson said. He demonstrated how an adviser can access the academic information of individual student-athletes by narrowing their search to individual sports teams.

Despite Kingson’s privacy concerns, Johnson said he trusts faculty to carry out their work with integrity and respect the privacy of students.

“To the best of my knowledge, there has not been a single accusation of a breach of confidentiality with regard to Degree Works,” Johnson wrote. “If we move forward with adjustments to access to Degree Works, we will be spending real money — your tuition dollars — to solve what is to date a theoretical problem.”

The confidentiality of SU students’ academic information is governed by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, Johnson said. The university’s legal counsel has determined that the Degree Works system is compliant with FERPA, he said.

Any SU employee who violates the confidentiality of a student’s records through Degree Works would be subject to prosecution if caught, Johnson said.

While the university may not choose to restrict access through Degree Works, Kingson would like SU to at least inform its students about the site and give them the choice to opt out.

“It’s really a matter of students’ right to know that this is there,” Kingston said. At a minimum, I think every student should be aware.”

Published on January 29, 2020 at 11:13 pm

Contact Chris: cjhippen@syr.edu