Last print, The Stampede did a piece on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Acts and wanted to do a follow up piece on Milligan’s privacy policies. FERPA is what the federal government requires of all schools that receive federal funding, but many colleges have additional policies on top of that.
The Stampede sat down with Dr. Garland Young, vice president for academic affairs, to learn what other policies Milligan has in place. He explained what he deems the “privacy umbrella,” the policies Milligan has in place to protect students and their privacy.
First, Young mentioned FERPA, however, its policies are nominally involved. It only deals with privacy in terms of enrollment, such as grades or dropping classes. Professors cannot tell students about other students’ grades or if they have dropped the class.
Then there is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. HIPAA has to do with healthcare and health privacy. Milligan has a counseling center, a nurse and a disabilities accommodation office. Anything having to do with the health of a student should not be shared with another student without explicit permission.
Third is Title IV, which deals with financial aid. Financial aid is not necessarily treated as privileged information (information that is only to be shared with certain parties but outside of these treated as confidential), but students can ask for their aid to become privileged information. In terms of scholarships, one student’s scholarship should not be discussed with another student. Scholarships are very confidential, especially about specific amounts.
The fourth and final policy in this “privacy umbrella” is Title IX, which deals with discrimination of race, sex or gender. It is mostly talked about in the context of sports, with schools being required to have the same sport offered for both men and women. However, it also deals with harassment and assault on campus. These matters are extremely confidential. Milligan has a Title IX coordinator, Brent Nipper. He makes sure everyone’s rights and confidentiality are observed in a situation of harassment and/or assault.
The faculty handbook covers FERPA for professors to refer back to, and FERPA and HIPAA are covered during new faculty orientation. Young said he also plans to incorporate Title IX into new faculty orientation to help professors be aware of what to do with situations of harassment and assault. (Title IV is not covered because it would be seen as student information, which would be seen under FERPA).