Skip to content
ADVERTISEMENT
Sign In
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle On-The-Road
    • Professional Development
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
  • More
  • Sections
    • News
    • Advice
    • The Review
  • Topics
    • Data
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Finance & Operations
    • International
    • Leadership & Governance
    • Teaching & Learning
    • Scholarship & Research
    • Student Success
    • Technology
    • Transitions
    • The Workplace
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Special Issues
    • Podcast: College Matters from The Chronicle
  • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle On-The-Road
    • Professional Development
  • Ask Chron
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Professional Development
    • Career Resources
    • Virtual Career Fair
    Upcoming Events:
    College Advising
    Serving Higher Ed
    Chronicle Festival 2025
Sign In
News

Group Unveils a ‘Model Policy’ for Handling Student Data

By Goldie Blumenstyk September 6, 2016

An ad hoc group of academics, tech-company executives, and policy makers convened earlier this summer to identify the ethical norms colleges should use in handling the reams of data they’re increasingly accumulating about their students’ lives in and outside the classroom.

To continue reading for FREE, please sign in.

Sign In

Or subscribe now to read with unlimited access for as low as $10/month.

Don’t have an account? Sign up now.

A free account provides you access to a limited number of free articles each month, plus newsletters, job postings, salary data, and exclusive store discounts.

Sign Up

An ad hoc group of academics, tech-company executives, and policy makers convened earlier this summer to identify the ethical norms colleges should use in handling the reams of data they’re increasingly accumulating about their students’ lives in and outside the classroom.

On Tuesday the group made public the summaries of that work, with a pledge from the convening’s organizers that the next step in the process would be enlisting a broader network from the academic and business worlds to begin creating concrete “responsible use of student data” policies for the information on students produced from learning-management systems, automated courseware, registration portals, and other electronic systems.

Today, says Martin Kurzweil, an organizer of the June convening, known as Asilomar II, most institutions either have taken a laissez-faire approach to the data-policy issue or have formed policies that are focused primarily on privacy and technical security.

“Neither of those is a good place to be,” he says. The former could be too lax an approach to protect students’ rights; the latter could inhibit the creation of systems to improve student learning or retention because it could block the kind of data sharing across institutions — or even within one college — that’s necessary to spot students at risk of dropping out or to improve teaching through so-called adaptive-learning courseware.

Mr. Kurzweil, who is also director of the Educational Transformation Program at Ithaka S+R, a nonprofit education consultancy, says colleges need to “shift from a compliance mentality to a responsibility mentality.” That means not abusing the data they collect but also intervening appropriately when the collected data indicates that doing so could avert a problem.

The materials released on Tuesday include summaries of Asilomar II discussions on three broad topics: the use of data in scholarly research about student learning; the use of data in systems like the admissions process or predictive-analytics programs that colleges use to spot students who should be referred to an academic counselor; and the ways colleges should treat nontraditional transcript data, alternative credentials, and other forms of documentation about students’ activities, such as badges, that recognize them for nonacademic skills.

Ithaka S+R also released a paper, “Student Data in the Digital Era,” that provides an overview of some current practices.

One principle that emerged strongly from the Asilomar II participants was that students should understand how data on them is used. That’s reflected in a model policy, released on Tuesday, that includes a discussion of the meaning of “shared responsibility” when it comes to student data. “Instructors, administrators, students, and third-party vendors all contribute to the process of data production,” the model policy says. “All of these parties deserve to have a shared understanding of the basic purposes and limits of data collection.”

The involvement of third parties — often private companies whose technologies power the systems universities use for predictive analytics and adaptive courseware — adds an extra layer of complexity to the discussions.

“There’s a great deal of anxiety about the relationship between universities and the many vendors they use to generate data,” notes Mr. Kurzweil. So participants in Asilomar II pointed to the need for some model policies that could be used in contracts between vendors and colleges.

ADVERTISEMENT

Such an approach, he says, could also help advance the overall effort of producing new norms. Today, he says, there’s a wide variance in higher education in how institutions approach those issues. “Everyone is just trying to figure it out on their own right now.”

Over the next six months, he adds, he and the other organizers of the group, including Mitchell Stevens of Stanford University, hope to begin creating a broader network of interested people and organizations to develop policies and approaches. “This isn’t the conclusion of the work,” he adds.

Goldie Blumenstyk writes about the intersection of business and higher education. Check out www.goldieblumenstyk.com for information on her new book about the higher-education crisis; follow her on Twitter @GoldieStandard; or email her at goldie@chronicle.com.


Join the conversation about this article on the Re:Learning Facebook page.

Read other items in Mapping the New Education Landscape.
We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
Tags
Technology
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
Blumenstyk_Goldie.jpg
About the Author
Goldie Blumenstyk
The veteran reporter Goldie Blumenstyk writes a weekly newsletter, The Edge, about the people, ideas, and trends changing higher education. Find her on Twitter @GoldieStandard. She is also the author of the bestselling book American Higher Education in Crisis? What Everyone Needs to Know.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

More News

Joan Wong for The Chronicle
Productivity Measures
A 4/4 Teaching Load Becomes Law at Most of Wisconsin’s Public Universities
Illustration showing a letter from the South Carolina Secretary of State over a photo of the Bob Jones University campus.
Missing Files
Apparent Paperwork Error Threatens Bob Jones U.'s Legal Standing in South Carolina
Pro-Palestinian student protesters demonstrate outside Barnard College in New York on February 27, 2025, the morning after pro-Palestinian student protesters stormed a Barnard College building to protest the expulsion last month of two students who interrupted a university class on Israel. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
Campus Activism
A College Vows to Stop Engaging With Some Student Activists to Settle a Lawsuit Brought by Jewish Students
LeeNIHGhosting-0709
Stuck in limbo
The Scientists Who Got Ghosted by the NIH

From The Review

Vector illustration of a suited man with a pair of scissors for a tie and an American flag button on his lapel.
The Review | Opinion
A Damaging Endowment Tax Crosses the Finish Line
By Phillip Levine
University of Virginia President Jim Ryan keeps his emotions in check during a news conference, Monday, Nov. 14, 2022 in Charlottesville. Va. Authorities say three people have been killed and two others were wounded in a shooting at the University of Virginia and a student is in custody. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
The Review | Opinion
Jim Ryan’s Resignation Is a Warning
By Robert Zaretsky
Photo-based illustration depicting a close-up image of a mouth of a young woman with the letter A over the lips and grades in the background
The Review | Opinion
When Students Want You to Change Their Grades
By James K. Beggan

Upcoming Events

07-31-Turbulent-Workday_assets v2_Plain.png
Keeping Your Institution Moving Forward in Turbulent Times
Ascendium_Housing_Plain.png
What It Really Takes to Serve Students’ Basic Needs: Housing
Lead With Insight
  • Explore Content
    • Latest News
    • Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Professional Development
    • Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Chronicle Intelligence
    • Jobs in Higher Education
    • Post a Job
  • Know The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • Vision, Mission, Values
    • DEI at The Chronicle
    • Write for Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • Our Reporting Process
    • Advertise With Us
    • Brand Studio
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Account and Access
    • Manage Your Account
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Group and Institutional Access
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
  • Get Support
    • Contact Us
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • User Agreement
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2025 The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is academe’s most trusted resource for independent journalism, career development, and forward-looking intelligence. Our readers lead, teach, learn, and innovate with insights from The Chronicle.
Follow Us
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin