[ http://help.unc.edu/?id=4713 ] Information for Students

Instructors and other course administrators are reminded that they are responsible for protecting the confidentiality of student records as required by the [ http://regweb.unc.edu/official/FERPA/FERPA.html ] Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and [ http://regweb.unc.edu/official/RPMs/rpm21.html ] University policies regarding the management of student data.

To protect student records in the Blackboard environment, we ask that you give Control Panel access only to administrative and IT support staff and only as necessary for the business of the University. Do not enable guest access to the Discussion Board and Course Roster.

Students showing no email address on the Roster in the Communications area have requested that release of their University-registered email address be restricted (this is the email address normally listed in the Online Campus Directory). While Blackboard hides restricted email addresses from view, messages can still be sent to the student using the [ http://help.unc.edu/?id=4731#d0e351 ] Send Email tool.

As an instructor, you will be able to see the email addresses for all students in the class (even those who have requested that this information be restricted) by using the List/Modify User feature in the Control Panel. Before sharing this information with others (including other students in the class), you must obtain the expressed permission of that student.

Please note: There are currently some inconsistencies in the [ http://help.unc.edu/?id=4731#d0e563 ] Discussion Board that allow for all student email addresses, including those of students who have requested that this information be restricted, to be visible. However, students can suppress display of email addresses in Blackboard by temporarily changing email addresses to a null address. There is a notice posted on the Bb Desktop to all student users of Blackboard explaining this inconsistency and how to temporarily change one's email address.

For assistance on technical matters, please contact the IT Response Center at 962-HELP or with an [ https://www.unc.edu/ar-bin/websub/index.pl ] Online Help Request. For assistance with questions about student records or FERPA, please contact Kelly Rowett at <rowett@email.unc.edu>.