As an associate registrar at Berklee College of Music, the author is responsible for ensuring the College's compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). In 2009 he was asked to be part of a team charged with assessing Berklee's conformity with a soon-to-be-enacted state regulation. The Massachusetts Department of…

Successful administration of remote programs and services requires that information technology (IT) professionals and university administrators address two critical identity management factors: (1) linking the institutional electronic record representing an individual with the "real" person; and (2) establishing a mechanism/protocol (user name and…

The education sector is no stranger to fraud, unfortunately. This article provides best practice guidance in recognizing and dealing with fraud, with emphasis on domestic and international academic credential fraud. It includes practical approaches to academic document review and verification. Success in fighting fraud requires becoming informed,…

This article outlines privacy and data security compliance issues facing postsecondary education institutions when they utilize cloud computing and concludes with a practical list of do's and dont's. Cloud computing does not change an institution's privacy and data security obligations. It does involve reliance on a third party, which requires an…

In recent years, colleges and universities in the United States have had an on-again, off-again relationship with Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) units on their campuses. This article discusses the history of how these units came into being and the benefits of having ROTC to the students, the institution, and the nation. While there is…

Ever since the founding of this country, equality, freedom, and justice have been the underlying values of America's political and educational systems. More than 150 years later, higher education policymakers in the United States began to incorporate these values into their admissions decisions by including ethnic and racial diversity as a stated…

This article updates developments regarding Diploma Mills, Accreditation Mills, and Counterfeit Diploma & Transcript operations. It will cover identification & prosecution, to new entities now appearing in these growth industries with annual revenues over one billion dollars. This article will address federal and state laws, a new Federal…

On every college and university campus, common themes weave throughout identity and access management (IAM) and its relationship to Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Institutions approach IAM differently as there is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Nevertheless, all face common elements. Over the past few years, a number of…

Presented here are the top 10 issues most likely to affect public higher education across the 50 states in 2011, in the view of the state policy staff at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). This listing is informed by an environmental scan of the economic, political and policy landscape surrounding public higher…

American Association of State Colleges and Universities' (AASCU's) public policy agenda, rooted in an uncompromising commitment to opportunity for the nation's students, is expressed through the following core principles: (1) Higher education is a common good that provides significant benefits to individuals and society as a whole; (2) America's…

What higher education state policy issues will be at the forefront of discussion and legislative activity throughout the United States in 2010? Provided herein is the consensus of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) state relations and policy analysis staff, informed by continual scanning of state policy activities,…

An analysis of state applications for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 reveals that its maintenance of effort provision appears to have successfully limited the amount of disinvestment in higher education during the current recession. This suggests that federal incentives and disincentives can help assure that states…

This publication provides a compilation of the issues affecting postsecondary education in America. The contents of this issue include: (1) Overview of Economic and Fiscal Dynamics; (2) Global and Domestic Growth Prospects; (3) Snapshot of Economic Indicators--November 2010; (4) Labor Market Conditions and Post-Recession Economic Impacts; (5)…

Student privacy and confidentiality are protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), also known as the Buckley Amendment. Among the four specific rights granted to students who have reached the age of eighteen or who attend a postsecondary institution, "consent to disclosure of records" is the most commonly violated…

Since the passage of the federal Student Right-to-Know Act of 1990 (SRTK), graduation rates have been a subject of much debate and controversy. Why all the fuss? The simple truth is that graduation from college does matter, and it matters more than ever. From the societal perspective, the United States is falling behind other nations in the…