01/03/22 AMW

Purpose and Scope:

This policy applies to all credit-bearing distance education courses or programs offered by Juniata College, beginning with the application for admission and continuing through to a student’s graduation, transfer, or withdrawal from study. The purpose of this policy is to ensure that Juniata College operates in compliance with the provisions of the United States Federal Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) concerning the verification of student identity in distance education.

The HEOA requires that institutions offering distance education or correspondence courses or programs have processes in place to ensure that the student registering for a course is the same student who participates in the course or receives course credit. The Act requires that institutions use one of the following three methods:

  • A secure login and pass code;
  • Proctored examinations; and/or
  • New or other technologies and practices that are effective in verifying student identification.

Compliance:

All students at Juniata College are securely provided a unique network ID for secure access to systems, including for distance learning. New students receive their network ID and password through the enrollment system and/or using contact information provided during enrollment and/or course registration. As part of this set-up, the identify management system requires that students set up multi-factor authentication and create security questions and answers to be used in the event that students need to change their password or reclaim their network ID.

Students are responsible for providing their complete and true identity information in any identification verification process. It is against college policy for a user to give someone his or her password or to allow others to use his or her account.

Juniata College uses Moodle as its learning management system. Moodle integrates with college authentication services to ensure appropriate and secure student access to courses and other Student Information Systems. All users of the College’s learning management system are responsible for maintaining the security of network IDs and passwords, or any other access credentials as required. Attempting to discover another user’s password or attempts to gain unauthorized access to another person’s files or email is prohibited.

In addition, the College’s Student Information System provides instructors access to class rosters that include student photos associated with their name and account. The learning management system also provides functionality for student photos to be uploaded and visible in areas of the course including the discussion. Live audio and video of students interacting in the course is also provided via Zoom and/or Microsoft Teams. As technology and personal accountability are not absolute in determining a student’s identity, faculty members are encouraged to use these technologies and to design courses that use assignments and evaluations that support academic integrity.

At this time there are no additional student fees associated with student verification. In the event any verification fee is needed, it will be posted on the course registration site to provide an advance alert to students.

Juniata College complies fully with the provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. 1232g. This act protects the privacy of student information in distance education by requiring, with certain limited exceptions, that the student’s consent must be obtained before disclosing any personally identifiable information in the student’s education records.

Review:

Information Technology and Library Services is responsible for developing and ensuring compliance with this policy.