ANN ARBOR—The National Science Foundation-Digital Government Section has awarded the University of Michigan a grant of $37,000 for a project titled “Identifying Where Technology Logging and Monitoring for Increased Security Ends and Where Violations of Personal Privacy and Student Records Begins.”

The funding will support research and the development of a white paper for colleges and universities about logging, monitoring, and privacy issues. The research will seek to define the full continuum of electronic logging and monitoring activities that are possible using information technology. It will also delineate the point(s) on that continuum where violations of personal privacy and, in particular, student records are probable or certain. The white paper will provide information for colleges and universities about these issues and best practices and will be widely disseminated.

Principal investigator for the project is Virginia E. Rezmierski, director of the Office of Policy Development and Education (OPD&E). “This is a wonderful opportunity for the U-M to provide leadership to the higher education community and perhaps to other organizations as well,” said Rezmierski. “In their letter announcing the award of the grant, the panel of NSF grant reviewers encouraged OPD&E to broaden the scope and budget beyond the arena of student records noting that the ‘topic is a critical one, of course, in the government arena.'”

The project has four major partners including the U.S. Department of Education, Family Policy Compliance Office (FERPA); the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO); EDUCAUSE, a national organization providing leadership on issues facing technical and administrative personnel in colleges and universities in the use of information technology; and the U.S. Policy Committee for the Association for Computing Machinery (USACM).

(A-6)orWono Lee

National Science Foundation-Digital Government SectionOffice of Policy Development and EducationDepartment of Education