Survey on Establishing Remote Student Identity
This survey has been completed and the results have been published in AACRAO's College and University publication. We retain this site asis for archive purposes.
- Establishing Remote Student Identity: Results of an AACRAO/InCommon Federation Survey (coming soon) published in AACRAO's College and University Spring 2012.
- Summary of the results
You can preview the survey prior to filling it out by downloading this PDF.
You can take the survey by going to the University of Wisconsin site: Establishing Remote-Student Identities
Summary
This survey focuses on the process used to verify identity and to communicate login credentials to prospective, admitted, and registered students by institutions offering degree programs at a distance. The goal is to publish a set of remote identity practices that have been reviewed by key privacy and regulatory experts. This survey is an integral part of the goal. You can access the survey using the link at the bottom of this page.
The survey was developed by the InCommon Student Services Group - a collaboration of IT Staff and Registrar campus teams, AACRAO,Internet2 and EDUCAUSE . It will be open from September 15 through October 6.
Who Should Complete the Survey
The survey is intended to be filled out by the individual or individuals most familiar with the application and registration process of your institution's distance education program(s). (The distance education programs considered by this survey should culminate in academic credentials such as a degree or certification.) If different people on your campus complete different sections of the survey, please be sure to include the name of your institution on the survey itself so we can combine your answers into one response.
Background
Your students are admitted, registered, receive financial assistance, take examinations, receive grades, graduate, receive a diploma, order transcripts and have a viable academic life and history. However, these educational experiences and and institutional services are delivered remotely - these students have never been to campus and proximity to brick and mortar is not an expectation nor a program requirement. But, who are these people and how do you know they are who they say they are?
The institutional response to this question of assuring student identity is not new. However, the ubiquity of network(s), easy access to computers and smart appliances and compliance with privacy statues has heightned our sensitivity to the issue. For example, section 495 of the HEOA (2008) states that institutions offering distance or correspondence education must have processes that establish that the student who registers for a course or program is the same student that participates and completes it! What processes and practices are used and/or should be used to establish our student's identity remotely?
The need to identify remote identity practices has been raised in several venues. Recently, AACRAO sponsored a webinar entitled "Recruiting, Admitting and Providing Services Remotely: Establishing Identity, Distributing Credentials and Identity Management" in response to a question regarding remote identity practices and whether they were deemed secure, reasonable and compliant. The feedback from the webinar led to the belief that the need for a published set of remote identity practices was not available, but truly needed.
Where Can I Find the Survey Results
Responses received from this survey will be analyzed and the results will be presented at the Internet2 Fall 2010 Member Meeting (November 1-4) and made available online afterward on the AACRAO, InCommon, and InCommon Student sites. Specific responses will remain anonymous, with "Institution Name" only being used for correlation between different departments of the same institution and cited in the list of participating schools.
Where Can I Get More Information?
You can find out more about the InC Student group by visiting their wiki. If you have a question about this survey, please send email to incommon-info@incommon.org.
Filling Out the Survey
The survey can be accessed at the following link, graciously provided by the University of Wisconsin - Madison.
*Terms Used in This Survey*
The following technology-related terms are used in this survey:
UserId (or userid) is an account a user name or login ID (NetID). Can be name-based or not and may or may not be permanent/persistent. For some systems, the userid may also be an email address.
Credential is an identifier (such as a Userid/NetID) or identifying token (such as digital certificate) coupled with a "shared secret". usually a password or pass phrase issued by a system to a person., that has been mapped authoritatively to an individual. The identity of the person may or may not be known to the system when the identifier and the shared secret are issued.
Identity Proofing is the process used to verify the physical identity of an individual by having them present identifying documents such as a passport or drivers license in person, or remotely through challenge-response questions that contain information about the individual being "proofed" that would not be available to the general public. Identity proofing establishes the identity of the person to whom a credential (identifier and shared secret) has been issued.
