InCommon Federation Discussions About Online Student Services

[Dean Woodbeck <>]

InC-Student: Notes from 2/5/2010

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Attending

Andrea Beesing, Cornell University
Brendan Bellina, University of Southern California
Keith Hazelton, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Louis Hunt, North Carolina State University
Mark McConahay, Indiana University
R.L. Bob Morgan, University of Washington
Rodney Peterson, EDUCAUSE
Mark Scheible, North Carolina State University
Renee Shuey, Penn State University
Ann West, Internet2/EDUCAUSE
Dean Woodbeck, Internet2 (scribe)

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Action Items

(AI) Keith, Brendan, Renee, Andrea will touch base with their respective 
registrars/student services people to determine what the issues might be.

(AI) Rodney will distribute a PDF of the result - “Best Practice 
Strategies to Promote Academic Integrity in Online Education.” (already 
done)

(AI) Renee will distribute a document containing the account 
provisioning and password reset processes for three banks and one online 
trading company. (already done)

(AI) Mark S., Louis and Ann volunteered to draft an outline for the survey.

(AI) Keith will keep doing the research he’s been doing – looking at 
opportunities or methods that other industries/organizations using 
related to identity proofing.

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Participation

There was a discussion about the drop-off in the number of 
registrars/student services professionals participating on the calls. 
Some possible factors: day/time of the call, frequency of the call, 
content (heavy on the IT, with non-obvious short-term payback), not high 
on the priority list. Perhaps a biweekly call with IT folks, with 
registrars joining monthly?

(AI) Keith, Brendan, Renee, Andrea will touch base with their respective 
registrars/student services people to determine what the issues might be.

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Remote Identity Proofing Survey

Based on the discussions on the last two calls, there are two options on 
the table: 1) developing the M&M life cycle tool or developing some 
specific practices and/or recommendations for remote proofing of 
distance education (and other) students.

After discussion, the group agreed that the remote identity proofing 
issue is a hot topic right now, is more tangible, and seems easier to 
think about. Plus, this work would feed into the life cycle tool. It was 
agreed to tackle the remote identity proofing work first, then go back 
to the work on the life cycle grid.

Conducting a survey was suggested as a first step in identifying the 
issues and needs in the remote identity proofing space, focusing on 
admissions personnel, registrar personnel and/or IT staff. Perhaps it 
could be a three-part survey with each area completing a section. Or the 
survey could be structured so that a participant self-identifies in one 
of these areas and the appropriate questions pop up.

It was suggested that AACRAO might be interested in helping with this 
process. Rodney referred to some previous related work, in terms of a 
survey conducted by the Instructional Technology Council and WCET, an 
educational telecommunications group. (AI) Rodney will distribute a PDF 
of the result - “Best Practice Strategies to Promote Academic Integrity 
in Online Education.” In addition and for comparison, (AI) Renee will 
distribute a document containing the account provisioning and password 
reset processes for three banks and one online trading company.

The survey Might cover areas/issues like: 1) what are your practices for 
identity proofing, 2) what are your practices for remote identity 
proofing, 3) do you have concerns about your process and are you trying 
to improve it, 4) what are you looking for in this area, 5) the 
decision-making/governance process for this area.

After some discussion about broadening the approach to encompass other 
groups that might require remote identity proofing (adjunct faculty, 
TAs), it was decided to stick with students.

(AI) Mark S., Louis and Ann volunteered to draft an outline for the survey.

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Related Legal Information

Keith discussed an interesting presentation he came across, by attorney 
Thomas Smedinghoff. The PowerPoint discusses notaries and identity 
proofing. RL"Bob" mentioned that Smedinghoff is a member of an American 
Bar Association task force that plans to develop material concerning 
legal issues related to identity management.

(AI) Keith will keep doing the research he’s been doing – looking at 
opportunities or methods that other industries/organizations using 
related to identity proofing.

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Next Call – Friday, February 19, 2010 – 4 p.m. EST / 3 p.m. CST / 1 p.m. PST