InCommon Federation Discussions About Online Student Services

[Dean Woodbeck <>]

InCommon Student Minutes – November 12, 2010

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ATTENDEES

Brendan Bellina, University of Southern California

Keith Hazelton, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Mark McConnahay, Indiana University

R.L. “Bob” Morgan, University of Washington

Mark Scheible, North Carolina State University

Ken Servis, University of Southern California

Dean Woodbeck, Internet2 (scribe)

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Review of Survey

Presentations on the survey results were made at EDUCAUSE and the Internet2 Fall Member Meeting. At EDUCAUSE, LeRoy Rooker did a presentation about FERPA. 

The survey reveals that about 1/3 of the respondents are not doing any identity proofing. Of the other 2/3, many have processes that lack robustness. It is probably fair to say that 1/2 of the respondents are not doing any proofing or have a process that is severely lacking in actually establishing a link between the digital record and the identity.

There seems to be a demand for best practices for remote identity proofing, but there are also concerns about cost and inconvenience for individuals (and staff). People don’t understand why this can’t be as easy as getting a Google account. So, in a perfect world, the process would be robust and effective, inexpensive to implement, and convenient (or, at least, not inconvenient).

Mark M will (with help from Keith and Mark S.):

1. go through the survey and identify robust identity proofing processes
2. identify how each of these processes accomplish the goal for identity proofing – that is, to tie the physical person to the digital record
3. outline the beginning of a draft for best practices

Keith volunteered to recruit Ann and begin developing a set of alternatives (perhaps from work being done in the UK and Europe) and/or by querying the IdM email list.

Once these processes lead to proposed best practices, we will seek a stamp of approval from AACRAO and/or other appropriate organizations.