Earlier this month, under recommendations from the University’s Campus Safety and Security Committee, the online directory or “People Finder” discontinued displaying student telephone numbers and addresses.
According to Jesh Humphrey, chair of the committee and senior associate general counsel in the Office of Legal Affairs, the change is a result of student feedback about dissemination of such information via the Web. Student email addresses and their major field of study will continue to be available through the online directory.
“Student feedback is one of the most valuable tools the committee has in shaping its recommendations, which is one of the reasons Chancellor Dubois made it a point to have students represented among the committee's membership,” said Humphrey. “We're grateful that students felt comfortable stepping forward and presenting an issue they saw as a safety concern and hope that's a trend that continues moving forward.”
Under federal law (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act or FERPA), educational institutions are allowed to designate as “directory information” that which would not be considered harmful generally if disclosed. UNC Charlotte’s directory information includes: a student's name, local and permanent address, email address, telephone number, date and place of birth, class, major field of study, dates of attendance, enrollment status, degrees and awards (including scholarships) received, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams and the most recent previous educational agency or institution attended.
Students are permitted to submit a written request to the Office of the Registrar to withhold such information from disclosure if they so choose.
The University continues to contract for the publication of a printed directory; the 2012-13 edition was distributed during the fall 2012 semester.