A proposal to refresh the Acceptable Use Policy at Thursday’s Academic Council meeting raised more concerns than expected, leading to a lengthy and at times heated discussion about privacy and security of information on Duke servers.
Although the Council decided to postpone decisions about the policy to its May meeting, it also heard proposals for the creation of five new graduate and doctoral degree programs and a Masters Advisory Council before entering executive session to discuss honorary degrees.
The Information Technology Advisory Council is attempting to refresh its statement on security and privacy, first released in May 1997, by adding clauses to encompass certain legal, regulatory and compliance issues that have developed since its creation and to account for the present technological environment.
According to the proposed revisions of the current Acceptable Use Policy, investigations, subpoenas, lawsuits or threatened litigation may require Duke by law to provide electronic records or other related information resources to protect the University’s legal interests.
Richard Hain, professor of mathematics, however, brought up a number of concerns about the privacy of the data on his computer.
“I’ve had all my files since I’ve been using the Duke server in the late 1980s,” Hain said. “What assurance do I have that [my information] is going to be kept from prying eyes?”
Academic Council Chair Craig Henriquez, professor of biomedical engineering, wrote in an e-mail that Hain raised a number of points about who has access to data and e-mails and whether the data could be somehow encrypted to protect against being compromised by an unauthorized group or individual.
“The privacy of data and messages on Duke servers cannot be ensured,” Henriquez said. “This is not to say that Duke is making it less secure, but the policy is letting people know that they need to take responsibility for keeping their own data and passwords secure and private.”
Faculty members proposed making the policy more detailed in order to address their concerns, but information technology members were hesitant to do so because they said it would be entering the realm of human resources.
The debate concluded by pushing the discussion to the Council’s next meeting in May, allowing ITAC to iron out the questions raised by Hain and other faculty members.
In other business:
The Council elected its new executive committee, adding three new members: Jennifer Brody, professor of African and African American Studies, Steffen Bass, associate professor of physics and Larry Zelenak, Pamela B. Gann professor of law.
Various departments proposed a total of five different graduate and doctoral degree programs at the council’s penultimate meeting of the year. The degrees include Masters in Biostatistics, Masters in Fine Arts, Master of Christian Studies, a Master of Arts in Christian Practice and a Doctor of Ministry degree. The Council will vote on the proposals at its next meeting.
In further graduate school-related efforts, the Council approved the creation of a Masters Advisory Council, which Henriquez said will help the process of getting new programs, aid in the review of programs and help monitor the growth of the number of students across many schools, avoiding redundancy of efforts and services.
Henriquez noted that there are three main reasons there has recently been a surge in the creation of new masters programs.
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