University of Iowa Apologizes After Releasing Grades of 2,000 Students

IOWA CITY, IA --

The University of Iowa issued a statement Thursday that on Wednesday a document was mistakenly distributed to approximately 2,000 University of Iowa students associated with the UI Center for Diversity and Enrichment (CDE) in the Chief Diversity Office that contained their names, number of enrolled credit hours, and grade point averages (GPA).

According to the student newspaper, the Daily Iowan, this was a mixup involving the combination of an e-mail with an attached spreadsheet and a mass e-mailer:

...the email with an attached spreadsheet of confidential information was issued to roughly 1,700 UI students, Chief Diversity Officer and UI Associate Vice President Georgina Dodge said.

Dodge said the UI is exploring future protocol to better protect student information, including ending mass student emails in favor of communication via Facebook and UI websites, but warned that errors occur given the digital world of today.

“We’re going to revamp training efforts,” Dodge said. “All of the emails going out to a group will need to be reviewed by the sender as well as one other person. This is the danger of the world we live in.”

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The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that the involved employee was deeply sorry for the mistake.

A temporary office employee had intended to send out a message about a philanthropic club, but unwittingly attached the wrong document — a spreadsheet containing the names, credit hours and GPA of students associated with the Center for Diversity and Enrichment, Dodge said. The document was emailed to all of the nearly 2,000 students involved with the center.

“Unfortunately she made an error, and she’s been in tears all day,” Dodge said.

GPA is a temporary indicator of academic performance and is also privileged information, according to the University of Iowa news release. This information is protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Due to these FERPA restrictions, recipients of the email were asked to delete the data attachment from their computers to avoid re-distributing or printing the document. Those who made printed copies were asked to shred them.

According to the University of Iowa media release, UI leaders had already begun the process of notifying the affected students about the error. The university has also apologized to these students and informed them that corrective action is being taken to remedy the situation and to prevent a recurrence.

The affected students have also received information about how to receive counseling and support services in cases where they feel that would be helpful.