Students, registrars clash on bill meant to Īprotect privacyā
 

By Jesse Stephenson
The Metropolitan

A Colorado lawmaker said he simply wanted to protect peopleās privacy when he decided to sponsor a bill that would bar Colorado colleges from selling personal information about students.

But what began as a seemingly uncomplicated measure sparked lengthy debate during a Feb. 4 House Education Committee meeting. 

 The measure passed.

The billās sponsor, Rep. Mike Salaz, R-Trinidad, said his proposal is designed to help pare down the amount of junk mail students get because businesses buy mailing lists and other student information from colleges.

ćIāve had students contact me and tell me they receive dozens of mailings from credit card companies and the like,ä Salaz said. ćI think student privacy is important.ä

Last year, Metro netted $3,500 from selling student information. Data for sale includes a studentās photo, class standing,  dates of attendance, extracurricular activities and area of study. Colleges also sell athletesā statistics.

Nathanel Koch, spokesman for the Colorado Student Association, told the education committee he thinks the institutions have no business selling personal information. The CSA is a lobbying group payed to represent students at Metro and 13 other colleges and universities 

ćI question whether or not itās the role and mission of colleges to be filling studentsā mailboxes with catalogs, offers from CD clubs, credit card companies and travel agencies,ä Koch said.

But Koch and the other CSA members were outnumbered by people who warned that Salazās bill will cause more problems than it solves.

Among the detractors was Jeremy Hoffman, a University of Colorado at Boulder student who heads up the student government there.  Hoffman said the measure might block employers from verifying that someone is a student or graduate.

Salazās bill provides that colleges can sell a studentās  personal information only after getting written permission. Currently, colleges and universities donāt need consent to peddle student data but honor all requests to keep it private ÷ even though that means turning down employersā inquiries.

Jeff Bunker, registrar for University of Northern Colorado, and Bill Hayde, registrar for CU-Boulder, both testified that the Salaz measure might mean more than just employment woes.

Bunker told the committee that students would miss out on some great opportunities if colleges arenāt allowed to sell student mailing lists.

ćSome offers may be seen as junk mail, but many are seen as terrific,ä Bunker said.  ćThese mailings include campus bookstore and class ring offers, employment opportunities, military and Peace Corps information.ä

Metro spokeswoman Debbie Thomas said itās too early to say whether Metro administrators support Salazās bill. Members of the education committee approved the measure unanimously,  but only after making several changes to it.

Included in those amendments is the clarification that colleges would only be restricted from transferring information for commercial purposes.  Salaz said he agrees with  changes the committee made to the bill. 

Next, the measure goes up for a vote by the House Appropriations Committee.