I spoke with the BlackBoard coordinator at Marion Technical College (MTC).
According to her, BlackBoard system administrators can access any class at
any time without our knowledge.  It's one of those powers that system
administrators have.  The MTC coordinator could name six individuals with
this power at MTC and then mentioned that BlackBoard system administrators
at the University of Cincinnati, who hosts BlackBoard for MTC, would have
similar powers.  The Dean or Vice-President of Instructional Services do not
possess similar powers; however, they could gain access covertly through the
BlackBoard system administrators.

In the past, my Dean has requested access to an ongoing BlackBoard course
for observation purposes.  I simply added her to my course and assigned a
role.  

Unless your institution has a policy regarding how long courses remain on
BlackBoard, it is likely that they continue to be added to the inventory.
MTC does not have such a policy.  Faculty and the BlackBoard coordinator are
beginning to sit down and purge old BlackBoard courses.

James C. Funk, Esq., COI
Professor of Business Technologies
Marion Technical College
1467 Mt. Vernon Avenue
Marion, OH 43302 

-----Original Message-----
From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ellis, Lizbeth
Sent: Monday, August 30, 2010 11:08 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Privacy and Blackboard classes

I spoke to our Blackboard administrator (also a personal friend) who
indicated to me that while an administrator could be "added" to your
Blackboard course and then "see" the discussions/chat whatever, that
person's user id would show up in the Gradebook and would remain there (in
red) even if the access was later disabled.  He asserts that there is no
capacity for anonymous "lurking".

That being said, remember that the Blackboard course lingers on your servers
for a period of time - probably at least a year if not forever - and if
there were allegations that led administration to legitimately need access,
they would be able to enter the course and see the postings. (but not
anonymously)  Check your blackboard course gradebook at any given moment and
it will show everyone who has access now, and had access in the past.  Keep
in mind though, that when you copy your course forward for a new semester,
the email and discussion may not copy forward, but it still exists in the
old course and can be accessed even when it may no longer show up on your
Blackboard course list.  In other words, copying forward to a new semester
does NOT erase the old stuff.

I have had tech problems in the past and have had our Blackboard techies ask
permission to add themselves to my Blackboard course (don't know if this is
university policy or just techie etiquette).

Keep in mind that if there is ever a discovery request that asks for all the
content of a blackboard chat, discussion or email, the university would
probably be required to access the content and provide it.

Our university policy, at least unofficially, is that the university
reserves the right to access everything on an employee's computer and server
space, if circumstances warrant. And they have exercised that "right" - some
years ago, we had a university president fired, at least in part because of
stuff found on the hard drive (allegedly).

How it is at NMSU!
Liz Ellis



-----Original Message-----
From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ingulli, Elaine
Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2010 9:55 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Privacy and Blackboard classes

At Stockton, we use Blackboard for both online courses and for communication
with/among students in a face-to-face class.

Several faculty have raised issues of privacy---concerned that
administrators might be unduly lurking on their Blackboard chats/discussions
etc.
So, the question is: does anyone have a specific policy regarding privacy
(or lack thereof) of Blackboard (or whatever system you use) courses? Any
experience with people snooping in on other people's classes?

We are a public institution, so I know 4th amendment is relevant--but I'm
not sure there is much of a "reasonable expectation of privacy" unless there
is a policy saying so. (And then, with Smyth v. Pillsbury in mind, there
still might not be!)

Thanks,
elaine ingulli
richard stockton college