During Tuesday’s Faculty Senate meeting, associate professor Kate Evans discussed new changes made to the University of Idaho’s immigration policy proposal and explained its purpose.
Through volunteer work groups and meetings, Faculty Senate, in collaboration with Evans, came up with a policy proposal regarding the university’s stance following President Donald Trump’s immigration ban, Faculty Senate Chair Liz Brandt said.
With a proposal already written out, Brandt said it required some revision in the hopes of covering a broader spectrum of individuals.
Brandt said the revision was extensive. In regard to students, UI has the backstop of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) in terms of student privacy. However, in regard to confidentiality involving faculty and staff, the university doesn’t have similar protections, Brandt said.
“We really kind of needed to think that through and segregate some things out,” Brandt said.
The difference between the previous policy proposal and the newly revised proposal is the addition of statements which help incorporate faculty and staff.
“The biggest difference in this proposal compared to what we circulated previously, other than some small refinements, is that we really realized our prior proposal was very much focused on students and that we really wanted to say something more broadly about students, faculty and staff,” Brandt said.
The policy proposal was put together to reinforce and aggregate policies the university already has in place, Evans said.
“This proposed policy is really intending to build on commitments that the university has through the faculty staff handbook and through statements made by President Staben,” Evans said. “To really recognize the educational mission of the university and protect faculty, staff and students to the extent possible under federal law.”
Evans said the overall purpose of the proposal is to consolidate the policies required by FERPA and put them in a location that faculty, students and staff can find.
The proposal is divided into certain principles, which are well recognized by the university and shows what policies flow from those principles, Evans said. They provide clarity and some amount of additional protection.
The proposal also suggests certain implementation measures to ensure people are aware of information regarding the immigration policies, Evans said.
One topic out of many addressed within the proposal includes clarifying what can be disclosed under FERPA and how students can control that, Evans said. It also addresses whether or not the university has the ability to limit information disclosed, as well as help students understand how to take control of their information.
Throughout the meeting, senators addressed their concerns with the policy and suggested a number of new revisions be made.
Brandt said she will look over the new resolution revision suggestions. Therefore, no action involving the policy took place.
“This is not the official policy of the university, this is us as Faculty Senators making a recommendation to the university … about what we want to say to our community about our values in this area,” Brandt said.
Savannah Cardon can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @savannahlcardon