Entered on 18 February 2004 at 4:38 p.m..
Out of the directory?
Here is a funny/amusing story of a GT student who just wanted to post her office information instead of her home information on the GT directory. The names have been modified to protect the incompetent. This dialoge has taken place over the course of 1 month.
Jan 13 Karen writes the following email to OIT
Dear Madam/Sir,
I would like to modify the information about me which is posted on the internal directory. Please let me know how to go about removing my personal information and adding my office information instead.
Cheers,
Karen
Jan 14 OIT responds to both Karen and D. at the registrar
This request for help was received by OIT, however, we are unable to offer the assistance needed. We are referring the customer to you, since we believe that you can offer them the needed service.
Please reply if this is an error.
Jan 14 D. at the registrar responds to Karen
If you wish to suppress information, you need to complete a form in room 104 of the Tech Tower.
Jan 15 Karen goes to the Tech tower and fills out stupid form. Still bothered by how her information made it onto the web int the first place she writes D. at the registrar the following email. Please note that I'm still trying to post my work info.
Dear D.,
Thanks. I went in this morning and filled the form out.
I was wondering if you could tell me when I gave my consent to have it posted in the first place. Memory is a ficle thing, and although I cannot remember signing anything, it is rather likely that I gave my concent somewhere in my application paper work. I was just curious when/where I gave my concent.
Also instead of posting my home address and phone number I would like to post my office number and address. Is this possible?
Cheers,
Karen
Jan 15 Karen receives the following email from D.
What is posted is considered "directory information" and is made available for everyone unless the student completes the form. We are allowed to do this according to FERPA. If you in your role as an employee do not want information posted (or want different information posted), you will need to contact HR.
Feb 8, Karen randomly checks to see if the removal took effect, and finds that she no longer appears in the directory at all. Deciding it isn't worth bothering about, she puts it out of her mind.
Feb 18 Karen attempts to download some software from OIT for which the campus has a site license, and receives an error message. She writes the following email to OIT.
Hello. You are getting this error because there is no information in the campus directory for you.
See http://www.gatech.edu/directories/index.php?entry=gtg701s
You will need to contact the Registrar's Office to have this corrected. Specifically, there needs to be something listed under Title. Thanks.
Feb 18 Karen, fairly livid, calls the registrar's office and thankfully gets transfered to B. who explains that while I choose not to be listed in the directory, they can lawfully withhold my right to the site license software. B. recommends that Karen speak with J. at OIT who should be able to make her home information disappear. Karen, however, must then in WRITING remove the privacy request that she previously filled out (the form at the Tech Tower. Karen then calls J. and he promptly fixes everything for her. Karen however must still go remove the privacy request IN WRITING. Sigh.
I hope you all found this as amusing as I have.
So as a result, I've now made front page news. The front page of the registrar's website addresses my concern, by specifically positng the FERPA ruling which allows them to post my information on their database :) Why do these things always happen to me?