Distance Education Student Privacy Procedure

The University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) is committed to protecting the privacy of all students, including those enrolled in distance learning programs. ULM strictly adheres to the rules of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA).

At the time of initial registration, all ULM students are issued a unique eight-digit student identification number. This student ID becomes the unique identifier for the student throughout his/her academic career at ULM. The student ID differs from the student’s social security number, which is not used for academic activity, either online or in-person.

• The student ID, along with a unique password, is required to access the Banner Self-Serve system, which is the ULM web-based information system that students, including students enrolled in distance education courses, use for course registration and to access grades, textbook information, financial information, personal directory information, and more.
• A separate LDAP account is also created for each Student upon admission acceptance that allows the student a single account access to online services such as myULM, CANVAS, eMail, Lab authentication, Lab Printing, etc.

Students who enroll in distance learning courses at ULM access the learning environment through a course management system (CMS) known as CANVAS. A course management system is a set of software tools that provides an online environment for course interactions.

• Secure login and password: Faculty and students accessing these Web services are required to use their personal LDAP login and password. Upon initial login to myULM for account activation, all users are recommended to change their password.
• In the CMS, faculty are restricted to accessing information within the courses that they teach and students are restricted to faculty-published information in the courses in which they are enrolled.

• In the CMS, faculty members may post course materials, assignments and exams, discussion forums for their courses; students may participate in the discussion forums, upload assignments, and take quizzes and exams. The privacy of individual students’ assignments and grades is maintained within the course management system.