New and returning college students should be aware that secret records may be maintained about them in spite of the intent of the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act to protect them from such abuse by administrators.

After the 2008 shooting at NIU, the Campus Security Enhancement Act was passed, requiring each higher education institution in Illinois to form a campus violence prevention plan and campus threat assessment teams. NIU calls it the Student Threat Assessment Team, and its manual mentions a database used for recording cases. But the Student Threat Assessment Team is not widely publicized on the NIU website, the manual is not available there, and the Faculty Senate minutes even show one administrator claiming “it’s important that we not necessarily have lots of conversations with students about the fact that there’s a Student Threat Assessment Team.” Three other public universities have limited information about its threat assessment teams on its website: Southern Illinois University- Carbondale, University of Illinois Springfield and Western Illinois University.

How can a student request access to their records if they are unaware of its existence? If they make a request for all of their education records, it would hopefully be included in the response. I submitted such a request to the Office of Registration and Records to test whether that would be possible, but they predictably replied that I would have to submit requests to a list of other records custodians. After explaining the above facts and suggesting they take on the burden of seeking out responsive records, General Counsel gave an invitation to specify any records I was seeking that were not provided in the list. So no, a student is unable to discover any records which are kept from their knowledge.

I suspected the Student Threat Assessment Team database would have records on me and submitted a request for them. What I received back shows the Student Threat Assessment Team was compiling information about me, including my veteran medical records and whether I possessed a Firearms Owners Identification card. These records also mention the lawsuit I filed against the Student Association and a complaint I submitted to the Office of Civil Rights. Neither of those are threatening or concerning behaviors and are entirely acceptable actions within the legal system to protect my rights. Some records are as accurate as rumors, so I also worry how they might affect future decisions against me.

There’s a legitimate interest in threat assessment and determining whether a potentially threatening student has a Firearms Owners Identification card is probably an appropriate response. Obtaining access to medical records might also be, but that seems like a gray area. However, there appears to be little control over what information is available to threat assessment teams and providing it only on a need-to-know basis, or on how to redress any unwarranted invasions of privacy. I believe there should be significant review of these plans by student and privacy advocates.