Final Approval Body: Senior Leadership Team
Senior Administrative Position with Responsibility for Policy: Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic)
Date Initially Approved: 6/25/24
Date of Last Revision, if applicable: N/A
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to enhance protection of the privacy and safety of students, faculty, and staff at Queen’s University by limiting the amount of information about course offerings that is publicly available.
Definitions
Academic Units: Departments, faculties, schools at Queen’s University.
Course: Credit-bearing educational activities.
Central Administrative Units: Offices and departments responsible for the university-wide support services and operations, such as the Office of the University Registrar.
Non-Course Events: Non-credit bearing educational activities that include (but not limited to) guest speakers, public lectures and continuing professional development.
Course Meeting Time: The time at which a course is scheduled to meet.
Course Meeting Location: The physical location where a course is scheduled to meet.
Instructor and/or Teaching Assistants (TAs): The individual or team responsible for teaching a course.
Learning Management System: A software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting, and delivery of Courses.
Public-Facing Website: A website that is accessible without a login that limits access only to Queen’s University faculty, staff, or students.
SOLUS: The primary means by which online services are provided to Queen’s students.
Single Sign-On: An authentication scheme that allows a user to log in with a single ID (specifically NetID) to any of several related, yet independent, software systems.
Policy Statement
Academic units, Central Administrative Units, and Instructors shall not post to Public-Facing Websites:
- Course Meeting Times; and
- Course Meeting Locations
Instead, Academic Units and Central Administrative Units are to provide these details to:
- Students via SOLUS and /or a Learning Management System (i.e., onQ, Elentra, or SmithLearning).
- Other users via university-approved tools or services (i.e., Office365, including e-mail) that limits access to Queen’s University users via the single sign-on login.
Sharing Course Meeting Time or Course Meeting Location details by email would not be considered as posting to a Public-Facing Website but is not considered as secure as sharing these details via a university-approved tool or service that limits access only to Queen’s University users.
In cases where the Course Meeting Times or Course Meeting Locations must be public for the course to operate instructors are responsible for seeking permission from their unit head and following the guidance for planning Non-Course Events. This would include courses where an element of the course is also a public, Non-Course Event (e.g., a graduate seminar open to public attendance).
This policy does not apply to Non-Course Events.
Scope
This policy applies to all Academic Units and Central Administrative Units at Queen’s University. It pertains to students, faculty, and staff who are enrolled in, or teaching a course at the university. It does not apply to Non-Course Events.
This policy is consistent with the following policies, legislation, regulations, and collective agreements:
- Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA)
- Queen’s University Workplace Violence Policy (2023)
- Queen’s University Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Policy (2018)
- Queen’s University Policy on the Booking, Use, and Cancellation of Bookings in University Space (2019)
Responsibilities
The following responsibilities are assigned under this policy:
- Academic Units and Central Administrative Units are responsible for ensuring that Course Details are not posted to Public-Facing Websites under their stewardship.
- Instructors are responsible for ensuring that Course Details are not posted to public-facing websites under their stewardship, and in cases where Course Meeting Times and Locations must be public for the course to operate, that they seek permission from their unit head.
Related Policies, Procedures, Guidelines:
- Queen’s University Workplace Violence Policy (2023)
- Queen’s University Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Policy (2018)
- Queen’s University Policy on the Booking, Use, and Cancellation of Bookings in University Space (2019)
Policies Superseded by this Policy: none
Responsible Officer (senior administrator ultimately responsible): Vice-Provost (Teaching and Learning)
Contact: vptl@queensu.ca
Date for Next Review: June, 2029