Managing your personal information

• What personal information can you view online - your contact information, grades, degree progress, financial status, or other information?
  
  CWU students are allowed to access a variety of information online including contact information, grades, degree progress, financial aid status, and much more. As part of CWU's Enterprise Information System, the reliance on standing in long lines has basically been eliminated. Students receive refunds automatically and can have their refunds direct deposited into accounts. The days of standing in line at the Financial Aid Office or the Registrar's Office are a thing of the past at CWU. In the fall of 2006, nearly 1,200 students were accessing their data and changing classes online concurrently. Some of the information that you can view online includes:
  
  

  • Contact Information (address, phone, email, and name)
  • To Do Items
  • Holds
  • FERPA Policy
  • Enrollment Appointment
  • Daily and Weekly Personal Class Schedules
  • Personal Final Exam Schedule
  • Grades
  • Degree Progress
  • Transfer Credit
  • Advisor Contact Information
  • Unofficial Transcript

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• Can you update any of this information online yourself?
  
  Limited data can be changed by the students. Some contact information such as address, phone number and email address can be updated online by the student, but obviously grades and academic related information cannot. In addition, nearly all applications for admission to CWU are handled online securely.

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Conducting business

• Which of the following can you do online?
  
  CWU's Enterprise Information System includes 3 major components. These are the Human Resource module, the Financial Management module, and the Safari Module (Student Administration). Via these systems, students are able to check statuses on admissions and Financial Aid; pay bills; register for classes and add/drop classes; check schedules; view course grades; view and print unofficial transcripts and request official transcripts; check their progress toward degree completion; and much more. In the fall of 2006, CWU's online system witnessed nearly 1,200 concurrent students accessing their records and modifying their schedules. In short, all of the items listed below, and more, can be done online by students at CWU.

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  • Check admissions status
  • Pay bills
  • Apply for and view financial aid awards
  • Register for, add and drop courses
  • Learn course grades
  • View and print unofficial transcripts
  • Check progress toward completion of degree requirements
• What campus and community services are covered by debit-card, smart-card, or one-card systems?
  
  The one-card system at CWU provides a variety of services including purchases in Campus wide Dining, Wildcat Shop, various kiosk services around campus (latte stands, student store, etc.), controls student, faculty and staff access to the new Student Recreation Center, and more. The card is also used for security access in many of our remodeled residence halls and academic buildings. Remodeled halls also support pay via card laundry services. CWU's one card system is currently not available for us in the public venues outside the University. Expanded use of the CWU One-Card system is always under consideration.

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• Is the school catalog - including course descriptions, degree requirements, academic policies, and the semester/term schedule of classes - available on the Web?
  
  Catalogs for the current and previous academic years at CWU are all accessible via the Web. The catalogs include all pertinent information including course and department descriptions, degree requirements, academic policies, and schedules. To access CWU Catalogs, simply go to http://www.cwu.edu/~catalogs/.

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Privacy, security, and usage rules

• What security and privacy policies are in place to protect student information?
  
  CWU takes student privacy very seriously. Students who wish to utilize the protections authorized under FERPA need only set a 'flag' in the system so that academic information, email information, and other information will not be shared. In addition, CWU has numerous tools in place to prevent unauthorized access to information including password protection, firewall protection and much more. CWU does NOT use Social Security Numbers for student identification, and complies with all industry guidelines regarding securing of Credit Card and other sensitive information. No University or Company can guarantee security, but we take security very seriously and take all realistic steps to protect your personal information. In FY06, CWU received 100% compliance from the State Department of Information Systems for our Security Policy.

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• How does the campus educate students about and protect them from identity theft?
  
  Education is done via a variety of ways. This includes online videos about security and identity theft, articles in school publications, discussions at orientations, and more. CWU also maintains a Cyber Security Awareness website which includes information on how to compute securely at work, home and school. This site is available at www.cwu.edu/~its/cybersecurity/. To prevent against identify theft, CWU has implemented numerous security constraints, does NOT utilize Social Security Numbers as a student identifier, complies with all Credit Card Industry security requirements, and more. CWU receives a security audit every three years from the State Department of Information Systems. In 2006, CWU received 100% compliance in that evaluation.

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• How does the campus notify students of their rights under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)?
  
  The Registration Handbook and is supplied to students by mail each year, and this publication addresses FERPA. The online catalog has the full FERPA policy, and at new student orientations, FERPA is covered at some of the presentations. In addition, online in the Safari System, students have access to an in-depth description of FERPA and can choose online to not disclose their directory information. If a student chooses not to participate in the FERPA protections, an email is sent directly to them after choosing to disclose or after removing the disclosure from their account via Safari, to notify them of the change and the FERPA guidelines.

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• How does the campus manage e-mail spam and spyware?
  
  CWU has modern enterprise level systems in place to protect our systems from email viruses and spam being sent to CWU email accounts. In fact, CWU is in line with most businesses and Higher Education facilities in that nearly 70% of all incoming mail is filtered as spam. In addition to the enterprise level protection, all desktop computers on campus and owned by the University have anti-spyware protection, anti-virus protection, and automatically are updated with all Microsoft security and related patches. Student CWU email accounts utilize the same enterprise level spam and virus filtering. Students in Residence Halls are required to have their own desktop anti-virus protection, and anti-spyware protection is highly recommended.

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