Recently, a number of faculty have asked me about the practice of posting grade sheets, with the names removed, in hallways by classrooms and faculty offices. I am writing to provide information on the issue and ask that you share it with your faculty.
Students have the right to have some control over the disclosure of information from the records.
Educational institutions have the responsibility to prevent improper disclosure of personally identifiable information from the records. Even with names obscured, numeric student identifier numbers are considered personally identifiable information. This can be accomplished either by obtaining the student's uncoerced written permission to do so or by using code words or randomly assigned numbers that only the instructor and individual student know. The order of posting should not be alphabetic. The completed postcard is given to the instructor who writes the student's grade on the message side and mails it to the student when grades have been determined.