ACES: University trying to cut down on sharing of Net-ID and passwords, making limited "guest" access available

✔ A mole sneaked Fact Checker an internal memo signed by the Assistant Vice Provost and Director of Student Information Systems, and we share the gist with Loyal Readers.

(Hey, if you have stuff to sneak to FC, e-mail Duke.Fact.Checker@gmail.com. Be assured of strictest confidence, adherence to limitations you may went, and prompt deletion of your e-mail from our super computer. 16 gig memory!)

Students will be able to grant a guest -- a parent, spouse, anyone -- access to ACES, the Duke-developed computer interface. Hopefully this will reduce the number of students who share their Net-ID and passwords.

The student will be able to tell the system what he or she wants the guest to see. For example the bills without the grades.

In most instances the guest will be able to look -- but not change anything. One exception: the guest will be able to pay bills!

The assistant vice provost, Katharine Pfeiffer, advises this will be a "soft roll out." If a student finds it while browsing around, great. There will be no memo until the end of the first week of classes when Pfeiffer traditionally sends out a memo about computer experiences.

"This gives us the opportunity to get some experience with the new functionality, and reduces the possibility of an unwanted strain on the system during the advising (course selection) period. In a project this complex, there a bound to be a few things that need to be tweaked."

Pfeiffer adds that none of the changes will violate student rights under federal confidentiality laws.

Here memo lists what a student access a guest can potentially received, if the student checks the box:

Financial Aid Items:
Awards Package
Estimated Parent Contribution
To Do List
Student Financial Aid Budget
Loan History

Student Financials Items:
Account Activity
Bills
Payments Summary
1098T for tax reporting

Student Records Items:
Schedules
Academic History
Grades – final and mid-term
Bio/Demo Items

Demographics
Student addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses

The list from the Assistant Vice Provost did not include e-mail, so we will assume you cannot give someone else access. Time will tell.