Overview
This policy applies to all credit-bearing distance education courses or programs offered by Wilmette Institute (WI), beginning with the application for admission and continuing through to a student’s graduation, transfer, or withdrawal from study. This policy is to ensure that WI abides by the provisions of the U.S. Federal Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) concerning the verification of student identity in distance education, certifying that the student registering for a course is the same student who participates in the course or receives course credit.
The purpose of verifying student identity in distance learning is to protect the privacy of student information using one or more of the following mechanisms:
- A secure login and passcode;
- Proctored examinations; or
- Copy of a government-issued photo ID, Passport, Driver’s license, military ID collected at the time of enrollment
- New or other technologies and practices that are effective in verifying student identification.
In compliance with these federal requirements, Wilmette Institute has adopted the following policy elements:
- There are no fees associated with the verification of student identity.
- At its discretion, personally identifiable information collected by Wilmette Institute may be used as the basis for identity verification.
- All enrolled students will be given a unique student ID number, e‐mail account, and username login for all courses and correspondence while enrolled in the Wilmette Institute certificate program. The student will set up their own unique password, which will remain available for one year after completing the certificate program.
- All online courses will be offered through the learning platform Moodle, which students will access with their unique WI username and password. All WI Moodle users must comply with online etiquette, a policy located in the Student Handbook on the WI website. Students are held responsible for knowledge of the information contained within this policy. Failure to read the guidelines, requirements, and regulations will not exempt students from responsibility.
- WI’s Student Information System, Populi, provides WI admin, faculty, and instructors access to class rosters, including student photos associated with their name and account. The Moodle Learning Management System also provides student photos associated with their visible profile and in forum discussions. Live audio and video of students interacting in the course is also a feature of WI courses. As technology and personal accountability are not absolute in determining a student’s identity, faculty members are encouraged to use these technologies and to design courses that use assignments and evaluations that support academic integrity.
- All WI users are responsible for maintaining the security of usernames, passwords, and any other assigned access credentials. Access to usernames and passwords and any other access credentials may not be shared or given to anyone other than the user to whom they were assigned to for any reason.
- Unauthorized use of a WI username belonging to another WI user, unauthorized reading, use of, or deletion of private files or email belonging to another user, sharing user IDs and passwords with other users or any other person, and any attempt to circumvent system protection and security features are prohibited.
- Instructors will emphasize the WI academic honesty policy in their syllabi and may utilize available plagiarism identification tools to verify student identity.
- WI complies fully with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) provisions, 20 U.S.C. 1232g. This act protects the privacy of student information in distance education by requiring, with certain limited exceptions, that the student’s consent must be obtained before disclosing any personally identifiable information in the student’s education records.
Student identification will be verified during the admission interview. During the interview a current government-issued photo ID must be shown on which the date of birth must be accurate to ensure the integrity of the student’s permanent record. Once enrolled, the student information system database (Populi) captures this verification data.
All faculty must verify in their courses that each student receiving a grade in the course is the one who registered for the certificate program. Wilmette Institute registrar will provide faculty with photographs of all certificate students. During the first video conference offered in a course, faculty should match students’ faces with their photos. Faculty must immediately report anomalies in this process to the Student Services Coordinator.
Failure to comply with this policy will result in disciplinary action, including loss of online privileges and other sanctions deemed necessary. Any student found to have permitted another person to represent them for any portion of an online course will be subject to dismissal from the course and may not be permitted to take any other online courses at or through Wilmette Institute.
Failure of employees to comply with this policy is addressed by the Baháʼí National Office and its policies and guidelines. If warranted, an employee’s failure to comply will result in disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment. Failure to comply may also be a violation of civil/criminal law and may cause the employee to be subject to applicable penalties.
Wilmette Institute’s Office of Tech Services is responsible for issuing student email addresses, Moodle usernames, password information, and access to other technology tools.
The Office of Academic Affairs is responsible for ensuring compliance with the provisions of this policy, and the Academic Program Coordinator is informed of any changes in a timely fashion. The Office of Academic Affairs is responsible for ensuring that faculty are aware of this policy and comply with its provisions. The Academic Program Coordinator is responsible for ensuring that Wilmette Institute with the provisions of this policy.
Last revised: 1/14/2024
