The University is required to have on record a variety of factual information about students both for internal use in connection with its academic programs and for the compilation of statistical reports to meet the requirements of external bodies such as the Department of Education Science and Training.
The Director, Student Affairs is the official custodian of such records and is responsible to the Vice-Chancellor for the proper maintenance and control. Information required by outside bodies is normally of a statistical nature and does not identify individual students, eg admission and enrolment statistics, OP Score distributions, age distributions, patterns of origin by school or residential district, full time / part-time ratios, attrition rates etc.
However, information held about individual students may include details of a personal nature which students may quite reasonably expect the University to maintain as confidential except for legitimate internal purposes - eg age, address, telephone number, title, medical information, references, etc.
The University has no need for and will not maintain records relating to the religious or political affiliations and activities of students except insofar as such information may be voluntarily included in correspondence from the student or in references supplied by persons at the student's request.
The University accepts that general principles of confidentiality and privacy should apply to the use or availability of its records on individual students. These imply that the University will not normally make available externally particular information on a student without specific authorisation by that student, unless it is legally required to do so.
Exceptions to this policy will be restricted to situations in which the release of information is judged to be in the clear interest of the student, eg provision of a telephone number or address to a hospital when a relative has been involved in an accident.
Information from a student's file, including the student identification card image will be available internally to faculties and individual staff members on the basis of a demonstrated need in connection with the academic program. Its release from the Student Administration office must be authorised by the Director, Student Affairs acting within the spirit and intent of University Privacy Plan, Information Privacy Policy and these Guidelines, on the understanding that staff members using the information will also adhere to its intent.
In addition to being provided at regular intervals with information on academic performance, students are entitled to have access to their student file that may contain forms, correspondence and any other items relating to the student. Access will be available only at Student Administration and the student will be under supervision while perusing the file. The file may not be removed from the office. No student may have access to another student's file, or to information from such a file or computer record.
It is the responsibility of the Director, Student Affairs to provide a student with copies of his or her official University statement of academic record on request and the payment of the appropriate fee for use at the student's discretion, eg in connection with job applications or applications for admission to another education institution, or to forward an academic record when authorised in writing by the student to do so.
Should another institution to which a student is seeking admission formally request a copy of the student's academic record, its transmission will be assumed to be authorised by the student. Official University statements of academic record may only be provided to other individuals, employers or agencies outside the University upon the written authorisation or request of the student, addressed to the Director, Student Affairs.