Staying Committed to Data Security
Over the course of the scholarship season, we collect a great deal of information from students—and it is vital that we follow smart, safe and secure data storage and access practices. Here are some of the basics to be aware of as your applications roll in.
The data we're most concerned about is "Personally Identifiable Information," typically abbreviated PII. The U.S. Department of Education defines PII as "information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity either directly or indirectly through linkages with other information." Direct PII includes information like a student's name, home address, Social Security or school ID number; indirect PII includes info such as date of birth, mother's maiden name and place of birth, which can contribute to identifying a specific person.
The Department of Education's Student Privacy website details best practices and legal guidelines, and offers lots of resources for learning and training.
Legal Obligations and “Right to Erasure”
Since Scholarship America manages programs that collect data from international applicants, we are committed to following the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which sets stringent guidelines for collecting and processing personal data for EU citizens and residents. (While this is not the law in the US, several states have adopted, or are in the process of adopting stricter data privacy laws as well.)
As part of those regulations, Scholarship America extends the GDPR "right to erasure" to all students. This allows the individual to request that all of their personal data be erased from all records, with some exceptions.
For Scholarship America and Dollars for Scholars, one of those exceptions is if a student is identified as a scholarship recipient. Under U.S. tax law, we must maintain their award payment records in our archives for seven years. Otherwise, we are able to delete or redact student data on request.
Handling Deletion Requests
If your Dollars for Scholars receives a request from a student to have their account deleted, forward it to our team so we can work through the appropriate steps to remove their personal data from ChapterNet. (Clicking “Delete” on a student at the chapter level only removes their “match” to your Dollars for Scholars. You must contact the SSP Support Team to ensure the account is deleted in the system.)
For students who received awards within the past seven years, we will let them know that, by law, we need to wait until the seven-year period is up, and their data will be deleted after that. For students with awards older than seven years, or for non-recipients, we will comply with the request as soon as possible.
Our team is able to remove identifying details of the student's record. This process allows the award information to be maintained for accurate reporting in the system, but removes all student PII from our system. We have successfully executed this type of anonymization for a student and we worked with the Dollars for Scholars to ensure award information remained accessible and accurate while all records containing PII were redacted or deleted.
Data security is vital, and it's up to all of us to be good stewards of student information. Don't hesitate to reach out to your SSP Support Team with questions in this important area.
Welcome Scholarship America's New CEO, Mike Nylund
Earlier this month, Scholarship America proudly announced the appointment of our new President & CEO Mike Nylund, replacing retiring CEO Robert C. Ballard.
Mike has more than 20 years of experience and a deep knowledge of financial aid policy and administration. He joined Scholarship America in 2013 to lead our product strategy and partner solutions team, where he spearheaded the work to expand our capabilities and build creative solutions in support of students.
“I am honored and humbled to have this opportunity to lead Scholarship America,” Mike said. “Thanks to the generosity of a small family foundation scholarship in my hometown, I was able to persist and graduate. A scholarship gives more than money, it provides students with confidence to persist through college and beyond. We are at a pivotal moment in higher education to improve access, equity, affordability, and support student success.”
As a private scholarship recipient and a former frontline financial-aid adviser, Mike has a unique firsthand perspective on the power of scholarships. He joined our Dollars for Scholars Connect session on March 24 for a great conversation with volunteers. We thank everyone who was able to be a part of the discussion; if you couldn't make it, you can find the recording here. Enjoy, and watch for more opportunities to talk with Mike in the coming months.
ChapterNet Update: Reducing the Burden of Evaluation
The Dollars for Scholars application process streamlines the evaluation process by scoring each student’s profile only once. To save time, make your work more efficient and follow good scholarship practice, that score is then used for all the student’s scholarship applications, and those scores are totaled and displayed in Awards Review or through a report.
Three Helpful Evaluation Tips
- Establish a Committee Early - ChapterNet is designed to have one scoring committee review all the applicants, regardless of the scholarships they qualified for. Get your committee established early on to ensure everyone is on the same page and you have one consistent method for reviewing and scoring students, so that the process is as unbiased as possible.
- Review Scholarship Scores - By default, the Dollars for Scholars scholarship application is divided into seven parts. Each part is assigned a maximum score, as seen below. Your Dollars for Scholars may adjust this in the system by changing the weighting for each of these sections, or not scoring a section, to fit a particular scholarship and your chapter’s needs. It is important to note that if your chapter has turned off one or more of the sections, the system does not automatically adjust the score distribution.
- Determine Computer vs Manual Scoring - Computer Scoring is available for all standard student profile sections except the Essays. The “Computer Scoring Rubric/Technical Guide” located in Affiliate Resources provides specific details for these scores.
You can choose to manually score any section, but please note that, the point value reported in ChapterNet will always be the raw score points, not the weighted score points. When awarding a scholarship, you can elect to view the raw score and weighted score for a particular scholarship for an applicant.
Finally, for Recommendations, computer scoring will not evaluate any text submitted by the reference. If you wish to score the text recommendations, the recommendation will need to be assigned to a person.
Reminders
- TODAY, March 31 – Financial Reports and Affiliate annual fee are due
- April – National Volunteer Month – recognize and honor the contributions of your volunteers
- May 1 – College Signing Day for Students – host an event for your students
- June 23 – Save the date for the next Dollars for Scholars Connect
