FERPA Certificate

Do you want to see photos on your Class Rosters in SPIRE? Class Rosters with photos are available to all instructors who complete the online FERPA quiz.  If you are an advisor and advisees have been assigned to you, you will be able to see their photos as well. Note: Photos exist in SPIRE for most but not for all students.

• The FERPA Quiz is a learning tool that provides information about FERPA (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) and important privacy and security issues salient in instructional contexts.
• If you currently have instructor or advisor access, your SPIRE profile will be updated with access to Photo Rosters within three business days after you complete FERPA, but usually sooner. If you do not have Photo Roster access after that time, email spire-support@it.umass.edu to inquire about your status.

View Photo Rosters

The Photo Roster feature is available for any course for which you have a class roster in SPIRE, including courses from past semesters. Note: Older rosters will not have every student's photo. Also, photos will not appear for students who do not have a UCard or who received their UCard before 2003.

1. In SPIRE, under My Teaching Schedule, click the Class Roster icon () to open the Class Roster page for the class of students whose photos you wish to see . 
2. On the Class Roster page:
   • Select Show Photos (above the Enrolled Students table). The Class Roster page refreshes, displaying your students’ photos one at a time, in alphabetical order.
   • - or -
   • Navigate to the enrolled student whose photo you wish to see, and click the photo icon (). The Class Roster page refreshes, showing the student photo you selected.
3. On the photo roster page:
   • Click View All in the blue navigation bar to see a list of all students with photos.
   • From the Enrollment Status drop-down list, select Dropped to see the photos of the students who dropped your class, or Waiting to see the photos of any waitlisted students.
   • Select Hide Photos to return to the Class Roster page. SPIRE will refresh with the standard class roster view without photos.

Print Photo Rosters

1. In SPIRE, under My Teaching Schedule, click the Class Roster icon () next to the class whose roster you wish to print. The Class Roster page for this class opens.
2. On the Class Roster page, select Show Photos (above the Enrolled Students table). The Class Roster page refreshes, displaying one student's photo.
3. Click Printer Friendly Version at the bottom right of the page to generate a PDF file of all students enrolled in the class, 25 students per page, with photos. Print the photo roster as you would print any PDF file. Be sure to click the Print icon on the Adobe Toolbar or press Ctrl + P. Do not use your browser's File > Print tool.  It will not print the photos.
   Note: The Printer Friendly Version link is available only when Enrollment Status is set to Enrolled. If you click the link and the PDF file doesn't open, make sure that your browser allows pop-ups for SPIRE. For instructions on how to allow pop-ups for a Web site, consult your browser's help feature or contact the IT Help Center.

Work with Photo Rosters

Making Photo Rosters public violates the FERPA law and may have serious consequences for you, your students, and the University.

Use Photo Rosters to support your teaching (e.g., confirm attendance, match names and faces, etc.) or advising, but make sure your students’ photos remain confidential at all times. This means that you:

• Cannot share these photos with anyone, including your colleagues, Teaching Assistants, or other students enrolled in your classes, even for a legitimate academic purpose.
• Cannot post these photos on your blog, public Web site, or even a secure learning management system (e.g., Moodle).

If you choose to print your Photo Rosters, make sure that you keep them in a secure location and you shred all paper copies when you no longer need them.

View Advisees' Photos

1. Navigate to your My Advisees list from the SPIRE menu using Advisee Information>View Advisees.
2. Select Show Photos (above the table of your advisees' names). The My Advisees page refreshes, displaying advisees’ photos one at a time, in alphabetical order.
3. Click View All in the blue navigation bar if you wish to see a list of all advisees with photos.

Follow the privacy practices outlined in the previous section, Work with Photo Rosters.  Do not share advisees' photos and do not post them online.

Note that you do not have a Printer Friendly Version option for advisees' photos, as you do for class rosters.

You cannot see photos for advisees who are not assigned specifically to you.