This is a republished email memo from Johanna Metzgar sent to the IT Community on Sept. 29, 2022.
Dear IT Community,
On Aug. 9, 2022, Stanford University enabled students to identify their pronouns in Axess. The implementation of this feature in Axess marks the inaugural phase of the Gender Enablement Project — a multi-year project aimed to improve Stanford’s capacity to effectively support our community’s identities (what are pronouns?). Stanford intends for pronouns to be used to facilitate respectful campus communications and to be available in class settings.
As a member of the IT community, your work may be impacted by this effort, and you may interact with pronoun data where it appears in key campus systems. Since pronouns are a new data element, we would like to provide you with guidance on how to properly engage with and safeguard pronoun data. We’re looking forward to your help and collaboration in making our systems and practices more inclusive!
Currently, pronoun data will only appear on class rosters and in Canvas (Oct. 17) so that instructors and students know how to address their peers appropriately. However, Stanford intends for pronoun data to appear in additional campus systems as the Gender Enablement Project advances. The important thing to know for now is that pronouns will flow only to a limited number of systems at the beginning. We anticipate making them widely available to campus systems once governance processes are finalized.
Below are guidelines and best practices for pronoun data as well as information on the IDEAL website about data privacy and protection.
Pronoun Data Risk and Privacy
Stanford is committed to ensuring data about our community is used appropriately, while protecting our privacy and security. Pronouns are not considered to be highly sensitive from a data privacy perspective and are classified as Moderate Risk under Stanford’s Data Risk Classifications.
Although pronouns are not considered highly sensitive data, pronouns are considered part of a student’s record and are protected by FERPA. Under FERPA, pronouns are not categorized as “public directory information.” Therefore, students’ pronouns will not be disclosed to parties outside Stanford, as part of a data request and without a student’s consent. (Note: FERPA’s designation of “directory information” should not be confused with StanfordWho, Stanford’s directory, which has both logged-in and public views of community members, and which students can control with a privacy setting in Axess.)
Appropriate Use Guidelines and Best Practices
Pronoun information should be used exclusively for approved systems and within the agreements and understandings that have been identified by the Gender Data @ Stanford Working Group as outlined below. Systems that wish to use this data may submit requests to the Working Group for review and approval.
When accessing and using pronoun information you agree to comply with the following:
- Pronoun data should not be used to identify individual eligibility for any programs, resources, or services.
- Do not use pronouns to identify individuals in institutional reporting. For example, it should not be used as a proxy for gender, nor should it be used to group individuals in reports.
- You may not reshare this data with other systems or users without approval from the Gender Data @ Stanford Working Group.
- The selected pronouns reflect how to address an individual and should not be the basis for any other assumptions about an individual’s identity. For example, pronouns should not be used to make inferences about an individual’s gender identity.
- Individuals specify if they wish their pronouns to be shared as “Stanford Only” or “Public.” Individual preference is recorded in the dataset as a “privacy setting.” When using pronoun data you must respect each individual’s privacy setting and not include pronouns indicated as “Stanford Only” in data visible to the public.
- The pronouns an individual uses may change over time. As you use this information, please update your loads with appropriate frequency based on your work. For example, if you are generating class rosters it would be wise to have the latest pronouns at the time the rosters are produced.
- Do not disclose an individual's pronouns to third parties without their explicit consent.
Helpful Background and Resources
For more information about the origins and data security of the Gender Enablement Project, please refer to the following resources:
IDEAL Website
Stanford Report Article
- Students now empowered to select new pronouns in Stanford's data system. (Published on Aug. 9, 2022)
Thank you in advance for partnering with us to make our systems more inclusive! We appreciate your efforts in protecting and safeguarding sensitive data. If you have any questions about this project and its data, please contact Doug Berman, Data Governance Program Director.
Sincerely,
Johanna Metzgar
Associate Vice Provost for Student and Academic Services and University Registrar
