Dual Enrollment Library Access

[buttramc]

How do other colleges handle giving dual enrollment instructors access to the databases? Can we give them access since they are not employed by the VCCS? If not, is there a workaround? This is something that I've never been able to get a good answer to.

[pedwards]

How do other colleges handle giving dual enrollment instructors access to the databases? Can we give them access since they are not employed by the VCCS? If not, is there a workaround? This is something that I've never been able to get a good answer to.

That's an interesting question actually, one that's never occurred to me.  Seems like even though they're not employed directly by the VCCS, they would still have to put grades in SIS on a grade roster, right?  So wouldn't having the VCCS/SIS creds they need to do that basically give them access?  Or I suppose a dual enrollment instructor could just be giving those grades to someone in the academic department rather than doing their own data entry directly.  I'm not sure what we do in this regard...

[kmccarrell]

I know that our Director's meeting time is short on Wednesday, but I would love to talk for about 5 minutes on this topic, because we are experiencing the exact same thing here at BRCC. In our case, all dual enrollment instructors are considered BRCC/VCCS employees (as well as HS teachers) and should have an @email.vccs.edu account to enter grades and syllabi. This may not, though, be the standard for all institutions. This would grant them access to all of your local databases and content like any other off-campus user. However, I realize that each institution processes dual enrollment a bit differently.

The question I would like to extend this to is how or if you grant access to the librarians in those high schools. They are not a VCCS employee directly, but are often asked to assist students in dual enrollment classes. They often go blind into the questioning because they've never seen VCCS resources. What are some options or strategies for handling this extension that are legal within our database contracts but are reasonable as well.

Kyle

[pedwards]

I know that our Director's meeting time is short on Wednesday, but I would love to talk for about 5 minutes on this topic, because we are experiencing the exact same thing here at BRCC. In our case, all dual enrollment instructors are considered BRCC/VCCS employees (as well as HS teachers) and should have an @email.vccs.edu account to enter grades and syllabi. This may not, though, be the standard for all institutions. This would grant them access to all of your local databases and content like any other off-campus user. However, I realize that each institution processes dual enrollment a bit differently.

The question I would like to extend this to is how or if you grant access to the librarians in those high schools. They are not a VCCS employee directly, but are often asked to assist students in dual enrollment classes. They often go blind into the questioning because they've never seen VCCS resources. What are some options or strategies for handling this extension that are legal within our database contracts but are reasonable as well.

Kyle

Wonder if it might be possible for an institution to create a 1 unit non-credit course and enroll librarians at the dual-enrollment high schools in that section.  Then, the librarians would technically be "students" at the school with current myVCCS credentials and thus have the access they need...

[buttramc]

I'm trying to get an answer from the DE instructors. My impression was that they did not have access but that may not be accurate. Communication with our DE office has been abysmal but is improving.

Kyle, were you able to talk about this in the director's meeting? Thanks!

[kmccarrell]

Yes - we were able to discuss this at the director's meeting and we learned some things about other institutions. Since that time, I have been in close communication with our DE head who has been in discussions with the VCCS and the leaders of DE there. Here is what I believe to be true.

1) Decisions regarding access (i.e. MyXXXX credentials) to college systems (including the library) for dual enrollment students and instructors are local decisions. BRCC does provide access through our academic office and from an academic perspective DE instructors are to be treated like adjunct instructors. Thus, they have to use SIS to input grades; they must post their syllabus to Blackboard; etc. However, from an HR perspective, they are not considered employees due to how they are paid and what benefits they can or cannot receive (or even would be entitled to). Hence the tricky line and why there is so much misunderstanding around DE instructors because depending on what side of the house you talk to, you will get two very different answers regarding whether they are employees of the college or not. Some colleges have it set up where DE instructors submit grades to the DE coordinator who inputs the data into SIS. There is no consistency in how this is handled and based on my understanding, there are arguments for/against on both sides. However, I believe that each college is a local decision on whether instructors, in particular, are set up like an adjunct.

2) As for HS librarian access, there was a system-wide DE audit report done by the VCCS Audit and Consulting team in October, 2017. They made a number of recommendations and included was a small section on HS librarian access. The recommendation states "Each college should review its remote access to the college's online resources and revoke access from any unauthorized users, including high school librarians. This will bring the colleges into compliance with applicable contracts regarding the colleges' online resources." So basically the VCCS has indicated that HS librarians should not have access based on the language of a selected sample of contracts that they reviewed. However, the definition that was provided above the recommendation for authorized users (in the contracts) is defined as "employees, students, faculty, staff, and other users at the institution." The Audit team of the VCCS seems to have taken a very narrow approach to the "other users" part of this definition. I would argue that there may be some wiggle room in this for HS librarians, but I would have to read each contract to see the true definition. This may be something that needs to be discussed at the VIVA level when contracts are renewed to broaden the language so slightly to include HS librarians - just a thought, though.

3) I see no way in which access can be provided for HS AP classes (like maybe are at Governor's Schools) where the majority of students are in a DE class and a different AP class and the AP instructor wants to have access. I have faced this situation and we have had to say no (i.e. many of the students have access to library resources, but the instructor does not because they are not doing anything directly for the college)

Thoughts and opinions and insights welcome.

Kyle

[buttramc]

Kyle, this is extremely helpful. I may follow up with questions and/or information as I work with our DE sections. Thanks!