Electronic Recording of Lectures and Materials

Policy

Students are not permitted to record lectures or make electronic copies of course materials (e.g., slides, formulas, lecture notes) using personal recording devices (e.g., smart phone, tablet, computer, digital recorder) unless prior written permission from faculty is obtained and students who appear in the recordings or course materials do not object. The policy applies to all forms of course delivery (e.g., on-campus, online).

Student attendance in a FlexSync course implies student consent to be recorded.

Permission is limited to a student’s educational use during a course. Recordings and materials must be destroyed at the end of each term. Students who do not destroy recordings and materials may be subject to disciplinary action.

Unauthorized downloading, file sharing, distribution of all or part of a recorded lecture or course materials or using information for purposes other than the student’s own learning may be deemed a violation of this policy and subject to disciplinary action.

ADA Accommodations

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), students may record and retain classroom lectures and instructional materials as part of an approved accommodation plan coordinated by the Office of Accessibility Resources in consultation with the student and faculty. However, as stated elsewhere in this policy, recorded lectures or copied materials must be destroyed at the end of each term.

Procedure

Student requests to record lectures or copy faculty materials are handled by the instructor of the course. Lectures or presentations involving student participation require consent from each student shown in a recording.

Faculty may voluntarily record their classroom lectures. Recordings with student participation require the signed consent of each student involved and can only be used for non-profit educational purposes at Minnesota State Mankato. Any intent to record classroom lectures should be referenced in the course syllabus and discussed during the first period of the course.

Students with access to a recorded lecture are prohibited from downloading the content, uploading the content, circumventing technology controls, or distributing any of the information to others by other means.

Rationale

This policy protects classroom lectures and course materials developed by faculty. Pursuant to MnSCU Board 3.26 – Intellectual Property, faculty members own their scholarly work, which includes the course materials they develop. Second, the policy provides compliance with Article 27, Section C, subd. 4 in the Master Agreement between Minnesota State Colleges & Universities (MnSCU) Board of Trustees and the Inter Faculty Organization (IFO).

This policy serves to provide a balance of students’ educational goals, the privacy rights of students in a classroom, and the intellectual property rights of the faculty.