KU completes investigation of released documents
KU completes its investigation into the release of documents containing sensitive student information. Enlarge video
Student documents
During an investigation into the release of hundreds of pages of confidential documents to local media, Kansas University has determined this is not the first time such documents have been improperly handled.
And on Friday, the university released a report that recommended disciplinary action be taken against those university employees responsible.
On Sept. 18, packages containing personal information about students, faculty and staff were sent to area newspapers, including the Lawrence Journal-World. The documents had been gathered from Dumpsters and recycling bins at the math department.
And although KU has tried to notify the people affected, at least one KU student has not yet been notified of the privacy breach by the university.
Sara Kormanik, a junior from Overland Park whose name and student ID number were included in documents the Journal-World received, said she was frustrated with the university's inaction.
"I'm just waiting for the university to call and give me whatever they have to say," she said. "My mom's really upset. She was going to talk to our attorney and then tell me what to do about it."
KU spokesman Jack Martin, deputy director of the office of university communications, said letters were sent to whatever address the university has on file for the individual. Those whose addresses are incorrect in the system may not have received a letter or call.
"We've just started getting letters that have bounced back to us," Martin said. "It could be her address is inaccurate, or the letter could have been lost in the mail."
In its investigation, KU discovered this wasn't the first time the mathematics department had a problem with improperly disposing of documents. Several department employees referred to a previous incident when custodians discovered exams disposed with regular trash.
Math department employees were not available for comment Friday afternoon.
Martin said the report recommended disciplinary action be taken, but said he could not elaborate. KU would not provide the entire investigation report, citing student and employee privacy concerns.
In an executive summary of the investigative report, the university noted that some documents appeared to be personal - not university-related - and were likely disposed of by the document's original owner.
Since the investigation, the math department has signed a contract with a private document disposal company. A number of locked trash receptacles also have been placed throughout the department.
Provost Richard Lariviere said he was pleased with the thoroughness of the investigation and how it examined "where we were culpable."
"It looks like we now have a good set of remedies in place," he said.
Martin said while the investigation centered on the specific documents released to the media, the information could be used to improve disposal practices across the university.
A number of departments already use the disposal company, he said. According to the report, the university's privacy office will conduct unannounced visits to campus offices to evaluate how they store and dispose of confidential information.
In the letter to the media that accompanied the documents, the senders identified themselves as concerned employees of the recycling center.
All three newspapers that received packages reported that they had destroyed their copies of the documents.
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baby_girl (anonymous) says…
Was it that hard to hire a secure shred company to come to ku and shred all those important papers? Geez. And people wonder how their identities get stolen. It's at the disregard of those that probably make sure their name is never on anything that makes it's way into the trash.
This is sad. Way to go Vangent (fka Pearson Government Solutions) for using a shredding company to shred any document that may or may not contain a name. Every large corporation or business, even schools, should have secure ways of properly disposing of peoples' names, etc. that may be on a piece of paper.
mom_of_three (anonymous) says…
Some schools at KU already have a shred-it box, for the company to come and dispose of it. So it's not University wide, as some people like to think.....
waydownsouth (anonymous) says…
They said that this is not the first time. So why was it not taken care of after the first time?
tangential_reasoners_anonymous (anonymous) says…
"It looks like we now have a good set of remedies in place," [Lariviere] said.
Hasn't this ongoing problem been a result of having only "good" remedies; how about some *better* remedies, or, best of all, some *effective* remedies.
OldEnuf2BYurDad (anonymous) says…
"They said that this is not the first time. So why was it not taken care of after the first time?"
That's the thing: supervisors are the one's who need to be held accountable. Employees need follow-up, not just memos.
BlackVelvet (anonymous) says…
some departments at KU apparently are too damned cheap to spend a few bucks from their budgets to have the documents shredded by a professional shredding company, or to just buy a damned shredder! tsk tsk tsk. no excuse at all!