Student Identity Verification Policy

Saint Joseph’s University has a process in place to ensure that the student registering for a course is the same student who participates in the course or receives course credit, primarily through the use of a secure login and pass code.

Secure Login and Pass Code:

Saint Joseph’s University assigns each student a secure network account with a unique username and password. All students registering for a course at Saint Joseph’s University are assigned unique identification numbers and corresponding usernames. Before a student can access any information resource on the University’s network (including the Learning Management System), the student must be authenticated by the University’s directory service using his/her username and password. Students are assigned a password when their account is first established and they are required to change their password when they initially activate their account. Passwords must be suitably complex and the University’s Password Management policy requires all students to change their password every 365 days. There are no additional charges associated with verification. Saint Joseph’s University Office of Information Technology is the office responsible for issuing secure usernames and password and for identity verification procedures.

All users of the University’s learning management system are responsible for maintaining the security of usernames, passwords, and other access credentials as required. An account is assigned to an individual for the exclusive use by that individual. Attempting to discover another user’s password or attempts to gain unauthorized access to another person’s files or mail is prohibited. It is against University policy for a user to give someone his or her password or allow others to use his or her account. Users are responsible for any and all users of their account.

Additional Verifications: Faculty teaching courses through distance education methods have a role in identity verification insofar as they can be alert to changes in student behavior such as sudden shifts in academic performance or changes in writing style or language used in discussion groups or email may indicate academic integrity issues. It is recommended that faculty routinely use a variety of assessment instruments. As best practices suggest, faculty should regularly ask students to share in appropriate ways important ideas learned from texts and references, and require research projects and paper assignments to be submitted in steps.

Responsibility for Policy implementation: The Office of Academic Affairs and the Office of Information Technology are jointly responsible for ensuring compliance with this policy and to ensure that deans, department chairs, and program coordinators are informed of any changes in the policy in a timely fashion.