Work study has access to more than you think

by: Katie Voelliger
News Editor

It’s one thing to have SAU employees know your personal information such as grades, transcripts, your social security number and financial aid status, but it’s another when your peers have access to it too.

 Depending on what office students work in and what they do, some of the 800 work study students here on campus could have access to your information. The students work in 96 different offices and departments on campus.

Mary Ohland, work study coordinator in the Career Center, says part of the work study students’ jobs is to be able to do tasks based on other students information.

“We have students who do a variety of things,” Ohland said. “The main offices [where information is available] are Records and Registration since they run transcripts. The financial aid office has all of the student’s financial information except the only work study student who works in there is a grad assistant.”

Ohland said students who work in student accounts deal with a majority of the information. There are two students who work in that office who she trusts.

“The work study students don’t have access to salaries, security information, which the security office handle,s and so forth,” Ohland said.

However, Ohland says the work study students who deal with other student’s personal information on a regular basis have to sign a confidentiality paper before they begin their job.

Rachel Wubben works in the Career Center and remembers that since she works in the Career Center, she had to sign a confidentiality form in the beginning of the year since the office handles students’ records.

“I do have access to students’ personal information,” said Wubben. “Each student has a file with the career cenresume, transcripts, student teaching evaluations (education majors), reference letters, cover letters and anything else which is needed in their files.

Each student has to sign their name and put their social security number with their file, for confirmation purposes.

Student Lindsay Whisler works in Student Accounts.

“I file papers, cash students’ checks, mail statements, get mail, e-mail students about their loans, hand out refund checks and do other little things my boss gives me,” Whisler said. “If I am sitting up in the front window and someone comes and asks me to look up their account I will pull it up. If I wanted I could see someone’s financial information and social security number.”

"Because of the office I work in, I also have access to their home address, what scholarships they are getting, what meal plan they have, if they have gotten any parking tickets or did damage to their room and had to pay a fine, if they ever lost their ID and had to get a new one and if they have had a restriction to keep them from registering," Whisler said.

Ohland said she has never had it happen where a work study student looks up another students information for no apparent reason.

“Our St. Ambrose database server is Datatel and its protected by security measures,” Ohland said. “No students would be able to get into the system and look up what they wanted to find out without having a reason. There are many codes which they don’t know.”

She says the work study students are closely watched.

“If they aren’t supervised, then the security on the computers are tight,” Ohland said. “The Career Center also has access to other students’ transcripts and grades for when we send out resumes.”

Jamie Loftus, vice president of enrollment management and student services says having work study students see other student’s personal information when they are working helps the production of the university.

“Believe it or not, but it does bring our costs down. It helps the university at an efficient level,” Loftus said. “However, it shows we trust them [work study students] with valuable information and [overall] helps make St. Ambrose a better university."

Loftus says financial information tends to be the most sensitive, so they try to have more experienced students or grad students work in that area. He  said if they add more staff, fewer work study jobs will be available.

“When we add more staff, we will have less students working with sensitive materials,” Loftus said. He added this is done so tuition doesn’t have to be raised.

Student Matt Donahue said it would be scary to have your personal identity stolen since it seems it easily could be done.

“I don’t want my confidential information being available so easily,” Donahue said.