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Dear Instructors,
Last Friday (August 28), Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Laurel Pritchard and I sent a communication asking you to please consider recording your lectures for the benefit of students who may not be able to participate in class synchronously.
Following that message, we were asked whether students enrolled in a class need to consent to recording the lectures, due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974.
The answer to the question is “No.”
Nevada law (NRS 396.970) prohibits surreptitious (secret) recordings on NSHE property. Individuals being recorded must have knowledge. However, one of the exceptions to the statutory prohibition is that instructors are permitted to record classes. Instructors do not need the students’ consent or even knowledge. Nevertheless, we recommend that instructors inform the students that the lectures are being recorded (audio only, or video and audio) so that they can access them at their convenience. Recorded lectures may not be broadly “released” to anyone, but made available exclusively to those students enrolled in the class during the particular academic term.
Recorded lectures must be stored securely and are subject to the Nevada System of Higher Education’s Records Retention Policy, meaning that the recordings can only be deleted 120 days after the end of class (i.e., after grades are posted). Once this requirement is met, the recordings should be deleted.
Sincerely,
Javier A. Rodríguez, Ph.D.
Vice Provost for Academic Programs
Acting Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs
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