What is HB1?

Virginia House Bill 1 (HB1) took effect July 1, 2018 as Code of Virginia Section 23.1-405(C). It prohibits a university from disclosing a student's email address, physical address or telephone number under the exception in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) for directory information unless the student has affirmatively consented in writing to the disclosure. Full text of the law can be found here.

Key points regarding this bill:

This legislation covers students in all academic programs.
Faculty and staff will be able to access this information in the EMU directory when logged into myEMU.
Faculty and staff will be able to share this information with other faculty and staff for University-related purposed.
Students will no longer be able to find contact information for another student through the EMU directory or through the Google Address List.
Faculty and staff cannot share this information with students.

FAQs

How do I email a group of students?

Faculty and staff may not disclose a student's contact information to another student. So, in order to email a group of students, the sender must add the students' email address in the "bcc" field, not the "to" or "cc" field, or must use a broadcast list.

Can faculty and staff provide contact information to other student on a team, student organization or program?

Faculty and staff may not distribute lists of group members that includes student email address, phone number or physical address without written consent from each student whose information is provided.