Privacy Notice

The Hive is a platform that links faculty, advisors, student services and students in a connected community designed to enhance student success through mutual support.  The Hive will simplify communication between students, faculty and support services. The application is new, but the practice is rooted in the traditions that have been fundamental Benedictine strengths for centuries – building communities of care and support.

In the Hive, a network of mentors is here for students as soon as they become a Bennie or a Johnnie. The Hive makes it easy to access the support network so students can thrive.   The Hive allows an instructor to contact students and raise an alert when there is a concern regarding courses grades or academic performance. These alert notifications called “Flags” identify concerns such as frequent absences, missed assignments, or possible failure in a class. The Hive also allows instructors to give praise or a “High Five” to celebrate a student's success or improvement in a class. “Referrals” are used to direct students to a particular service on campus.

Notifications are sent to students CSBSJU email and may also be viewed on students Hive Dashboard.

Your Right to Know

  • Faculty teaching a course will only be able to raise or view concerns (flags) or praise (high fives) about students in their course.
  • Faculty advisors and academic advisors will be able to see a holistic view of the students for those declared in areas in which they advise, similar to what they already are able to access in other systems such as Banner and Degree Works.
  • Student support administrators will be able to see specific information relevant to the scope of their work regarding students with whom they are working.
  • When a flag/high five is raised, the only people able to view the flag/high five will be the instructor that raised the flag, advisors and members of the college that are associated with the flag, and the student.
  • Flags are raised in support of a student, not against them.  If a student receives a flag, the student is not "in trouble". The student is encouraged to respond and take action based on the concerns explained in the flag.
  • Hive data is protected under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA).  See below and the information regarding records and privacy found on the Registrar’s website for more information.  
  • All items in The Hive are part of a student’s record.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education. The law affords students specific rights, which include to inspect and review their educational records, to have their record amended, when appropriate, and to have some control over the disclosure of information from their record.

All faculty and staff with access to student academic and/or personal records (electronic or paper-based) are responsible under FERPA to protect the privacy of these records and use information only for legitimate educational purposes including those purposes related to student support.   Discussing or sharing a student's record with any school official (faculty, staff or administration) who does not have a “legitimate educational interest” is a violation of FERPA.

The Hive is a software tool the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University purchased to assist with student retention and persistence to graduation.  The Hive takes data (educational records) that many of us already have access to through Banner/Banner Self Service, Canvas and other software on campus and organizes the information in a way that we can collaborate and communicate across campus to help students succeed.

As with any software or database system used by the College/University, The Hive has been reviewed by IT Services and the Business Offices to ensure the system complies with information-related laws, regulation and policies.

The Hive gives schools the option to put a FERPA notification on many screens to remind faculty and staff of their duty to comply with FERPA. This feature has been activated at CSBSJU. All who interact with student data should be vigilant of the policies and regulations surrounding FERPA in The Hive as well as in other systems they may use in their work.

Levels of access to data within The Hive are role-based and closely mirror access faculty and staff have already been granted through systems such as Canvas and Banner. This was done to ensure that users are only seeing the information pertinent to the role they have in relation to their student.