InfoTech Tuesday Articles
(Updated April 17, 2006)
In response to increased concern over privacy and the risk of identity theft and to meet federal and state legal requirements, K-State has established the Personal Identifier Initiative to accelerate its efforts to protect the Social Security Numbers of individuals associated with K-State. Coordinated by the Vice Provost for IT Services, this multi-year initiative will have university-wide impact and will require close coordination with university colleges, departments, administrative units, and affiliated organizations.
Key aspects of this initiative include coordinating:
K-State is undertaking this initiative to address increasing privacy, security, and identity risk concerns related to the collection, storage, and use of SSNs. In addition, under the provisions of Kansas Laws of 2004, Chapter 185, Section 48, SSNs cannot be printed on university identification cards after June 30, 2006. Federal legislation is pending that may impact the use of SSNs. Finally, K-State is in the process of implementing a new student information system that may affect the use of personal identifiers.
K-State currently uses a number of different identification schemes to identify persons associated with the University. For a listing of personal identification numbers and user ids commonly used by the University to identify individuals, see Understanding K-State IDs.
The use of personal identifiers at K-State will evolve over the next three to five years in response to new university policies, changing federal and state requirements, and the implementation of new enterprise information systems, such as the new student system.
You will be notified of changes in a variety of ways, depending on the nature of the change. This website will be maintained as a central point of information on K-State Personal Identifiers and the Personal Identifier Initiative. InfoTech Tuesday will also provide periodic updates as needed. You will also be notified of changes directly affecting you through e-mail or campus mail.
Yes, SSNs are required for employees and requested as a condition of enrollment for students. By law, SSNs are required for activities such as IRS reporting, federal student financial aid processing, compliance with state and federal reporting requirements, and exchanging student data between post-secondary institutions. One of the goals in developing a university SSN policy is to clearly articulate acceptable usage of SSNs by K-State.
The Wildcat ID Number (WID) is a randomly-generated nine-digit number that will be permanently assigned by K-State to uniquely identify students, faculty, staff, and other individuals throughout their association with K-State. To provide greater privacy and security for K-Staters, the number will serve as an alternative personal identifier to the SSN. The WID begins with an “8” in order to distinguish it from an SSN.
Employees and students with Wildcat ID Cards will be the first individuals assigned a WID as part of the Wildcat Card Replacement project being undertaken by the K-State ID Center. For additional information on the Wildcat Card Replacement project, go to www.union.ksu.edu/services/idcenter.htm.
Students will first use the WID as an identifier when taking tests using the Scantron testing system during the Fall Semester of the 2007 Academic Year. The use of the WID as an alternative identifier to the SSN will evolve over the next few years.
Eventually, all individuals associated with K-State will be assigned a Wildcat ID number as a personal identifier alternative to the SSN. However, in order to meet the state requirement to not display SSNs on university identification cards after June 30, 2006, the initial effort to assign WID numbers is focused on the Wildcat Card Replacement project.
For general information about the Personal Identifier Initiative, please contact Lynn Carlin in the Office of Data and Information Administration at (785) 532-2511 or e-mail pid@k-state.edu.