Skip to content Skip to navigation

2.4.2 Directories and Distribution Lists

two people reviewing documents
Last updated on:
12/15/2008
Formerly Known As Policy Number: 
28.3

The University maintains lists of names, addresses, telephone numbers and electronic mail accounts of individuals and organizations of importance to the University. This Guide Memo sets forth policies concerning use of such University data and describes the major lists used to conduct the University's business.

Authority: 

Approved by the President.

Applicability: 

This policy applies to all Stanford University employees and students.

1. Use of University Distribution Lists and Directories

a. Publicly Available Information

(1) Privacy
Students have rights with respect to their educational records under the Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA); see the Student Bulletin, for more information. Additionally, students, affiliates, faculty and staff may have rights to privacy under California Law with regard to certain information used in distribution lists and directories. StanfordYou allows faculty, staff and students to change, protect and preview information published about them in Stanford directories.

(2) Printed Stanford Directory
Contains information about Stanford employees, and students registered for autumn term. It is available free of charge to all continuing Stanford employees and registered students, and for purchase by the general public. By making this information publicly available, the University relinquishes control over the use to which it may be put. Therefore, particular care is taken to carry out individuals' wishes regarding the confidentiality of their home address and telephone number information. See 1.a (1) above.

(3) StanfordWho
Official online directory of Stanford University at http://stanfordwho.stanford.edu/, contains directory information for and about current Stanford students, faculty and staff, including people affiliated with the University, the Hospital and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC). Stanford community members may choose to keep some or all of their contact information private in the public and Stanford-only versions of the directory. See 1.a (1) above.

b. Alumni Directory
The Stanford Alumni Association and other school alumni associations publish an online and print directory that is available to alumni, current students and some University departments for the user's personal use only. It may not be used for commercial purposes.

c. Lists for University Purposes
Distribution lists not publicly available may be used only for University purposes. Such lists include both mailing lists and electronic mail distribution lists including those created by members of the Stanford community from University sources. Use of the distribution lists (including production of listings of file contents, production of mailing labels and online use of electronic mail distribution lists) is authorized only when all of the criteria below are met:

  • The organization is responsible to the President of the University;
  • The use is for official University business; and
  • When such use is consistent with the University responsibilities of the individual requesting or using the list.

University distribution lists may not, for example:

  • Be used for personal, partisan political, or commercial purposes
  • Be provided to persons or entities outside the University
  • Be used for promotional purposes or solicitations by other than Stanford University

d. Department Responsibilities
Departments are responsible for ensuring that any lists they maintain are used in conformity with University policies. In addition to this Guide memo, the following contain applicable policies:

e. Exceptions
Any request for University data for use other than in accordance with this policy must have the approval of the President of the University or his/her designee.

Back to top

2. Person Registry

a. Contents
The Person Registry contains basic identifying information for all faculty, staff, students and affiliates.

b. Original Sources of Information
The Person Registry brings together student information from Student Administration, faculty and staff information from the Human Resources Management System, (HRMS) and sponsored affiliates' information from the SUNet ID system.

c. How Changes are Made
Faculty, staff, students and recent graduates may change their own information using Axess on the web (https://axess.stanford.edu) or by using StanfordYou for service related information (e.g., email settings). See StanfordYou for details (secure login required). Faculty and staff may change their own personal demographic information in StanfordYou; work-related changes are made in PeopleSoft HRMS by human resources administrators.

d. Outputs
(1) StanfordWho: See 1.a (3) above.
(2) Listings in the Printed Stanford Directory: See 1.a(2) above.
(3) Axess: A web service that faculty, staff and students use to complete many administrative tasks.
(4) Corrections to Source Systems: Changes made through StanfordYou and Axess go to the Person Registry and then to PeopleSoft Student Administration and HRMS.
(5) Other authorized uses: Data is available to other official University business systems, e.g., the ID Card system and the Library system.

e. More Information
See Applications and Integration Services for more details.

Back to top

3. Human Resources Management System

a. Contents
The Human Resources Management System (HRMS) contains detailed demographic and work data on all University employees and retirees.

b. Sources of Information
Information on current employees and retirees comes from PeopleSoft HRMS and is submitted by the employee or retiree's department.

c. How Changes are Made
(1) Employees' Address and Phone Information
StanfordYou allows employees to change and/or keep private information published in Stanford directories. See StanfordYou for more information.
(2) Work-Related Changes
Changes other than the employee's address and telephone information are generated by the department's human resources administrator online in PeopleSoft HRMS.
(3) Retirees
Changes to retiree information are entered by the Benefits Office, on receipt of written instructions from the retiree. Only emeriti are included in StanfordWho.

d. Outputs
(1) Person Registry
PeopleSoft HRMS feeds data to the Person Registry.
(2) Mailing Labels
PeopleSoft HRMS can generate mailing labels for specific populations. For advice on options available, departments should consult with Mail and Delivery Services.

Back to top

4. Student Administration

a. Contents
The PeopleSoft Student Administration database includes student and applicant demographic information, including physical and email addresses.

b. Sources of Information
(1) Central Offices
Including: Bursar's Office, Office of the Registrar, Financial Aid, and Undergraduate Admissions
(2) Academic Departments
Department administrators with appropriate access enter advisors, graduate degree support information, graduate financial support information, and admissions data.

c. How Data Changes are Made
Central offices and academic departments can, in most cases, update data they have originally entered. Students can update personal information through Axess, https://axess.stanford.edu, and StanfordYou.

d. Outputs
(1) Person Registry
PeopleSoft Student Administration sends data to the Person Registry.
(2) Student Records
PeopleSoft and ReportMart Student Administration contain detailed student information including personal addresses. Access to this data requires approval by the appropriate School Dean for academic departments or the Registrar's Office for central office staff, and access to private information is set up only on a "need-to-know" basis. Address rosters, mailing labels, and personal reports can be generated from ReportMart for business purposes.
(3) Applicant Information
Undergraduate and graduate applicant demographic information is contained in PeopleSoft, ReportMart and Stanford's web application vendor's database. Access to this data requires approval by the appropriate School Dean for academic departments or the Registrar's Office for central office staff, and is set up only on a "need-to-know" basis. Mailing labels and personal reports can be generated from the application vendor, ReportMart, and PeopleSoft Student Administration.

Back to top

5. Alumni Information

a. Contents

(1) PostGrads
The PostGrads alumni information database includes basic demographic data for Stanford alumni, parents of students, and University friends, including corporations and foundations. This file is used to create mailing lists for the Stanford Magazine and various mailings and solicitations sent by the Office of Development, the Stanford Alumni Association, and the University. The data in this file may be selected according to particular purposes, such as those alumni who received law degrees in 1980. The Office of Development maintains and controls PostGrads.

(2) Department and School Databases
Some departments and schools keep records of their own alumni and friends. The following restrictions apply to such databases:

  • Schools and departments may receive data changes as a result of their mailings. The data changes should be sent to alumni.information@stanford.edu for updating in PostGrads.
  • Any use of PostGrads information for gift solicitations outside of the Office of Development must be approved in advance by the Senior Director of the Stanford Fund and Operations.
  • Any use of records must be consistent with the purpose communicated to the persons providing such information.

b. Sources of Information
(1) Alumni
Data on current and graduated students is downloaded to PostGrads from PeopleSoft Student Administration. Although recent graduates can update information in Axess, information is not currently shared between Axess and PostGrads.
(2) Parents
Data on parents of Stanford students is forwarded to Development Operations and PostGrads by the Stanford Parents section of the Development Office, which receives the information from the New Undergraduate Student Information Project, administered by the Housing Center.

(3) Stanford Friends
Data on Stanford friends is forwarded to Development Operations by various other sections of the Development Office.

c. How Data Changes are Made
Development Operations enters changes into PostGrads. Sources of information for changes are returned mail, postal change of address cards, correspondence with individuals on the list, changes made by the individual via their online profile, and notification from a University department with which the individual is associated. Information needed includes:

  • The individual's University ID number
  • The individual's name
  • Change information
  • Name, Stanford department, and phone number of the information source, when the information is not directly from the individual

d. Outputs from File
(1) Lists for Directories
Directories of specific populations published by schools use PostGrads as source data.
(2) Labels and Address Lists

Departments and schools needing output from PostGrads should contact their School's Development Office for assistance, after obtaining approval from the Senior Director of the Stanford Fund and Operations. Mailing information will be prepared only for University departments. If an outside vendor provides mailing services, the department is responsible for assuring that the vendor will protect the confidentiality of the data and will gain no rights over the data.

e. Control of File
Only Development Operations may make changes to PostGrads biographic and gift information. The Managing Director of Development Operations acts as coordinator in resolving questions that may arise in application of University policies on use of PostGrads.

Back to top