Protecting the Privacy of Distance Education Students Procedure
Lanier Technical College protects the privacy of all students, adhering to the same privacy standards for online students as it does for students studying on the campus, through strict adherence to the rules of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). The official FERPA statement is available for view on the College's website.
Single-Sign On (SSO)
LTC issues a unique username and password to each student upon admission. This account is referred to as the Laker Login and is used for single-sign on (SSO) for all platforms and services that can be integrated with Lanier Tech's multi-factor authentication software (Okta).
LTC ensures that the student who registers in a distance education course or program is the same student who participates in, completes the course or program, and receives the credit. This is accomplished through a Single Sign-On (SSO) process which provides students with a unique, secure username and password to login to the LTC Okta platform. From the Okta dashboard, students access the Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS), which is a secure portal. When a student changes his or her password, the change is updated for all platforms requiring SSO login: Blackboard Learn, My LTC Experience, student email, and student login to a LTC computer. Students are also assigned a unique student identification number that is automatically generated when students are accepted at Lanier, and students must know this identification number to retrieve unique SSO username.
Passwords
All students are required to change their SSO password BEFORE logging into the Learning Management System (LMS), LTC Experience (previously BannerWeb), or any other LTC IT service. LTC keeps no record of the student's password once it has been changed. Students are responsible for keeping their password confidential. Students may also submit a request for a password reset to the LTC HelpDesk. LTC HelpDesk staff will use the LTC Identity Verification Tool to check a student's identity and then perform a password reset if needed. Students are then required to change their password to one unknown to LTC employees prior to accessing the LMS or other LTC IT resources.
Learning Management System (LMS)
All users who are required to access the Learning Management System, the platform the College uses for distance education, use the Laker Login SSO. The LMS is a secure environment where faculty members post course materials, assignments and exams, provide chat and discussion forums for their courses, and where students participate in forum discussions, chat sessions, upload assignments, and take quizzes and exams. The privacy of individual students' assessments and grades is maintained within the learning management system.
Office 365
For Office 365 resources, multifactor authentication is required.
LTC Student Email
Each student is assigned a unique student email address by the College. This student email system is maintained by the College and provides students with a secure login environment.
Other Websites
Lanier Technical College provides links to other websites that may be useful for our students and/or customers. Lanier Technical College cannot make any representation of guarantee regarding the linked sites, their content or their security. For your protection, Lanier Technical College suggests that you review the privacy and security policies of the company websites for each link.
Should private information be compromised in any way, Lanier Technical College will inform those affected of the breach.
National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA)
Lanier Technical College participates in the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement. SARA is a national initiative that establishes uniform standards for interstate offering of postsecondary distance education. SARA simplifies the process for institutions to provide online courses across state lines and ensures consistent consumer protections for students.
Lanier Technical College is a member of the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA), which authorizes colleges to enroll students in states other than Georgia in online courses. Lanier Tech has been approved to participate in the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements. Online students residing in an NC-SARA member state have specific rights and a formal process for addressing complaints related to distance education.
Lanier Tech can only enroll in online programs out-of-state students from states that are also members of NC-SARA. Please check the website, National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements, to see if your state is a member of NC-SARA.