ChemREFS Internship Report 2

As we are working to set up a pilot REFS program in the UO chemistry department, we are grappling with issues related to student privacy. We need to ensure the privacy of any student who visits a REF to discuss a concern or struggle, while keeping basic records for purposes of evaluating the program. Records, such as emails to the REFS account, should be deleted regularly and no identifying information should be kept. The program should keep track of how many students visit the REFs in any given term and take note of common concerns. I wonder if a simple form listing various categories of issues could be used for this purpose. After a meeting with a student the REF could then check which issues came up. The categories should be specific enough to be useful for evaluating the program and for preparing ongoing training material for the REFs, but broad enough to prevent privacy breaches. In our spring training we need to train REFs on how to maintain students’ privacy, and let them know when it is appropriate and necessary to refer a concern to an outside entity. Student visitors should also be given detailed information about privacy so they can make an informed decision on what they may want to share with a REF or whether to engage at all. We have not yet explicitly discussed privacy and confidentiality in the context of peer mentoring or mediation in any of my classes, but I’m certain we will do so in my Mediation class this term. During my time in the McNair program at Portland State University some years ago, I had to get my research approved by the IRB. In this context I learned about privacy, confidentiality and informed consent. I am wondering how privacy in the context of a research project relates to the ChemREFS program.

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