Professor Studyphud obtained a prestigious grant for longitudinal research on the outcomes of graduate training in the physical sciences. She will assess student values and ethics upon admission to graduate school, the kinds of scientific and personal values imparted in doctoral training, and ethical decisions made in career choices and performance as measured five years post-Ph.D. An important part of Studyphud's longitudinal research design is to recruit volunteers when they are admitted to the university's Ph.D. program in any of several major physical science departments. Studyphud plans to obtain from each program the list of graduate students admitted that year. After the student has enrolled, she plans to send the student, via campus mail, an introduction of herself (a professor of psychology), a description of her longitudinal study, an invitation to participate, and a standard consent form.
Studyphud showed her research protocol to a colleague who is on the IRB to inquire whether the format was correct. She was surprised when her colleague objected to her obtaining a list of students admitted to the Ph.D. program. Her colleague claimed that Studyphud has no right to that list since the fact of students' admission to Ph.D. programs is a private event. The colleague said that the only way Studyphud could contact the students is by placing a more general solicitation in all doctoral students' mailboxes asking them to contact her if they qualified (as new students) and were interested in participating. Was Studyphud's colleague right?
Studyphud's colleague was wrong. A list of names of students admitted to a graduate program is not normally private. Departmental newsletters will list and briefly describe these students to welcome them to the program. Lists of their names and a few other identifying characteristics will be distributed to faculty, staff and existing doctoral students.
The distinction between public and private information can be ambiguous in some cases. Some information that becomes part of university records, such as students' financial status or that of their parents, would arguably be private. And clearly if Studyphud were seeking volunteers who had smoked marijuana as undergraduates or who had certain medical conditions, she would be dealing with private information. However, admission to a graduate program is clearly not private information.
The Common Rule provides a general and satisfactory description of identifiable private information whose confidentiality should be discussed with the respondent, such as medical records (§ 102 (f) (2)).