Student assignments

In student work, the handling of both personal data and ethical issues must be taken into account. Student works must process as little personal data as possible and only in exceptional cases and only if absolutely necessary sensitive personal data.

Student works must be assessed as ethically acceptable based on a review process that the faculties are responsible for and that the departments are responsible for developing a procedure for. The Faculty of Medicine has developed guidelines that you read together with Umeå University's regulations.

Rules and procedures for processing personal data in student assignments, Umeå university

Rules and procedures for processing personal data in student assignments

For the handling of sensitive and privacy-sensitive personal data in independent student projects (i.e., not part of a research project) in a correct manner, the Vice-Chancellor has decided that M365 Teams shall be used at Umeå University from July 1, 2023 (FS 2023/504). See: Collaboration Space for Student Projects Containing Sensitive Personal Data and Student Projects and Processing of Personal Data (for teachers).

Guidelines for ethical review and personal data management, Faculty of Medicine

The following guideline describes how ethical review and personal data management for different types of student projects should be handled at the Faculty of Medicine.

Guidelines for ethical review and personal data management in student projects

Appendix 1: Appropriateness assessment of first- and second-cycle student projects

Proposed Handling of Suitability Assessment

Based on the faculty's guidelines for ethical review and personal data management in student projects, a documented decision must be made regarding whether the project can be conducted under ethically acceptable conditions and, where applicable, how personal data should be handled. For this purpose, Appendix 1: Suitability Assessment of Student Work at Undergraduate and Advanced Levels is used.

Proposed handling at the Departments, based on the guideline:

• The course coordinator for student projects sends a list containing information about the student, project, and supervisor to the corresponding departments. The list includes the type of degree the project is intended for. The head of department and the designated administrator at each department receive the list.
• The department administrator ensures that this list is uploaded to a designated space created by the department in M365. One suggestion is to create a Teams workspace/folder named "Suitability Assessment for Student Projects", with subfolders for years and programs.
• The department administrator sends Appendix 1: Suitability Assessment of Student Work at Undergraduate and Advanced Levels to the relevant supervisors at the department, along with information stating that the form must be completed and uploaded to the designated storage space (as outlined above).
• The supervisor is responsible for ensuring that Appendix 1 is completed together with the student. The form can be filled out digitally.
• A printed copy of the completed Appendix 1 must be signed by the student (note that EduSign cannot be used by students).
• The supervisor reviews and signs the completed Appendix 1 (either the printed copy or after scanning using EduSign) and uploads the signed document to the designated storage space. Note that the signing supervisor must be an employed teacher at Umeå University.
• The department administrator verifies that all suitability assessments have been completed and uploaded, cross-checking them against the list provided by the course coordinator.
• The department administrator shares the completed Appendix 1 for the students in the course with the course coordinator for student projects.
• Appendix 1 is disposed of according to Umeå University's regulations.
• All materials containing personal data must be stored and handled in compliance with Umeå University's regulations. Teams can be used for general personal data, but for sensitive or privacy-sensitive personal data, only storage solutions explicitly approved by Umeå University for such data processing should be used.