Rationale:
Our strong commitment to students’ academic success includes the assurance that classrooms are spaces where instructors and students confidently engage in the free exchange of ideas about a diverse array of topics, including controversial issues that are marked by strongly held differences of opinion. The increased use of instructional technologies in recent years has enhanced student access to classroom spaces, but it has also put new pressure on universities to determine where to draw the line between, on the one hand, the beneficial uses of technology and, on the other, practices that threaten the ability of students and instructors to see the classroom as a space where they can safely express viewpoints with which others may disagree.
Many universities have sought to achieve this goal by developing policies that provide guidelines for the appropriate use of classroom recordings. While students should be allowed and encouraged to share concerns about classroom discussions with instructors, university administrators, parents, and trusted friends, the potential for direct sharing of conversations that take place in the classroom via recording risks violating the privacy of instructors and students. It also undermines a critical value of university life: the establishment of learning environments in which all participants can explore ideas, engage thoughtfully with diverse perspectives, and share ideas with the assurance that their statements will be treated respectfully and will not be shared with others outside the classroom context.
This policy seeks to strike a balance in these matters by maintaining the benefits available to instructors and students through the strategic use of classroom recordings while aligning with many of our peer institutions who have adopted policies to prohibit or limit the recording of class sessions to protect the privacy of instructors and students.
Policy scope:
This policy applies to instructors, students, and classroom visitors.
Policy:
Instructors – defined here as all full-time and part-time faculty, as well as graduate students and staff acting as instructors of record or teaching discussion sections/recitations, labs, or studios – and students and learners in all Syracuse University classes, both in-person and online, are responsible for working together to cultivate an intellectual community in which all participants can explore varied perspectives, engage thoughtfully with diverse viewpoints, and share ideas freely with the assurance that their statements will be treated respectfully and will not be shared with others outside the classroom context.
Class recordings are defined here as audio recording, video recording, and/or any screenshot, photo, or image of student writing, including comments, or student work, as well as transcription or audio/video recording of a class performed by an artificial intelligence system, app, or platform. While such recordings can have a valuable pedagogical function, their use must be carefully guided in order to protect the privacy of all participants in the class and to support the free exchange of ideas between and among instructors and students that is central to the vitality of any academic environment.
This policy strictly prohibits stealth or covert recording in classes by instructors and/or students, as well as by guests invited into the class session.
Violators of this policy are subject to referral to the appropriate disciplinary process based on their status as either a student or employee.
Instructors: Instructors who intend to record every class for pedagogical purposes must notify students about this practice of recording classes in the syllabus and on the first day of class. Instructors who intend to record only some classes must notify students in the syllabus and remind them verbally at the beginning of any recorded class session. These rules apply regardless of the means of recording a class, which may include but not be limited to transcription, audio/video recording or similar methods performed by an artificial intelligence system, app, or platform.
This policy applies to any class in which students are asked to participate in discussions or would be visible or audible in any recording of the class and its content. Classroom recordings in which only the slideshow (e.g., ‘screencast’) and the instructor’s voice are included are exempt from this policy, so long as no student voices or images are recorded or included with the recording. If student voices and/or images will be recorded, this policy applies and instructors must notify students as set forth above.
Instructors may not share recorded class sessions with any audiences outside Syracuse University without written permission from all students enrolled in the class. This mandate does not apply to online programs that routinely use recorded class sessions from prior semesters for internal training purposes and class recordings that include only the slideshow/screen and/or the instructor’s voice. Instructors who intend to record class sessions for research purposes must follow this policy with regard to notice to the class and must also follow all policies governing the use of human subjects in research (https://researchintegrity.syr.edu/human-research/policies-and-guidelines/) and first seek and receive institutional approval for such research.
Students: Students must obtain advance permission from the instructor before recording classes, including with the use of transcription or audio/video recording performed by an artificial intelligence system, app, or platform. Such permission may be granted for a variety of reasons, but the student must in all cases confirm in writing that recordings or class transcripts will not be shared with others inside or outside the class.
If there is a compelling reason to share any classroom recording with any audience outside the class, students must first have written permission from the instructor and, if the recording includes student images and/or discussion, all students in the class. Publishing recorded class sessions or transcripts on social media or through any platform for wider public distribution is strictly prohibited.
Disability Accommodations: Requests to record courses as disability accommodations must be submitted to the Center for Disability Resources. Since accommodations may require early planning and are not provided retroactively, students should contact the Center for Disability Resources regarding accommodation needs as soon as possible. If the Center for Disability Resources determines through the interactive process with a student that recording a course is a necessary and appropriate accommodation, the instructor will be notified of the accommodation and how it is to be implemented. An instructor is not permitted to notify the class that the class is being recorded as the result of a disability accommodation.
Provost approval: August 7, 2025