Appendix: Methodology

NASPA and New America conducted five virtual, semi-structured focus groups with a diverse mix of 18 students (see Figure 1) from late September to late October 2020. Each 90 minute focus group included up to four students and was moderated by the authors of this brief.

Students were recruited with help from Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA), part of the Today’s Students Coalition which works with students on campus. Students filled out a survey providing their race/ethnicity, gender identity, enrollment status, major/academic area of focus, academic class standing, Pell eligibility status, whether they were online or in-person, and whether they identify as being first-generation or undocumented. The authors reviewed the submissions and scheduled the focus groups. Before the focus group, students were provided with the following information:

• Request for permission to record the conversation
• Request that they turn on cameras if able
• Request that they enter their pronouns and names when logging on
• Reminder that the focus group would take place on RingCentral, so they must download the app beforehand and have access to a computer or tablet (mobile phone was also an option but not preferred)
• Note that they do not need to prepare anything and there are no right or wrong answers
• Note that they will be asked for their thoughts and opinions, and they will hear the experiences and opinions of others.

Students were asked to react to a variety of scenarios with questions about how colleges may use or track student data that were laid out in the moderator guide. Questions focused on understanding how comfort levels may change based on:

• Whether data are collected by a higher education institution vs. a third-party company
• Type of data collected (i.e., data about student location, demographics, financial aid, and academic performance)
• Data used in COVID-19-related monitoring scenarios (i.e., social media monitoring, contact tracing mobile applications, and proctoring software)
• Data used for resource sharing and targeted outreach (i.e., notice about eligible scholarship opportunities, on-campus financial resources, social clubs and events, and tutoring and advising services)