Verification of Identity in Distance Education

Trinity Washington University is committed to maintaining the highest level of academic integrity towards the verification of student identities in distance education. In verifying a student’s identity, Trinity may use processes and technical solutions to verify student identity, including but not limited to:

• review of government-issued identification;
• secure login and password;
• multi-factor authentication solutions; and/or
• remote proctoring solutions;

Secure username and password: Students are assigned a unique and secure login with a username and password by the Office of Information Technology Services (ITS). This login grants access to university systems students that are needed to fulfill coursework.

Strong password requirements and changes: Passwords must be at minimum eight characters long, contain at least one alphabetic, at least one numeric character, at least one non-alphanumeric character, be different from the last nine passwords, and not be easily guessable (e.g., any portion of a student’s first or last name.

Multifactor authentication and single sign-on: Trinity uses two-factor authentication to provide additional security for the student’s username and password. Two-factor authentication is required for the student to access email correspondence with other students, faculty and staff.

Personally-identifiable information collected by the university may be used, at the discretion of the institution and in compliance with applicable state and federal laws, as the basis for identity verification. For instance, a student requesting that their learning system password be reset will be asked to provide two or more pieces of information for comparison with data on file, or may be subject further identity verification through Information Technology Services procedures.

All students of the university’s information systems shall maintain the security of usernames, passwords and any other access credentials that they are assigned. These credentials must not be shared or given to anyone other than the user to whom they were assigned, for any reason. Students shall be responsible for any and all uses of their account. Attempting to discover another user’s password or gain unauthorized access to another person’s account, files, or email is prohibited and violates Trinity’s Technology & Telecommunications Policy.

Trinity does not assess any additional charges for verification of identity. In the case where a student is required to present in-person for identity verification (such as in-person proctoring), they are responsible for the cost of travel to campus to do so. This cost can vary depending on distance, time, and other factors.