The manhunt for suspected terrorists linked to the Sept. 11 attacks now stretches into students’ backyards.

Campuses across the nation have seen their relationship with the federal government take a strange new twist. About 220 U.S. colleges and universities have turned over information about their students to the FBI and the INS, according to a recent report by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.

UW-Madison is not one of those 220, but administrators are taking extra precautions to ensure students their right to privacy.

According to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, it is illegal for schools to give out details other than basic directory information to anyone, including students’ parents, without a court order.

But after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Family Policy and Complaint Office, part of the U.S. Department of Education, sent out a notice to schools saying FERPA is void as part of the emergency nature of this large-scale investigation.

” … disclosures made pursuant to requests made by the FBI … investigating terrorist activity are allowed under the FERPA emergency disclosure provisions [to access information] without a subpoena,” the order reads.

At Indiana University in Bloomington, the names of literally “hundreds” of students enrolled in the English as a Second Language program were handed over to the FBI.

It was also reported that five Minnesota schools released some information on their students.

UW administrators have been meeting to discuss the nature of these laws. According to Chancellor Wiley, UW will follow the guidelines set aside by FERPA.

“We have a balancing act to perform,” he said. “We have the obligation to act in good faith with students and employees on one hand, and with state and federal agencies on the other.”

Right now, unless a court ordered is issued, the only information available upon written request are names, addresses, phone numbers, major selected, credits being taken and whether or not the person is registered as a student or not, he said.

Dean of Students Alicia Chavez said the university will not release information regarding a student?s ethnicity and race.

“Wisconsin pretty much leads in terms of protecting student privacy,” she said.

After the attacks, and the recent anti-terrorism legislation signed by President Bush, a team of UW officials met to analyze what the university is required to do and how it would react to a request by the FBI or the INS.

“[We’ve established] a group that’s gotten together to try to make some recommendations to the university about this … when we started getting report that this might happen,” Chavez said.

The FBI has yet to inquire about any student at UW-Madison.

According to Barry Babler, a special agent and media representative at the FBI?s Milwaukee office, there is no clear need for this kind of information.

“We’re not requesting information on a whole ‘type’ of student,” Babler said. “We are not asking for lists of persons. We’re only looking for specific requests.”

Tuesday, the team of UW officials met to review these policies. They discovered, with the help of Melany Newby, Vice Chancellor of Legal and Executive Affairs, that the FBI would still need a court order even under the new anti-terrorism bill. Only now, Wiley said, it is easier to obtain one.

“Under the new law, it’s easier for agencies to get court orders, but a court order would still be needed,” he said. “You have to convince a judge that there?s a good reason to go after this information.”

The team has set up an official way of handling requests, should they come.

“Any court order or subpoena, no matter what office gets it, must channel it through [Newby],” Wiley said.

Newby would then review the order, he said, to determine exactly what is being asked, who is asking and why.

“If they have any questions … then they go back to the agency and get clarification,” he said.

Why the FBI has yet to approach UW is not known.

“It would be a major mystery for me because we have a lot more international students than [Indian University] does,” Wiley said.

Even officials at IU are not clear about why the FBI went to them.

Kenneth Rogers, Associate Dean of International Programs at IU, said that, as one of the 220-plus schools that have been contacted, he thinks it is routine.

“[UW’s] time is coming,” he said. “It’s going to be pretty pervasive, and most institutions are going to be asked sooner or later.”

But UW said it does not expect to hear from the FBI any time soon.

“The conventional wisdom is that it’s not nearly as likely as everyone thinks it is,” Newby said. “We haven’t received a request and I don’t know that I expect one.”