Is it appropriate to ask to be delisted from department webpage?

Question

I am a doctoral student. I share an office with one other individual. As is customary, the names, emails, and offices of graduate students are published on the department site.

I am the victim in a stalking case. The authorities have been involved and I am in the middle of legal proceedings. Without going into too many details, my stalker is currently not being held. Until the situation resolves, would it be appropriate to ask my graduate administrator to strike my identifying details from the public graduate directory out of concern for my safety?

Edit: Some more relevant information... My office mate and I are moving rooms this year so my concern is more about preventing the new information appearing on the department webpage. Also, I am located in North America, and my stalker has been physically violent with me in the past resulting in admission to a hospital for treatment.

Answer 1

Yes. You should ask.

There may be negotiations and compromises might have to be made. (For example, they might still list your name but not your e-mail or office.) It's also possible that, as a matter of law and or regulation, they will require a court order to not list you (and they may be more or less cooperative in helping you get that court order).

Answer 2

It is appropriate to ask and no law would stop you from asking. I doubt that any laws would require a court order to comply if it is done with a reasonable request such as yours. The university might have its own reasons/policies for not removing you I'd guess, whether appropriate or not.

But, I think it would be completely ineffective unless other steps are taken as well. The stalker is very likely to already know such things and very likely to have seen the web site already. If you want to "hide" your email and office, then they should probably also be changed, with, for example, the old email getting filtered through some authority (compromising privacy, of course).

What you need is more proactive measures taken by the university and by legal authorities. Probably more than just court orders to (try to) prevent contact and approach. Campus security, in particular, should be apprised of the situation. Your department and its faculty should be made aware, though it might need to be done "quietly" if that is possible.

Answer 3

Although FERPA allows for the release of “directory information” without the students consent, you can explicitly “opt out” and keep your directory information private. For example, at IU this is done through the registrars office at the last link on this page. In addition to people with stalkers, this is common with celebrities or children of political figures. My impression is that this is usually taken quite seriously and would stop the department from listing you.

I would suggest both asking the department directly to take your info down, and also going through this process of blocking the release of directory information. Asking nicely will make you less likely to annoy someone, but the official process is needed or else your stalker could just call the registrar and find your directory information.

As usual I’m not a lawyer, this is not legal advice, and I probably have some details wrong. Talk to your local registrar’s office. You might also talk to someone at the Student Advocate’s Office (or similar) who can help you navigate this and may have additional ideas for how to protect yourself. I’m sorry you’re going through this and I hope you’re ok.