May 23, 2022

Kenyon takes its legal and ethical obligations to protect the privacy of data in institutional systems very seriously and we take many steps, both visible and invisible, to ensure that the institution meets those obligations. 

It is for this reason that Kenyon uses best security practices for computer accounts, including:

  • Two-factor authentication with the Duo software for access to Kenyon data systems

  • Two-factor authentication through Google’s Two-Step Verification for access to email and network file storage 

  • Single sign-on: using the same login credentials on multiple systems to reduce the problem of managing (and exposing) multiple accounts and passwords

  • Long passwords, which are exponentially much harder to decrypt by brute force computation

One common best practice for data privacy is the immediate account suspension for any individual who separates from the institution.  At Kenyon we do not strictly follow this practice; instead, we have made adjustments and accepted some additional risk in order to fulfill our educational mission.

Launching Alumni Toward a Successful Career

When Kenyon students leave the institution, whether for the first steps in a career or for graduate or professional school, the transition can take some time. Further, students may require access to materials and contacts from their undergraduate days as part of their successful application to the next stage in their lives. For this reason, Kenyon permits graduates to retain their accounts during a transition period after graduation of up to 120 days. 

We also enable services that permit graduates to extract all their email and files into a convenient archive that can be easily imported into a new or existing personal Gmail account during those 120 days. At this point, the technology transition to a post-Kenyon life is complete. Under special circumstances, we can still recover data that has been left behind. 

Graduates in need of help with their accounts may contact the Helpline (helpline@kenyon.edu or 740-427-5700) or the account management team (acctmanager@kenyon.edu).