Oops. St. Joe's grades sent out in mass email

UPPERCLASSMEN at Saint Joseph's University's Haub School of Business found out precisely where they stood among their peers when a mass email sent from the dean's office March 6 accidentally included a spreadsheet of their grade-point averages.

Officials said Tuesday that the extensive report card hitched a ride on a solicitation for an internship in Italy that went out to nearly 500 undergrads.

University Provost Brice Wachterhauser sent out an apology to students and faculty Tuesday, calling the leak an "internal human error," and emphasizing the school's commitment to privacy. Federal law forbids a student's grades from being disclosed without written consent.

Saint Joseph's spokeswoman Carolyn Steigleman said the university's legal team is reviewing the situation. She added that recipients were told about the error the same day it occurred.

"Accidents like this happen all the time," said Helen Garrett, a national trainer for the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. "As long as the institution acknowledges that it happened, notifies the students affected, and takes steps to prevent it from happening again, they're doing their due diligence."

According to its website, Haub is the nation's largest Jesuit undergraduate business school, with 3,400 students.