Genio (Formerly Glean) FAQ

Genio can only be used to record lectures if the student is present in class, so it is more likely to encourage class attendance than it is to discourage it. Regardless of whether courses are recorded or not, instructors can encourage consistent class attendance by having a clear attendance policy and/or a grade for in-class participation that is explicitly stated in your syllabi.

An instructor’s right to privacy or concern over intellectual property does not override the student’s legal right to accommodation. Disability Services respects the instructor’s concern for privacy and intellectual property while still assuring the availability of accommodation and access for the student. This is done through both the Genio recording agreement form that students are required to sign before they are granted access to the tool, and through the Genio software itself, which prohibits students from downloading their recordings or transcripts. The recording agreement prohibits users from sharing, selling, or reproducing any material from their courses. 

Students’ licenses are shut off at the end of each semester and their old recordings expire 6 months from the date their previous license was shut off. Students’ Genio licenses must be renewed the following semester by signing a new recording agreement for their new courses.

Genio complies with all US laws, has a US address and servers, and actively states that they do not use course recordings for AI training. Genio has been vetted and approved by the university compliance office and has been deemed safe from information security risks through the appropriate channels. For more information about Genio’s security and data storage, please visit their FAQ page.
 

Given the ubiquity of technology, any student with a device in the classroom could record your lectures without permission, using any variety of recording tool or device. While we acknowledge the validity of such concerns, opting out only serves to stop disabled students who rely on the support of Genio for equal access, who have gone through the appropriate channels to have it formally approved by the university, and who are using a university vetted tool. Echo 360 already uses similar technology with recordings, to which most faculty are not opposed. For more information about Genio’s security and data storage, please visit their FAQ page. 

Genio is granted to disabled students to mitigate the impact of their disability and support them with note taking. Any student using Genio is required to sign the user agreement contract which prevents them from selling, sharing, or reproducing their recordings. This agreement also informs the student that there may be situations in which it may not be appropriate to record, such as classroom discussions that involve person or confidential sharing. A copy of this is sent to the instructor for informed consent. 

While we strongly encourage all faculty to consider the access needs of our disabled students and hope you will contribute to our mission of creating an inclusive and welcoming environment for all students, the option to "opt-out" of Genio is still available. If you opt out, please be prepared to work with Disability Services to meet the students’ access needs through alternative means. This may include using Echo360 instead of Genio, providing them with copies of your course materials/lecture notes, etc.
 

If this is a concern, then we encourage you to add a statement to your syllabus that says recording is not allowed without a Disability Services approved accommodation to prevent non-disabled students from recording, without creating barriers to access for disabled students.

Occasionally, courses may involve a great deal of self-disclosure, personal reflection, or confidential discussions from students or presenters as part of the class. We recognize the concern that having a recording may inhibit participants from sharing freely or would risk anonymity. In these cases, it is important to remember that the use of the recording device is to support the student’s note taking ability. If these open discussions are not appropriate subject matter for any student to be taking notes, then it would be appropriate to make a general announcement to the class and ask all students to stop note taking in addition to turning off any recording devices.

Accommodations cannot pose a fundamental alteration to course learning objectives – if you feel that the use of Genio in your class would pose a fundamental alteration, please reach out to Disability Services directly at @email to discuss this as soon as possible before denying a student access to their approved accommodations. We are happy to assist you with communicating this to the student and will work to find appropriate alternatives to address the students’ access needs.