Welcome Guest!
Create an Account
login email:
password:
site searchwhere to watchcontact usabout usadvertise with ushelp
Message Board

BobcatAttack.com Message Board
General Ohio University Discussion/Alumni Events
Topic:  Publicly Available Lists of Graduates?

Topic:  Publicly Available Lists of Graduates?
Author
Message
C Money
General User



Member Since: 8/28/2010
Post Count: 3,420

Status: Offline

  Message Not Read  Publicly Available Lists of Graduates?
   Posted: 10/17/2018 3:40:46 PM 
Does anybody know if Alden (or some other group on campus) keeps records of the names of each year's graduates? Something that might be useful for genealogical or biographical research? I have been tasked by a family friend with trying to confirm whether and what year someone graduated from OUr fair university....and with homecoming this weekend I was hoping to kill two birds with one stone....
Back to Top
  
rpbobcat
General User

Member Since: 4/28/2006
Location: Rochelle Park, NJ
Post Count: 3,547

Status: Offline

  Message Not Read  RE: Publicly Available Lists of Graduates?
   Posted: 10/18/2018 6:41:19 AM 
I know the Alumni Association's web site used to have a "portal" where you get that type of information.
Don't know if its still there or not.

If you have an idea when the person was at O.U.,you could look at old yearbooks.
Its not foolproof,but its something.

Back to Top
  
OhioCatFan
General User



Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Athens, OH
Post Count: 14,150

Status: Offline

  Message Not Read  RE: Publicly Available Lists of Graduates?
   Posted: 10/18/2018 10:41:40 PM 
There are also graduation programs. Some of the older ones are in the archives in Alden. Not sure exactly where more recent ones are, but I think they are somewhere else in the library.


The only BLSS Certified Hypocrite on BA

"It is better to be an optimist and be proven a fool than to be a pessimist and be proven right."

Note: My avatar is the national colors of the 78th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry, which are now preserved in a climate controlled vault at the Ohio History Connection. Learn more about the old 78th at: http://www.78ohio.org

Back to Top
  
74 Cat
General User

Member Since: 2/23/2005
Post Count: 103

Status: Offline

  Message Not Read  RE: Publicly Available Lists of Graduates?
   Posted: 10/19/2018 8:05:26 AM 
There are alumni directories published from time to time (I have one from 2008) so information may be in one of these. The alumni house may be open on Saturday so a visit there might be helpful, too.
Back to Top
  
mf279801
General User

Member Since: 8/6/2010
Location: Newark, DE
Post Count: 2,461

Status: Offline

  Message Not Read  RE: Publicly Available Lists of Graduates?
   Posted: 10/22/2018 12:16:10 AM 
What was the conclusion to this? We hung out all weekend, but I don't remember hearing if you found info on your family member or not
Back to Top
  
.
General User

Member Since: 2/3/2005
Post Count: 2,969

Status: Offline

  Message Not Read  RE: Publicly Available Lists of Graduates?
   Posted: 10/22/2018 1:28:51 PM 
mf279801 wrote:
We hung out all weekend, but I don't remember hearing if you found info on your family member or not


I love saying sentences like this to my wife just to make her head explode, even if it's not actually true.

"Yeah, I was with that guy for 48 straight hours on that trip. No, I still don't know his first name."

Back to Top
  
C Money
General User



Member Since: 8/28/2010
Post Count: 3,420

Status: Offline

  Message Not Read  RE: Publicly Available Lists of Graduates?
   Posted: 10/25/2018 8:50:35 AM 
mf279801 wrote:
What was the conclusion to this? We hung out all weekend, but I don't remember hearing if you found info on your family member or not


I searched some of the yearbooks online but that was it. It does, though, mean that I can honestly tell my family friend that I tried but couldn't find anything definitive.

Back to Top
  
Alan Swank
General User

Member Since: 12/11/2004
Location: Athens, OH
Post Count: 7,072

Status: Offline

  Message Not Read  RE: Publicly Available Lists of Graduates?
   Posted: 10/26/2018 3:07:16 PM 
C Money wrote:
mf279801 wrote:
What was the conclusion to this? We hung out all weekend, but I don't remember hearing if you found info on your family member or not


I searched some of the yearbooks online but that was it. It does, though, mean that I can honestly tell my family friend that I tried but couldn't find anything definitive.



Problem with the yearbooks is that very few seniors got/get their pictures taken. The vast majority of colleges have eliminated the book altogether.

Back to Top
  
Sean Gallagher
General User



Member Since: 12/6/2012
Post Count: 134

Status: Offline

  Message Not Read  RE: Publicly Available Lists of Graduates?
   Posted: 10/27/2018 6:53:20 PM 
The Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections located on the 5th floor of Alden Library has hard bound copies of alumni directories put together a few years back. I believe these were compiled by private companies with university consent that were then marketed to graduates. They are pretty extensive and I believe they are even broken up by colleges (art and sciences, etc.) within each year. They even had info on where the graduate worked and lived at the time of publication. There is a small reading room off the Mahn Center hep desk where you can review them when your in Athens. They are sitting right on the shelfs in that reading room. I don't know if they've ever been digitalized or placed on-line.

Last Edited: 10/27/2018 6:54:38 PM by Sean Gallagher

Back to Top
  
Andrew Ruck
General User



Member Since: 12/22/2004
Location: Columbus, OH
Post Count: 4,852

Status: Offline

  Message Not Read  RE: Publicly Available Lists of Graduates?
   Posted: 1/3/2019 7:27:37 PM 
Degrees from Public Universities should be a matter of public record.


Andrew Ruck
B.B.A. 2003

Back to Top
  
BillyTheCat
General User

Member Since: 10/6/2012
Post Count: 9,778

Status: Offline

  Message Not Read  RE: Publicly Available Lists of Graduates?
   Posted: 1/4/2019 5:25:07 AM 
Andrew Ruck wrote:
Degrees from Public Universities should be a matter of public record.


All schools have a degree verification program, usually done with the Registars Office.
Back to Top
  
The Optimist
General User



Member Since: 3/16/2007
Location: CLE
Post Count: 5,561

Status: Offline

  Message Not Read  RE: Publicly Available Lists of Graduates?
   Posted: 1/15/2019 6:41:53 PM 
Andrew Ruck wrote:
Degrees from Public Universities should be a matter of public record.


Ohio University should take the initiative on this topic and create a public blockchain of all graduates. The concept is really straight-forward: when you graduate, you get added to a public list of Bobcat alumni. The public list has 3 columns: Name, Graduation Year, Random Password

Example:
Name, Graduation Year, Random Password Encryption
Andrew Ruck, 2003, xy1m2i3a4m5i6s7u8c9k0z
The Optimist, 2012, f4343ji4h32gi3i54j3fiz
DJ Cooper Jr, 2030, 594juj4ig5ppw3589e341v

The first two columns explain themselves, the 3rd column "Random Password" is just random numbers and letters that a computer would encrypt. The computer would also encrypt one other set of random numbers and letters for each line which they would give only to the graduate which acts like a "Key." If the graduate ever wanted to prove to an employer they have a degree, they could give them their "Key" and a computer could use that to run a calculations that validates they are telling the truth.

It's a win-win because this would let anyone search names of graduates from Ohio and it could also save the University A TON of resources on employer validation. Call it the Bobcat Blockchain.


I've seen crazier things happen.

Back to Top
  
rpbobcat
General User

Member Since: 4/28/2006
Location: Rochelle Park, NJ
Post Count: 3,547

Status: Offline

  Message Not Read  RE: Publicly Available Lists of Graduates?
   Posted: 1/16/2019 7:10:41 AM 
The Optimist wrote:
Andrew Ruck wrote:
Degrees from Public Universities should be a matter of public record.


Ohio University should take the initiative on this topic and create a public blockchain of all graduates. The concept is really straight-forward: when you graduate, you get added to a public list of Bobcat alumni. The public list has 3 columns: Name, Graduation Year, Random Password

Example:
Name, Graduation Year, Random Password Encryption
Andrew Ruck, 2003, xy1m2i3a4m5i6s7u8c9k0z
The Optimist, 2012, f4343ji4h32gi3i54j3fiz
DJ Cooper Jr, 2030, 594juj4ig5ppw3589e341v

The first two columns explain themselves, the 3rd column "Random Password" is just random numbers and letters that a computer would encrypt. The computer would also encrypt one other set of random numbers and letters for each line which they would give only to the graduate which acts like a "Key." If the graduate ever wanted to prove to an employer they have a degree, they could give them their "Key" and a computer could use that to run a calculations that validates they are telling the truth.

It's a win-win because this would let anyone search names of graduates from Ohio and it could also save the University A TON of resources on employer validation. Call it the Bobcat Blockchain.


I haven't used it in years,but you used to be able to search for Alumni using O.U.'s "Alumni Portal".

Last Edited: 1/16/2019 7:11:08 AM by rpbobcat

Back to Top
  
The Optimist
General User



Member Since: 3/16/2007
Location: CLE
Post Count: 5,561

Status: Offline

  Message Not Read  RE: Publicly Available Lists of Graduates?
   Posted: 1/17/2019 6:58:10 PM 
rpbobcat wrote:
The Optimist wrote:
Andrew Ruck wrote:
Degrees from Public Universities should be a matter of public record.


Ohio University should take the initiative on this topic and create a public blockchain of all graduates. The concept is really straight-forward: when you graduate, you get added to a public list of Bobcat alumni. The public list has 3 columns: Name, Graduation Year, Random Password

Example:
Name, Graduation Year, Random Password Encryption
Andrew Ruck, 2003, xy1m2i3a4m5i6s7u8c9k0z
The Optimist, 2012, f4343ji4h32gi3i54j3fiz
DJ Cooper Jr, 2030, 594juj4ig5ppw3589e341v

The first two columns explain themselves, the 3rd column "Random Password" is just random numbers and letters that a computer would encrypt. The computer would also encrypt one other set of random numbers and letters for each line which they would give only to the graduate which acts like a "Key." If the graduate ever wanted to prove to an employer they have a degree, they could give them their "Key" and a computer could use that to run a calculations that validates they are telling the truth.

It's a win-win because this would let anyone search names of graduates from Ohio and it could also save the University A TON of resources on employer validation. Call it the Bobcat Blockchain.


I haven't used it in years,but you used to be able to search for Alumni using O.U.'s "Alumni Portal".



There's no good reason a simple tool like this shouldn't be available online. Maybe it is still around and it's hidden away on the website? Anyone know?

My experience is that a lot of big organizations and companies have removed many simple tools similar to this in recent years to prevent information from being shared online. The narrative I've seen play out goes something like this: someone gets hacked or is afraid of being hacked which results in a huge over-reaction about how cyber-security is handled. Rather than using logic and common sense to decide what type of information and tools should be accessible to the masses, there's a huge IT push to treat everything as "classified" and limit access to just a few people.

This is just a guess, but my suspicion is that Ohio University might fit into that mold. I recall when I was looking at colleges my Junior and Senior year of high school, I would see Ohio University on the national news because computer systems were breached and a whole bunch of social security were made public about either students, faculty or alumni. Maybe all? I don't know the details, but it's not difficult to imagine this having a big impact on what type of information is shared about alumni on websites now. In my opinion, there's a very big difference between something like publishing the names of a graduating class compared to more personal things like social security numbers or detailed information that can make people personally-identifiable, but there's probably a lot more to the story here than I'm aware of.


I've seen crazier things happen.

Back to Top
  
Andrew Ruck
General User



Member Since: 12/22/2004
Location: Columbus, OH
Post Count: 4,852

Status: Offline

  Message Not Read  RE: Publicly Available Lists of Graduates?
   Posted: 1/21/2019 10:41:36 AM 
I like it. Also excited to see DJ Jr in green.


Andrew Ruck
B.B.A. 2003

Back to Top
  
Showing Replies:  1 - 15  of 15 Posts
Jump to Page:  1
View Other 'General Ohio University Discussion/Alumni Events' Topics
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             







Copyright ©2024 BobcatAttack.com. All rights reserved.  |  Privacy Policy  |  Terms of Use
Partner of USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties