Photography, Recording, and Consent

Policy 2.40 · Adopted 2008 · Last revised 2026 · Responsible office: Office of Marketing and Communications · Next review 2029

This policy governs photography, video, and audio recording on College property and at College events, by College photographers and by anyone else, and the consent the College requires before it publishes an image of a person. It brings together rules previously stated in the mascot appearance policy, the Division of Funerary and Interment Services’ practices for the Memorial Service, and the commencement ceremony arrangements. Those rules are unchanged.

A College photographer is any employee, student worker, contractor, or volunteer making images or recordings for College use, including for this website, Channel 21, WDRO-LP, and printed materials.

1. General

Photography and recording for personal, non-commercial use are permitted in public areas of the campus and at public events, subject to this policy. They are not permitted in classrooms, shops, laboratories, barns, or clinics without the instructor’s permission, and not in any area listed in Section 3.

Commercial photography and filming on College property, including for advertising, film, and television, require prior written approval from the Office of Marketing and Communications and a certificate of insurance. The College does not permit its name, marks, or buildings to be used in a way that suggests endorsement.

Unmanned aircraft are not operated over College property for any purpose without the prior written approval of the Department of Campus Safety, and then only in compliance with Federal Aviation Administration rules.

2. Events and occasions with standing rules

The Memorial Service. The Memorial Service held each April by the Division of Funerary and Interment Services is not photographed, is not recorded, and is not cablecast. The prohibition applies to every person present, including College photographers, students, and guests, and it is not waived on request.

Mascot performers. A performer who is partially costumed is not photographed, and such a photograph may not be published. This applies to College photographers. The identity of the performer on any date is not published.

Commencement. Guests may photograph from their seats. The floor is reserved for the contracted photographer. Commencement is recorded and cablecast by Channel 21; a graduate who crosses the stage is understood to have consented to that recording.

Meetings of the Board of Trustees. Meetings of the Board are public meetings under Ohio Revised Code 121.22. Members of the public may photograph and record an open meeting in a manner that does not disrupt it. The College does not record the Board’s meetings.

3. Restricted areas

The following rules apply to all persons, including College photographers, in addition to any rule of the responsible division.

4. Recording of instruction

Students may not record a class, lab, shop session, or practicum without the instructor’s permission, except as approved as an accommodation by Disability Services. A recording made as an accommodation is for the student’s personal use only and is not shared. An instructor may record instruction for course use and informs the class before doing so.

Surveillance and statement-taking exercises in Investigative and Protective Services courses use role players who have consented in writing. A member of the public is not made the subject of an exercise. Recorded interviews made in instruction are retained and destroyed under the course’s procedures.

Ohio law permits a person who is a party to a conversation to record it. This policy is more restrictive than Ohio law in the settings it names.

5. Consent and releases

Identifiable persons. The College does not publish an image or recording in which a student, employee, or visitor can be identified without a signed release on file with the Office of Marketing and Communications, except for images of public events in which no individual is the subject, and commencement as stated in Section 2. A release may be withdrawn in writing at any time; withdrawal applies to future use and does not recall printed materials already distributed.

Minors. A person under 18, including a College Credit Plus student, a Career Exploration Day visitor, or a summer youth camp participant, is photographed in an identifiable manner only with a release signed by a parent or guardian. Without a release, a minor is photographed only from behind, at a distance, or otherwise so that the minor cannot be identified. A minor is not photographed or recorded by a College photographer while alone with that photographer; the supervision requirements of Policy 6.55, Minors on Campus, apply to photography as to any other activity.

Clients, patients, and families. A client, donor, patient, or family member served in instruction or practicum is not photographed for College use, with or without a release, except a client of the Cosmetology clinic who has consented in writing to a specific use.

Directory information. A student who has restricted directory information under Policy 3.20, Student Records, is not photographed for College publication, and any release that student has signed is set aside for the period of the restriction.

6. Requests and concerns

A person who believes an image or recording of them was made or published contrary to this policy may ask the Office of Marketing and Communications to remove it from College publications. Removal from the website and from Channel 21 is made within five business days of the request. A concern that a recording was made in a restricted area is reported to Campus Safety, ext. 2911.