Simple Safe Zone
Simple Safe Zone (SSZ) is a Google Shared Drive that provides a simple and safe space for youth activities to store information and meet compliance requirements. When needed, OYP staff will create an SSZ drive for your youth activity.
What is Simple Safe Zone?
SSZ is a Google Shared drive that OYP creates for each compliance year. The shared drive members include the Authorized Custodian and other individuals who administer the youth activity.
As a Shared Drive, SSZ provides secure cloud-based storage for program information:
- UW–Madison has a G Suite for Higher Education license with Google that provides additional security over Google’s standard commercial applications. G Suite (Google Apps) includes Drive, Docs, Sheets, and other common products.
- The SSZ configuration of a Shared drive and SSZ usage have been reviewed by the Office of Cybersecurity.
- SSZ is a safer option than departmental share drives, laptops, and paper files.
Is SSZ required?
Authorized Custodians and youth activity administrators use SSZ to submit completed rosters. SSZ contains roster templates that are required. Authorized Custodians may use SSZ to store all other program information but are not required to as long as information is stored securely. Refer to Information Security.
Google Sheets Roster Templates
Each youth activity’s SSZ shared drive includes staff and participant rosters as pre-formatted Google Sheets. Google Sheets is a spreadsheet application similar to Microsoft Excel.
For rosters submitted to OYP, use the preformatted rosters in SSZ.
Rosters must be submitted in the format provided in the SSZ roster templates. Do not delete columns, instead, use the hide feature for columns that you do not need to access. If you wish to include additional information, you may add additional columns at the end of the Google Sheet.
Roster help:
Use SSZ to Submit and Store Rosters
SSZ Shared drives have been reviewed and approved by the Office of Cybersecurity for storing Personally Identifiable Information (PII) records and other sensitive data related to youth activities.
Optional: Use SSZ to store any program information files, of any file type.
Required: Use SSZ to upload authorization from school/college/division youth protection designee, completed staff and participant rosters.
Submit one participant roster: Final roster is due 14 days following the conclusion of the youth activity
Where does the roster end up?
Rosters submitted to OYP become the university’s official record of the youth activity and are retained as legally required. This ensures institutional continuity even if program leadership or staffing changes over time.