Sharing academic log-in information is against University policies.

Ultrinsic works by allowing students to put money on the site, by credit card, and bet on their future grades, based on their academic history and the history of the course.

According to Gelbart, students make the decision to share academic login information.

“It is the student’s choice to share the login,” Gelbart said. “We’re not going to shut down our program because one school is afraid of something new.”

Eileen Goldgeier, vice chancellor and general counsel with the Office of General Counsel, has drafted a letter, according to Thomas Stafford, vice chancellor for student affairs.

“The University Legal Counsel has prepared a letter to send to [Ultrinsic] to let them know they are doing things against our rules,” Stafford said.

Mark Hoit, vice chancellor for the office of information technology, said he is preparing a letter to send to the Technician.

“[The letter] is about security, protection and avoidance of identity theft,” Hoit said. “It’s about the kinds of things students should be aware of.”

Gelbart said the site does not require students to share their academic login with them. However, in signing up for the site, the third step tells students to download their academic history by sharing their academic login information.

“On our site, in our terms of service, we have a clause that says by giving the login information, you’re giving us permission to access the information,” Gelbart said. “We do hope all users read our terms of service.”

Gelbart said he was unaware of policies at N.C. State against sharing academic login information.

“I’m not familiar with all the rules at each college,” Gelbart said. “It’s up to the student to trust us or to determine whether to give [their academic login information] to us or not.”

According to Gelbart, Ultrinsic only uses the academic login information to access student’s transcripts.

“We don’t care about accessing their account per say. All we care about is having an easy and quick method to access the transcript,” Gelbart said.

Gelbart also said Ultrinsic is concerned if requiring academic login information causes a problem for any school.

“We do care about if this is something is something that presents a difficulty for the school,” Gelbart said. “We are willing to look at an alternative method that would provide the students with another easy way.”

Gelbart said N.C. State had already sent Ultrinsic a letter.

“Right now, N.C. State sent us a letter, maybe, I’m not sure,” Gelbart said.

According to Jeremy Gelbart, co-founder and president of Ultrinsic, approximately 6,500 students are registered with Ultrinsic.

“Of those 6,500 students registered with Ultrinsic, probably 2,000 of them are waiting for their school to be added to the schools we serve,” Gelbart said. “Of the rest of the students, probably 100 to 200 students are from N.C. State.”

According to Gelbart, Ultrinsic’s lawyers do not consider the site to be a gambling website.

“We don’t consider this gambling. Our lawyers don’t consider this gambling,” Gelbart said.

According to Gelbart, by using Ultrinsic, students are placing money on things they control.

“Academic performance is a skill, reflected in the final grade,” Gelbart said. “Because it’s a skill, it’s in the control of the student. Therefore it is not gambling, because it is a skill.”

Gelbart also said there is another important difference between his site and.

“When someone is involved in gambling, it’s a destructive activity because they are losing money,” Gelbart said. “In this, it’s a productive activity. Putting money on the line to do good in school removes it from gambling.”

According to Gelbart, the website works in three steps.

“You come to the site and create an account. The second step is to select the school and input your GPA. The third step is to download your academic history and current schedule automatically. Academic login is not required at any point,” Gelbart said. “Student’s can mail their official transcript to us.”

Providing academic login information is optional, according to Gelbart.

“[It is] optional to make [the] process of inputting academic history and current schedule quicker for each student,” Gelbart said.

Gelbart said by giving Ultrinsic academic login information, students will receive their winnings quicker.

“At the end of the semester, you get the money very quickly if you’ve given us your academic login information,” Gelbart said. “Students have another option which is to mail an official transcript to us.”

Requesting an official transcript from the University costs $10 for the first and $5 for each subsequent request, according to Registration and Records.

Gelbart also said Ultrinsic would work with the University.

“We’re more than willing to speak with [the University] and figure out a new methodology to provide this service and with the same efficiency,” Gelbart said. “For us it doesn’t make a difference, but if it’s not good for them, the responsibility is on them [to contact us].”