FERPA

 
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act Where to find more Info:

What is it?  FERPA (also called the Buckley Amendment) refers to the laws which protect students and their records.  Specifically, it ensures the following rights to all students:

  1. The right to inspect and review their education records.

  2. The right to request the amendment of inaccurate or misleading records.

  3. The right to consent to the disclosure of their education records.

  4. The right to file a complaint with the FERPA office in Washington, D.C.

 

 U.S. Code, Title 20 - Education, Chapter 31 - General Provisions Concerning Education, Part 4 - Records; Privacy; Limitation on Withholding Federal Funds.

Student - Any person who attends or has attended the university.

Education records - Any record maintained by the university which is directly related to the student or makes the student personally identifiable.

What this means for you: It is your responsibility to protect any education records in your possession. Excepting basic directory information, only a school official with legitimate educational interest in the students records may have access to that students education records without that students written permission.  

Students may mark their records confidential, so that even basic directory information is restricted to the students written consent.

Remember, even your computer screen is considered part of the student record if it shows something personally identifiable to a student.

 Release of records - there are some exceptions in which records will be released to non-school officials.  This should only be handled through the Office of the Registrar.

Examples of Directory information which CAN be released unless the student has requested that their education record be kept confidential: Name, address, electronic mail address, telephone number, photo and/or image, and dates/verification of attendance and degree.

Especially for faculty: To avoid violations of FERPA rules, do not:
  • Ever post grades in public.
  • Ever link the name of a student with that student's social security number in any public manner.
  • Leave graded tests in a stack for students to pick up that requires sorting through the papers of all students.
  • Circulate a printed list with student name and social security number or grades as an attendance roster.
  • Discuss the progress of any student with anyone other than the student (including parents) without the consent of the student.
  • Provide anyone with lists of students enrolled in your class for any commercial purpose.
  • Provide anyone with student schedules or assist anyone other than university employees in finding a student on campus.
Questions about FERPA:

If you are ever unsure about what information to give out, do not give it out. Contact (or direct the inquiry to) the Office of the Registrar at x82740.  Students requesting access or amendment to education records should also be directed to the Office of the Registrar

THE QUIZ-Take the FERPA quiz and impress your friends, neighbors and colleagues!


 
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