The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), gives 澳门六合彩高手 University students certain rights, consistent with the privacy of others, with respect to official records, files, and data maintained by the University that contain personally identifiable information about them. These are referred to as the student鈥檚 鈥淓ducation Records鈥 or 鈥淩ecords.鈥 These rights include:
Student Privacy Policy OfficeU.S. Department of Education400 Maryland Avenue SWWashington, DC 20202
Absent a prior hold from the student, FERPA allows the University to release Directory Information. The items listed below are designated as Directory Information:
Students have the right to require the University to refrain from disclosing any or all of the above categories of Directory Information if they provide timely written notification to the Office of the Registrar (a 鈥渉old鈥). A request to withhold Directory Information in no way restricts lawful internal use by the University and/or release as otherwise allowed by FERPA.
FERPA also permits the disclosure of students鈥 Education Records, without consent of the student, if the disclosure meets certain conditions found in 搂 99.31 of the FERPA regulations, including the release of Education Records to the following persons or entities:
A common misconception about FERPA is that University employees must always get a FERPA Release from a student either before accessing the student鈥檚 Education Records or prior to sharing student Education Records with other employees. In fact, FERPA was never intended to restrict access to, or internal sharing of, student Education Records when doing so is necessary to perform official University employment duties and functions.
This means that if a University employee needs access to certain student Education Records in order to perform their official duties, they have a 鈥渓egitimate educational interest鈥 in the information and may access it without a FERPA Release. That employee may in turn share the information with other employees who need the information in order to perform their official duties, and vice versa.
Examples include the following:
FERPA does forbid accessing student Education Records and information where the employee has no need for the information in order to perform their official duties. Likewise, where an employee (Employee 1) legitimately accesses Education Records as part of their official duties, Employee 1 must not pass that information to Employee 2 unless Employee 2 also needs access to the Education Records in order to perform their official duties.
If Documentation or other Student-Related Information does not Qualify as an 鈥淓ducation Record鈥 then FERPA Does Not Apply
Another common misconception about FERPA is that it applies to all personally identifiable information about students. In fact, FERPA applies only to 鈥淓ducation Records,鈥 defined above as 鈥渙fficial records, files, and data maintained by the University that contain personally identifiable information about the student.鈥
There are many types of personally identifiable student information that do not meet this definition. Examples include the following:
An illustration of these principles: A faculty or staff member becomes concerned about the well-being of a student based on oral statements or behaviors of the student that are observed and/or reported by others who have had contact with the student. FERPA is not violated if that information is shared with those (inside or outside the University) who are in a position to assist the student or otherwise address the concern. That could include the student鈥檚 parents, pastor, counselor, the campus Counseling Center, the Vice President of Student Development, law enforcement, etc.
Caution: Even where FERPA does not apply, commonly accepted standards of appropriate boundaries, professional discretion and simple common sense continue to apply, and all employees are expected to exhibit those characteristics and behaviors. Reasonable care as to the accuracy of any such student information provided to third parties must also be exercised.
Questions concerning FERPA may be referred to the Office of the Registrar.