1. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) UNION COLLEGE

2. Introduction A federal law, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 as amended, affords students certain rights concerning their student education records. The law is also known as FERPA and the Buckley Amendment.

3. Who has rights under FERPA?  Eligible Student:  A student who is or has been in attendance at Union College; and  About whom Union College has maintained education records.

4. Primary Rights of Students Under FERPA  Students have a right to know the purpose and content of their education records, and which Union College maintain their education records;

5. Primary Rights of Students Under FERPA (con’t)  Students have the right to request changes be made to education records;  Students have the right to appeal a decision of a college faculty or staff member not to make the changes requested.  To appeal, students should contact the Union College Director of Records.

6. Primary Rights of Students Under FERPA (con’t)  When a student reaches the age of 18, or begins attending a postsecondary institution, regardless of age, FERPA rights transfer from the parent to the student

7. Primary Rights of Students Under FERPA (con’t)  Students have the right to have some control over the disclosure of information from education records.  Students have a right to expect that information in their education records will be kept confidential and disclosed only with their permission or under provisions of the law.

8. Other Student Rights under FERPA  Students have a right to direct concerns of a FERPA violation to the college administration.  Students also have a right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the college to comply with the requirements of FERPA. Complaints are filed at: Family Policy Compliance Office U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20202-5901

9. Parental Rights Relating to Educational Records  For purposes of FERPA, the College considers all students independent. Therefore, education records will not be provided to parents without the prior consent of the student.

10. Parental Rights Relating to Educational Records  However, parents have the right to expect confidentiality of certain information about them in student education records, such as income tax returns.

11. What is an “Education Record?” “Education records” “Education records” are defined as: 1.records, files, documents, and other materials which contain information directly related to a student personally identifiable information [KEY concept: Does the education record contain personally identifiable information?]

12. Exceptions to the Definition of “Educational Records”:  Sole Possession Notes:  Sole Possession Notes: Notes of a professor or staff member are not considered education records (even if the notes contain information about a student) if the maker of the notes does not share the records with anyone, except a substitute. Once shared, they become education records.

13. Exceptions to the Definition of “Educational Records”:  Law Enforcement Records:  Law Enforcement Records: Records of a law enforcement unit which are kept apart from education records, are maintained solely for law enforcement purposes, and are not made available to persons other than law enforcement officials of the same jurisdiction.

14. Exceptions to the Definition of “Educational Records”:  Medical Records:  Medical Records: Physician, psychiatrist, or psychologist except treatment records of students.

15. Exceptions to the Definition of “Educational Records”:  Alumni Records:  Alumni Records: Records that only contain information about a student after he or she is no longer a student at the College.

16. Exceptions to the Definition of “Educational Records” (con’t):  Employee records:  Records relating to an individual who is employed by the College not as a result of his or her status as a student are excluded.  However, employment records relating to college students who are employed as a result of their status as students, such as graduate assistants or student workers, are considered educational records.

17. Directory Information directory information,  FERPA identifies a category of information as “directory information,” which institutions may release without student permission.

18. Directory Information Directory information  “Directory information” is the only information that may be released without specific written permission from the student, except in certain conditions specified by the regulations.

19. Directory Information at Union College Directory Information at Union College (subject to change)  Student's name  Home and local addresses  E-mail address  Date of birth (month and day)  Home and local telephone numbers  Dates of attendance at UC  Degrees and awards received at UC  Academic recognition  Photo  Institutions attended prior to admission to UC

20. Directory Information at Union College (con’t):  Participation in officially recognized activities and sports at UC

21. Directory Information  A student must inform the Director of Records in writing if they do not want their directory information disclosed to third parties.  (The Registrar may still provide directory information to school officials with legitimate educational interests and certain others as specified in the regulations.)

22. FERPA  Under the FERPA law, we are not required to give out directory information on our students, even though FERPA allows the College to do so – we may do so.

23. “Opt-out” Request  Once filed, the “opt-out” request becomes a permanent part of the student’s record until the student instructs the college, in writing, to have the request removed.

24. School Officials and Legitimate Educational Interests School Officials Legitimate Educational Interest.”  FERPA permits the College to disclose education records to “School Officials” who have a “Legitimate Educational Interest.”

25. School Officials People employed by the College in administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff positions, including College Security and Health Services staff.

26. School Officials (con’t)  People or companies, such as attorneys, auditors, collection agencies, or the National Student Clearinghouse, with whom the College has contracted  Students serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks

27. Legitimate Educational Interest legitimate educational interest  A school official has a “legitimate educational interest” if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibilities.

28. Exceptions to the General Prohibition on Nonconsensual Disclosure:  To officials to comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena.  These requests should always go to the Director of Records.

29. Solomon Amendment  Colleges and Universities may not deny military recruiters (including ROTC) access to students.  However, colleges are not required to give out the directory information of those students who have “opted-out” of having their directory information disclosed to third parties.

30. Solomon Amendment Refer all requests received from military recruiters to the Director of Records.

31. Guidelines for Faculty and Staff  DO  DO refer requests for information from the education record of a student to the proper education record/data custodian. DO  When in doubt about the proper custodian, DO contact the Office of the Director of Records  DO NOT  DO NOT release information for which you are not the record/data custodian.

32. Guidelines for Faculty and Staff (con’t)  DO  DO keep only those individual student records necessary for the fulfillment of your job responsibilities.  DO  DO make sure to properly dispose of education records that do not need to be maintained.

33. Guidelines for Faculty and Staff (con’t)  DO NOT  DO NOT display student scores or grades publicly in association with names, Social Security Numbers (or any portion thereof) or other personal identifiers.

34. Guidelines for Faculty and Staff (con’t)  DO NOT  DO NOT put papers, graded exam books, or lab reports containing student names and grades in publicly accessible places. Students are not to have access to the scores and grades of others in class in ways that allow other students to be identified.

35. Guidelines for Faculty and Staff (con’t)  DO NOT  DO NOT access or request information from the student education record without a legitimate educational interest and the appropriate authority to do so.

36. Guidelines for Faculty and Staff (con’t)  DO NOT  DO NOT share student education record information, including grades or grade point averages, with other faculty or staff members unless their official responsibilities identify their legitimate educational interest in that information for that student.

37. Guidelines for Faculty and Staff (con’t)  DO NOT  DO NOT share student education record information, including grades or grade point averages, with parents or others outside the College, including in letters of recommendation, without prior written permission from the student.

38. Guidelines for Faculty and Staff (con’t) When in doubt, don’t give any information out. Instead, refer the caller/situation to:  The Director of Records

39. For Further Information  Institutional FERPA Policy  Office of the Director of Records FERPA web site: http://www.ucollege.edu/Academic http://www.ucollege.edu/Academic Services/Records Office Send FERPA questions to: osberg@ucollege.edu