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FERPA Informational
Guide
Effective
October 17, 2003
What
is FERPA?
The Family Educational Rights and
Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law
that affords parents the right to
have access to their children's education
records, the right to seek to have
the records amended, and the right
to have some control over the disclosure
of personally identifiable information
from the education records. When a
student turns 18 years old, or enters
a postsecondary institution at any
age, the rights under FERPA transfer
from the parents to the student ("eligible
student"). The FERPA statute
is found at 20 U.S.C. § 1232g
and the FERPA regulations are found
at 34 CFR Part 99. http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/faq.html
What
constitutes an education record?
An education record is any record
that contains information directly
related to a student that is maintained
by the institution. This includes,
but is not limited to, grade information,
disciplinary documentation and billing
and financial aid data.
What
is not an education record?
Records not considered part of an
education record include, but are
not limited to, records of the law
enforcement unit of an educational
institution, records made or maintained
by a physician or other recognized
professional acting in his or her
professional capacity, and records
that only contain information about
an individual after he or she is no
longer a student at the institution.
Under
what circumstances may an institution
disclose information from education
records without consent?
There are several exceptions to FERPA's
general prior consent rule that are
set forth in the statute and the regulations.
See § 99.31 of the FERPA regulations.
One exception is the disclosure of
"directory information"
if the school follows certain procedures
set forth in FERPA. (34 CFR §
99.31(a)(11).)
What
is “directory information”?
FERPA defines "directory information"
as information contained in the education
records of a student that would not
generally be considered harmful or
an invasion of privacy if disclosed.
Champlain defines directory information
as the following: name, sex, date
and place of birth, marital status,
home and school address, email address,
phone number, major field of study,
extracurricular activities, dates
of attendance, degrees, honors or
awards, photograph or video image,
the most recent education institution
attended, and parents’ names
addresses and phone numbers.
How
do students notify the College that
they would like their “directory
information” handled as confidential
information?
Students may choose to have their
directory information marked confidential
at any time by submitting a written
request to the Registrar's Office.
What
do students do if they would like
one or more of their parent(s) or
guardian(s) to have access to the
information contained in their education
record?
Students must sign, date and submit
the “Consent to Release of Education
Records” form to the Advising
and Registration Center. (You can
download a PDF
version of the form from our site
and then either fax or mail it in.
You will need the free
Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the
form.)
Why
can’t the waiver form be submitted
online?
Recently the U.S. Department of Education
has passed final regulations for institutions
to accept the FERPA waiver in electronic
form. Champlain is in the eprocess
of adjusting procedures to incorporate
this change in regulations. In the
meantime, a hard copy release must
be signed and dated by the student
to be valid.
How
long will the waiver be in effect?
Consent will remain in effect until
a student submits a notification in
writing revoking their consent.
How
do students revoke their consent to
release information?
Students may submit a notification
in writing, at any time, directing
the College to no longer release information
to their parent(s) or guardian(s).
This written notification must be
submitted to the Advising and Registration
Center.
Do
parents or guardians of college students
have the right to see their children’s
education records? Does it make a
difference if they are paying the
tuition?
As noted above, the rights under FERPA
transfer from the parents to the student,
once the student turns 18 years old
or enters a postsecondary institution
at any age. However, although the
rights under FERPA have now transferred
to the student, a school may disclose
information from an "eligible
student's" education records
to the parents of the student, without
the student's consent, if the student
is a dependent for tax purposes. Neither
the age of the student nor the parent's
status as a custodial parent is relevant.
If a student is claimed as a dependent
by either parent for tax purposes,
then either parent may have access
under this provision. (34 CFR §
99.31(a)(8).) Parents or guardians
may also have access to their student’s
education record, if the student has
signed, dated and submitted a, “Consent
to Release of Education Records”
waiver described above.
May
a postsecondary institution disclose
to a parent, without the student’s
consent, information regarding a student’s
violation of the use or possession
of alcohol or a controlled substance?
Yes, if the student is under the age
of 21 at the time of the disclosure.
FERPA was amended in 1998 to allow
such disclosures. See § 99.31(a)15
of the FERPA regulations. Also, if
the student is a "dependent student"
as defined in FERPA, the institution
may disclosure such information, regardless
of the age of the student.
Are
instructors permitted to post grades
by social security numbers?
A student’s social security
number is, by definition, “personally
identifiable information” under
FERPA, and may not be disclosed without
consent in any form. See letter to
Hunter College at http://www.ed.gov/searchResults.jhtml
If
a student and family members have
an appointment with faculty or staff
to review the student's academic progress
is a signed consent form still needed?
Yes. By signing the consent form,
students give the College authority
to share information contained in
their educational record to their
parent or guardian. FERPA does not
allow for information to be released
on the assumption that if the student
is in the room that they have given
their consent.
Can
grades be sent to students via email?
Since we cannot be sure the person
sending the email is who he or she
claims to be, grades may not be sent
to general email accounts. However,
faculty may send grades to the official
email account the College created
for the student (samplestudent@mymail.champlain.edu).
Where
can I get more information regarding
FERPA?
This guide has been developed based
upon information that has come mainly
from the U.S. Department of Education’s
Family Compliance Policy Office’s
(FCPO) website. The FCPO oversees
institutional compliance to FERPA.
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