FERPA
What is it?
Primary Rights of Students Under FERPA
Who is Protected?
What are educational records?
What is directory information?
Nondisclosure Information
Parental Rights
Penalties
The purpose of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is to afford certain rights to students concerning their education records.
FERPA Governs
Access to and release of student records.
Right to inspect and review education records
Right to seek to amend education records
Right to have some control over the disclosure of information from education records
Students may have one or more of the following education records:
Academic
Admissions
Athletic
Disciplinary
Financial aid
Health
Job placement
Payroll
Tuition payment
Veterans
These may be maintained by one or more office and by one or more of the school officials listed below.
The school officials must comply with a student's request within 45 days.
Currently enrolled students
Formerly enrolled students
A student is considered to be enrolled as of the 10th day of the fall or spring semester or 5th day of the 8-week summer semester. Questions concerning enrollment of pre summer or courses that meet between one or more session should be addressed to the Supervisor of Registration and Records.
Who Is Not Protected?
Applicants or prospective students
Deceased students
Records directly related to a student and maintained by the institution or by an authorized agent.
Student employment records where employment is dependent upon enrollment in classes.
What Is Not An Educational Record?
Grades. If a student wishes to dispute a grading matter, the procedure is outlined in the 1997-98 Student Handbook, page 123.
Confidential letters and recommendations placed in student's files prior to 1975.
Documents the student has waived rights to.
Parents financial records.
Law enforcement records maintained by campus security.
Alumni records or any records created after the student left school.
Employment records related exclusively to individuals in their capacity as employees.
Records related to medical/psychiatric treatment.
Records of instructional, supervisory, administrative, and certain educational personnel which are in the sole possession of the maker and are not accessible or revealed to any other individual except a substitute who performs on a temporary basis the duties of the individual who made the records.
Date and place of birth
Dates of attendance
Degrees and awards received
Major field of study
Most recent previous educational agency or institution attended.
Participation in officially recognized activities and sports
Photographs
Student's name and address
Telephone number
Weight and height of members of athletic teams
Even though the above is all directory information, the only information that will be released on students at I.V.C.C. without written consent of the student are dates of attendance, graduation date, degree/certificate awarded, and major field of study. Any questions or individuals with questions concerning what information we will release should contact either the Supervisor of Registration and Records, Director of Admissions and Records, or Vice President of Student Services.
A student may request, while still enrolled, that the college not release any directory information about said student. After the student has left I.V.C.C., we must continue to honor the nondisclosure request until informed to the contrary by the former student. A former student can remove a hold on directory information; however, a former student cannot make a request that directory information be withheld.
Students should contact either the Supervisor of Registration and Records or Director of Admissions and Records to either place a nondisclosure hold or to remove a nondisclosure hold.
Releasing Information
Information regarding school attendance, graduation, etc. is released by the Admissions and Records Office staff.
Information may be released to:
The student or anyone with the student's written consent.
To school officials with Alegitimate educational interests.
College or university where student has applied for admission (school official must be from the Admissions Office and indicate that the transcript will be used for admissions purposes). If student has a financial obligation with I.V.C.C. or owes for the transcript, the transcript will not be released before obligation has been cleared or fee for the transcript has been paid.
Federal, state or local authorities who are auditing records for compliance with policies and regulations.
To schools in connection with eligibility for financial assistance.
To state and local authorities pursuant to a state law adopted before 1974 which requires the disclosure.
To organizations conducting studies for or on behalf of educational institutions.
To accrediting organizations.
In a health or safety emergency. In case of an emergency, you should contact the Vice President of Student Services, Director of Admissions and Records, or Supervisor of Registration and Records. Before student information would be released, the following considerations would be taken into account:
Severity of threat.
The level of need for information.
The time required to deal with the emergency.
The ability of the recipient to deal with the emergency.
Legitimate Educational Interest
The school official must seek the information within the context of the responsibilities that he/she has been assigned.
The information sought must be used within the context of official college business and not for purposes extraneous to the official's area of responsibility.
The information to be accessed must be relevant and necessary to the accomplishment of some task or to making some determination within the scope of the college business.
Releasing Nondirectory Information Over the Telephone
FERPA prohibits the release of nondirectory information over the telephone to a third party unless written permission has been granted by the student. However, FERPA does not preclude the college from disclosing nondirectory information to that student
by telephone. A Counselor who has advised the student in the past, Director of Admissions and Records, or Supervisor of Registration and Records are the only school officials allowed to release nondirectory information over the telephone.
The officials in question must verify the individual's identity. The following student data should be asked and answered correctly by the student before any information is released: social security number, date of birth, place of birth, high school attended, year graduated from high school (if applicable), major program of study, year graduated from I.V.C.C. (if applicable). If any information is not correctly answered, then the school official will not release any nondirectory information.
FERPA assumes that all students are independent students; therefore, parents cannot be given information on their son/daughter without the student's written permission. Parents with questions concerning their son or daughter should be told to contact either Supervisor of Registration and Records, Director of Admissions and Records, or Vice President of Student Services.
The Family Policy Compliance Office reviews and investigates complaints of violations of FERPA. If the Office finds that there has been a failure to comply with FERPA, it will notify the institution about the corrections that need to be made to bring the institution
into compliance. The Office will establish a reasonable period of time for the institution to voluntarily accomplish the specified changes.
If the Secretary of Education finds, after this reasonable period of time, that an institution has failed to comply with FERPA and determines that compliance cannot be secured by any means, the Secretary can, among other options, direct that no federal funds under his/her administrative control (financial aid, educational grants, etc.) be made available to that institution.
Although federal funding has never been withheld from any institution under these regulations, civil cases have been brought for alleged violations of FERPA.