FAMILY EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS AND PRIVACY ACT (FERPA)
WHAT IS FERPA
(Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act)?
The Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (also sometimes
referred to as the Buckley Amendment), is a federal law regarding the
privacy of student records and the obligations of the institution,
primarily in the areas of release of the records and the access provided
to these records. Any educational institution that receives funds under
any program administered by the U.S. Secretary of Education is bound by
FERPA requirements. Institutions that fail to comply with FERPA may have
funds administered by the Secretary of Education withheld.
WHAT ARE EDUCATION
RECORDS?
Under FERPA,
education records are defined as records that are directly related to a
student and are maintained by an education agency or institution or by a
party acting for the agency or institution. Education records can exist
in any medium, including: typed, computer generated, videotape,
audiotape, film, microfilm, microfiche and email, among others.
Education records
DO NOT INCLUDE such things as:
·
sole possession records,
i.e., records/notes in sole possession of the maker, used only as a
personal memory aid and not revealed or accessible to any other person
except a temporary substitute for the maker of the record (this might
include notes an instructor makes while providing career/professional
guidance to a student);
·
medical treatment records
that include but are not limited to records maintained by physicians,
psychiatrists, and psychologists;
·
employment records
when employment is not contingent on being a student, provided the
record is used only in relation to the individual's employment;
·
records created and maintained by a law enforcement unit
used only for only that purpose, are revealed only to law enforcement
agencies of the same jurisdiction, and the enforcement unit does not
have access to education records;
·
post-attendance records,
i.e., information about a person that was obtained when the person was
no longer a student (alumni records) and does not relate to the person
as a student.
ACCESS TO STUDENT
EDUCATION RECORDS
According to FERPA,
personally identifiable information in an education record may not be
released without prior written consent from the student. Some
examples of information that MAY NOT BE RELEASED without prior
written consent of the student are:
|
·
birth date |
·
ethnicity |
·
SSN/student I.D. |
|
·
religious affiliation |
·
gender |
·
grades/exam scores |
|
·
citizenship |
·
grade point average (GPA) |
·
test scores (e.g., SAT, GRE, etc.) |
|
·
disciplinary status |
·
marital status |
·
progress reports, e.g. STARS |
The university
will not release personally identifiable information from a student's
education record without the student's prior written consent. Even
parents are not permitted access to their son or daughter's education
records unless the student has provided written authorization permitting
the parents' access. Exceptions are noted in the university's policy
(located in the Office of the General Counsel and in the Office of the
Vice President for Student Affairs) concerning the privacy of student
education records and includes: access by "school officials" who
the institution has determined to have a "legitimate educational
interest;" access by school officials at other schools where the
student seeks to enroll; access for the purpose of awarding financial
aid and subpoenas.
At NYIT these terms are defined below:
"University
official"
is any person employed by the university in an administrative,
supervisory, academic, research or support staff position, a person
elected to the Board of Trustees, a student serving on an official
university committee, or a person employed by or under contract to the
university to perform a specific task. A "university official" has a
"legitimate educational interest" whenever he or she is performing a
task that is specified in his or her position, description, or by a
contract agreement, performing a task related to a student's education,
performing a task related to the discipline of a student, providing a
service or benefit relating to the student or student's family (such as
health care, counseling, job placement or financial aid) or disclosure
of information in response to a judicial order or legally issued
subpoena. (NOTE: At NYIT all subpoenas are first reviewed by the
Office of General Counsel to determine an appropriate response.)
STUDENT'S RIGHT TO
REVIEW AND CORRECT HIS/HER RECORDS
Students and
former students have rights to inspect and review their education
records within 45 days from making such a request. The right of
inspection and review includes: the right to access, with an explanation
and interpretation of the record; the right to a copy of the education
record when failure to provide a copy of the record would effectively
prevent the student from inspecting and reviewing the record. The
institution may refuse to provide a copy of a student's education record
provided such refusal does not limit access.
Limitations exist
on students' rights to inspect and review their education records. For
example, the institution is not required to permit students to inspect
and review the following:
-
financial information submitted by parents;
-
education records containing information about more than one student
(however, the institution must permit access to that part of the
records which pertains only to the inquiring student);
-
confidential letters and recommendations placed in the student's file
before 01/01/75;
-
confidential letters and statements of recommendation, placed in the
records after 01/01/75, to which the student has waived his or her
right to review and that are related to the student's admission,
application for employment or job placement, or receipt of honors.
Upon a request from a student, he/she will be notified of the names of
persons making the recommendations and that such recommendations
cannot be used other than for the purposes for which they were
intended.
Students may
request that their education records be amended if they believe such
information is inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of privacy
rights. Students must request in writing that the office that maintains
those records amend them. Students should identify the part of the
records they want corrected and specify why they believe it is
inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of privacy rights.
WHAT IS DIRECTORY
OR PUBLIC INFORMATION?
FERPA has
specifically identified certain information called directory information
that may be disclosed without student consent.
NYIT has
designated the following information as directory information and will
release this information, unless the student has submitted a request for
non-disclosure:
|
·
name |
·
NYIT
degrees earned (with dates) |
·
previous schools attended |
|
·
address (local and permanent) |
·
academic honors |
·
enrollment status (class level) |
|
·
telephone number (local and permanent) |
·
major, minor and degree objective |
·
currently enrolled (Y/N) |
|
·
NYIT
attendance dates |
·
expected date of graduation |
·
participation in officially recognized activities and sports |
RESTRICTING
RELEASE OF DIRECTORY INFORMATION
According to FERPA,
a student can request that the institution not release any directory
information about him/her. Institutions must comply with this request,
once received, if the student is still enrolled.
At NYIT, students
who wish to restrict the release of directory information about
themselves must complete a "Request To Restrict Directory Information"
form, available in the Enrollment Services office. The completed form
must be submitted in person to the Registrar's office and must be
accompanied by a photo I.D. Students will be required to submit the
request within 30 days of enrolling at NYIT.
Students who wish to restrict directory
information should realize that their names will not appear in the
commencement bulletin and other university publications. Also,
employers, credit card companies, loan agencies, scholarship committees
and the like will be denied any of the student's directory information
and will be informed that we have no information available about the
student's attendance at NYIT. Students who wish to have specific
directory information released may do so by providing a written
authorization to the Registrar's Office.