Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act FERPA

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Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act(FERPA)

• Information for Student Employees of the
  University of Connecticut

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Introduction

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

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An important student right

• Students have a right to expect that information
  in their educational records will be kept
  confidential and disclosed only with their
  permission or under provisions of the law.

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What are Educational Records?

• The law defines them as Records, files,
  documents, and other materials that contain
  information directly related to a student and
  maintained by the University or someone acting
  for the University according to policy.

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What information can be released to the public
without student permission?

• FERPA identifies a category of information as
  directory information, which institutions may
  release without student permission except in
  certain conditions specified by the regulations.

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Directory Information at the University of
Connecticut

• Student name
• Student IDs (PeopleSoft and NetID)
• Addresses (e-mail, dorm, mailing, permanent)
• Telephone numbers
• School or college
• Major field of study
• Degree sought

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Directory Information at the University of
Connecticut (cont.)

• Level (Freshman, Sophomore, etc.)
• Expected date of completion of degree
  requirements and graduation
• Degrees and awards received
• Dates of attendance
• Full or part-time enrollment status
• Class Roster (only to be released to the students
  in that class)

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Directory Information at the University of
Connecticut (cont.)

• Previous educational agencies or institutions
  attended
• Participation in officially recognized activities
  and sports
• Weight and height of athletic team members and
  other similar information

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Students have the right to prevent the release of
directory information

• A student may formally request the University
  Registrar to prevent disclosure of directory
  information, except to school officials with
  legitimate educational interests and certain
  others as specified in the regulations.
• Once filed, this request becomes a permanent part
  of the students record until the student
  instructs the University, in writing, to have the
  restriction removed.

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FERPA Restriction
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FERPA Restriction Screen
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Questions about students with FERPA Restrictions

• The proper response to a question (such as
  whether they graduated from the University)
  about such a student is, We have no information
  about that individual.

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Can UConn faculty and staff see student
information without the students permission?

• The regulations allow access to student
  information by school officials with legitimate
  educational interests.
• School officials include people employed by the
  University in administrative, supervisory,
  academic or research, or support staff positions,
  including student employees.

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Legitimate Educational Interest

• A school official has a legitimate educational
  interest if the official needs to review an
  educational record in order to do his or her job.

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Some exceptions do exist

• The regulations do allow for some exceptions,
  such as in a health or safety emergency. These
  situations should be referred to your supervisor
  for action or clarification.

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Information may be released to the student

• It is ok to release information about a student
  record directly to the student. However
• You need to make sure that it is the student.
• Ask for an ID if possible.
• If thats not possible, ask for a combination of
  other identifying information such as last four
  digits of the Social Security Number, PeopleSoft
  ID, date of birth, home address, etc.

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What about releasing information to parents?

• Once a student enrolls in the University the
  rights related to the educational records belongs
  to the student, not to the parents, even if the
  parents are paying the bills.

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Online FERPA Waiver

• Unless a student has used the Online FERPA Waiver
  to give the University permission to release
  other information, the only information that can
  be released to parents without the students
  written permission is Directory Information.

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Curiosity

• DO NOT access student records out of curiosity or
  ones that you do not need to see to do your job.

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Sharing with friends

• DO NOT share student educational record
  information that you see as part of your job,
  including grades or grade point averages, with
  others.

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When in doubt

• WHEN IN DOUBT, err on the side of caution and do
  not release student educational information. If
  you have questions or are uncertain, speak with
  your supervisor for guidance.

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Questions???

• Please feel free to refer general questions about
  FERPA at the University of Connecticut to a
  full-time staff member or to the Office of the
  Registrar home page.

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