Southside Virginia Community College

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Southside Virginia Community College

• FERPA TRAINING

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What is FERPA?
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AGENDA

• Purpose of this educational seminar
• What should you expect to gain from this
  educational session?
• What is FERPA?
• Key terms
• Key concepts
• Questions/Comments

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Purpose of this educational seminar

• Technology provides us with more access to
  restricted information than ever before.
• The consequences of how we handle or mishandle
  student information is significant.
• SVCC is legally and ethically obligated to
  protect the confidentiality of student records.

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What should you expect to gain from this training
session?

• Knowledge of the laws and policies governing the
  acceptable use and release of student records.
• An understanding of your responsibilities in
  complying with these laws and policies.
• An understanding of how to protect a students
  right to privacy.

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What is FERPA
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KEY TERMS

• Eligible Student
• Educational Record
• College Official
• Personally Identifiable Information
• Disclosure of Information
• Directory Information
• Emergency

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ELIGIBLE STUDENTS

• An eligible student is a student who is currently
  enrolled or has previously enrollment at the
  College.
• FERPA does apply to students enrolled in credit
  or non-credit courses.

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What is an educational record?

• Definition All records that are directly
  related to a student and are maintained by the
  school
• A record is directly related to a student if it
  contains information which is either personally
  identifiable, or is easily traceable to the
  student
• (courtesy of AACRAO)

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Educational Records Include

• Demographic Information
• Admissions Records
• Grades
• Class Schedules
• Printed Class lists
• Graded test papers

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Educational Records Include

• Health records
• Financial Aid
• Alumni records

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College Official

• People employed by the College in administrative,
  supervisory, academic, research or support staff
  positions who have a legitimate educational
  interest

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Personally Identifiable Information

• A list of personal information which would make
  the students identity easily traceable.

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Who is responsible for seeing that FERPA is
upheld?

• Generally speaking, all College officials who
  have access to records are responsible for
  guarding the confidentiality of student records.
• Specifically, requests for access to records,
  requests for amendment of records and complaints
  regarding any violation of FERPA are to be filed
  with the College Registrar.

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What is meant by Disclosure of Information?

• Permitting access to or the release of personally
  identifiable information to any party. This
  includes any means of communication such as oral,
  written or electronic.
• Schools are not allowed to disclose information
  (other than Directory Information) without the
  students written consent except under very
  limited conditions.

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What is Directory Information?

• Directory Information is information not
  generally considered harmful or an invasion of
  privacy if disclosed. According to VCCS Policy,
  the following information is considered
  Directory Information
• Name, address, e-mail address and telephone
  listing
• Date and place of birth
• Major Field of study Grade Level
• Participation in officially recognized activities
• Dates of attendance
• Degrees, honors and awards received

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Directory Information

• "Directory Information" cannot include student
  identification numbers or social security
  numbers.

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What is not Directory Information and should not
be released without written consent of the
student?

• Social Security Numbers
• Student ID
• Gender
• Race
• Religious Preference
• Grades
• Grade Point Average
• Country or Citizenship
• A students schedule

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Can a student prohibit release of Directory
Information?

• Yes. Students who wish to discuss the
  prohibition of release of "Directory Information"
  should contact the Registrars Office for
  procedural information.
• Students can also use the Student Information
  System (SIS) to denote they do not want their
  directory information released.

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How are students made aware of FERPA?

• Although we are required to notify students
  annually regarding their FERPA rights, the method
  used to communicate this information is left up
  to the school.

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How can I know if a student has asked that no
information be released?

• Contact the Admissions and Records Office.

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Are parents exempt from FERPA
restrictions?

• No. Parents do not have the right to access
  records of students at the post-secondary level.
  Two exceptions are
• The parent has the written consent of the
  student.
• The request is in response to a subpoena in which
  specific steps are followed in the Admission and
  Records Office.

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What should you do if you are not sure if you can
release information?

• When in doubt, saying nothing is your best
  optionrefer the request to the Registrar
• Rather than releasing information incorrectly, it
  is better NOT to release information all. Dont
  play the guessing game.

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Which requests should you forward to the
Registrars Office?

• Certification requests - health insurance and
  good student car insurance discount forms are two
  examples
• All questions for educational and directory
  student information

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FERPA QuizBut Its An Emergency...

• A police officer needs to find a student. She has
  been looking for the student for a week, but
  cant find him.
• What is your next step?

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FERPA Quiz

• Direct the officer to the Registrar
• Because the request is for educational record
  information, it can only be released as
  authorized by the student in this situation.

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Recapping FERPA

• Refer any requestor of a students educational
  record to the Registrar in the Admissions and
  Records Office.
• Failure to comply with FERPA can cause legal
  difficulty for SVCC and possible withdrawal of
  federal funds.

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Questions?

• SVCC FERPA CONTACTS
• Brent Richey