FT+Orientation+FERPA+Survival+Guide

HOME = = = FERPA Survival Guide =

1. **FERPA** is an acronym for The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974.

2. FERPA deals specifically with the education records of students, affording them certain rights with respect to those records.

3. “Education Records” are those that are (1) directly related to a student and (2) maintained by an institution or a party acting for the institution.

4. FERPA gives students the right to inspect their education records. Under FERPA, a student has the right to see records located in the Registrar’s Office, advisor’s file, or any other file that is maintained as an educational record.

5. FERPA gives students the right to request an amendment of education records.

6. FERPA gives students control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information contained in education records:

//To ensure compliance under FERPA, SU does not disclose to a third party (which includes students’ parents ) the following information.// //- Grades// //- GPA// //- Class rank// //- Total credits attempted or completed// //- Class schedule// //- Location on campus// //- Address (will only confirm)// //- Telephone (will only confirm)// //- Ethnicity// //- Gender//

**What about tests and papers?**

- Do NOT leave graded notebooks, projects and/or papers outside faculty offices for student pick up. - Do NOT place papers and tests in the student’s mailbox even if they are in envelopes. These mailboxes are open and are accessible to anyone. When you return papers, the most appropriate way to do so is in class, but do not place them on a table at the back of the room for pickup. At the end of the semester if students wish to have final papers or tests returned, the students can supply a stamped, self-address envelope for this purpose. - Sending students their grades over email is not good practice even if you are using the university system. NEVER send a grade to an off campus email address. Faculty who use Blackboard have an easy way of students obtaining grades.


 * Let's See How Much You Know: **

Please read the following case studies and decide whether they violate FERPA:

1. A faculty advisor wants to know if it’s OK to provide the honor society’s overall GPA to the local newspaper.

2. The Student Financial Services office wants to know if it can post delinquent tuition notices on the University web site.

3. A department head wants to know if the photos of the department’s majors can be posted on the department’s web site and the bulletin board outside the department’s office.

4. An organization asks for a list of all students of a particular ethnicity in order to invite them to a new club meeting.

5. A parent calls a faculty member to ask about their son’s grades and class attendance.

**How did you do? Does the request violate FERPA?**

1. No. The aggregate GPA is not personally identifiable to any student; therefore, that information could be released.

2. Yes. Delinquent tuition notices are education records and would violate a student’s confidentiality if posted publicly.

3. No. Department majors’ photos fit the definition as education record unless the institution has defined them as directory information. In review of our student handbook on the Web, we do list photos as directory information.

4. Yes. The ethnicity of a student is confidential and does not fall under directory information that could be released. Ethnicity is included in an educational record.

5. YES. FACULTY ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DISCUSS GRADES, ATTENDANCE, ETC. WITH PARENTS. Here is the way to accomplish this. 1) Tell the parent that you are not allowed to discuss these things without the student’s consent. Ask if there is a FERPA form on file in the Registrar’s Office. (This form is valid until the student revokes the permission.) Please call our office to verify. 2) If one is not on file, ask the parent to come in with the student. Ask the student to sign the FERPA form. We can provide it, and it is also available on our web site.

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