Dean of Students

Congratulations! You have made it through the FERPA tutorial. Thank you for your time!

To test your FERPA knowledge try the FERPA quiz.

To avoid violations of FERPA rules, DO NOT:

• at any time use the Social Security Number, or portions of it, in a public posting of grades
• ever link the name of a student with that student’s social security number, or portion of it, in any public manner
• leave graded tests in a stack for students to pick up by sorting through the papers of all students
• circulate a printed class list with student name and social security number or grades as an attendance roster.
• discuss the progress of any student with anyone other than the student (including parents) without the consent of the student
• provide anyone with lists of students enrolled in your classes for any commercial purpose
• provide anyone with student schedules or assist anyone other than university employees in finding a student on campus

• Student educational records are considered confidential and may not be released without the written consent of the student
• As a faculty or staff member you have a responsibility to protect educational records in your possession
• Some information is considered public (sometimes called “Directory Information”). This info can be released without the student’s written permission. However, the student may opt to consider this info confidential as well. Directory Information is: name, address, phone, dates of attendance, degrees received, major program, height and weight of athletes
• You have access to information only for legitimate use in completion of your responsibilities as a university employee. Need to know is the basic principle.
• If you are ever in doubt, do not release any information until you talk to the office responsible for student records. Call Dean of students or the University Registrar.

• Just about any information provided by a student to the university for use in the educational process is considered a student educational record
• personal information
• enrollment records
• grades
• schedules
• The storage media in which you find this information does not matter. Student educational record may be:
• a document in the registrar’s office
• a computer printout in your office
• a class list on your desktop
• a computer display screen
• notes you have taken during an advisement session

FERPA stands for Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (sometimes called the Buckley Amendment). Passed by Congress in 1974, the Act grants four specific rights to the adult student:

• the right to see the information that the institution is keeping on the student
• the right to seek amendment to those records and in certain cases append a statement to the record
• the right to consent to disclosure of his/her records
• the right to file a complaint with the FERPA Office in Washington