Transcript FERPA Training Session March 2008

FERPA Training
March 2008
Bruce Correll
Registrar
What is FERPA and why training
NOW?
• The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, better
known as FERPA or the Buckley Amendment, was established to
guarantee the rights of student to control access to their educational
records. The Family Policy Compliance Office (FPCO) was
established to define the steps that need to be taken for an
institution to be FERPA compliant.
• In 2005 the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and
Officers of Admission (AACROA) surveyed several thousand faculty
members across the United States. Despite a pretty low response
rate, the results published in the College and University Journal
volume 82 first quarter 2006 showed a large number of faculty did
not understand their role in FERPA implementation. This document
is Lehigh’s effort to ensure that faculty understands their rights and
responsibilities under FERPA. My hope is that every faculty member
here is already aware of this issue and learns nothing from this
document.
FERPA provides 4 basic rights to a
student:
• To view the information (records) that the
institution is maintaining about the student,
• To seek amendment of those records and, in
certain cases append a statement to those
record,
• To consent to disclosure of his/her records,
• To file a complaint with the FERPA office in
Washington, D.C.
What is Directory information?
• It is information contained in an education
record of a student that would not
generally be considered harmful or an
invasion of privacy if disclosed, if NO
Confidentiality flag is set. Directory
Information may be disclosed without the
permission of the student. Lehigh’s policy
defines directory information to include;
Directory Information
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student's name;
home and University address;
mailbox number;
home and University phone numbers;
date and place of birth;
name of parent or guardian;
name of spouse;
major field of college student;
class;
participation in sports and in officially recognized activities listed by
the student; weight and height of members of athletic teams;
– dates of attendance;
– degrees and awards received;
– and the most recently attended educational institution.
When do FERPA rights begin?
• They begin for a student when he or she
becomes 18 or enrolls in a higher
education institution at any age.
When is prior consent not
required to distribute
educational records?
• The University may release a student’s
educational record without his or her
consent, but is not required to do so.
Some of the exceptions to the written
release requirement include disclosing
educational records:
• To “School officials” with a “legitimate educational
interest” / “need to know;” Employees and legal agents
may need to have access to educational records in order
to perform their official, educationally-related duties;
• To organizations conducting studies to improve
instruction, or to accrediting organizations;
• To parents of dependent students (IRS definition); Check
to see how your institution expects parents to show IRS
dependent status;
• To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued
subpoena;
• In response to a health/safety emergency; and
• To an individual/entity requesting only directory
information
Some Specific Issues for Faculty
and Instructional Staff
POSTING GRADES:
 Since grades can never be directory information, it is
generally inappropriate to post grades in a public setting.
However, it is acceptable for an instructor to post grades
in such a manner that only the instructor and the
individual student know the posted grade (e.g. with a
personal ID; provided that no portion of the personal ID
is a SSN or institutional LIN Student ID Number). We
recommend that the posted list not be in the same order
as the class roster or in alphabetical order.
 COURSE WEB SITES: Many courses are
supported by class Web sites and/or
discussion groups. Since only directory
information can be made available to the
general public and other class members,
we recommended that such Web sites
have a sufficient security so that only class
members and instructors can access
appropriate information.
LETTERS OF
RECOMMENDATION: I
 A person who in providing a letter of
recommendation makes statements
from that person’s personal
observation or knowledge do not
require a written release from the
student who is the subject of the
recommendation.
Letters of Recommendation: II
o However, if the recommendation includes
personally identifiable information obtained from a
students educational records (grades, GPA, etc.),
the writer is required to obtain a signed release
from the student that, (1) specifies the records to
be disclosed, (2) states the purpose of the
disclosure, and (3) identifies the party or class of
parties to whom the disclosure can be made.
o If the recommendation is kept on file by the person
writing it, then it becomes part of the students’
educational record and the student has the right to
read it (through the inspection process) unless he
or she has waived that right of access. If the letter
is used for any purpose other than this
recommendation, or shared with a colleague the
waiver is void.
Sample request for reference
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I give permission for Prof. Joseph Lehigh to write a letter of
recommendation to:
MTV Studio’s
1 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10001
Prof. Lehigh has my permission to include my grades, GPA, and class rank
in this letter.
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I waive/do not waive my right to review a copy of this letter at any time in the
future.
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______________________________________________________
Signature
Date
• This prior slide is an example of a form that school
officials (including faculty) can use with students who
wish for the school official to write a letter of
recommendation that includes non-directory information
maintained by the institution by the institution (such as
grades, GPA, class rank). If any non-directory
information is included in a letter of recommendation, the
student’s written permission is required. This letter was
suggested in 1998 because a student filed a complaint
with the Family Policy Compliance Office alleging that a
faculty member had included a grade and GPA in a letter
of recommendation without obtaining the student’s
permission to do so. The Family Policy Compliance
Office determined that the faculty member has violated
FERPA.
• PARENT ACCESS: At the post secondary
level, parents have no inherent right to
inspect their son’s or daughter’s education
records. The right to inspect is limited
solely to the student. If a faculty member
receives a request from a parent for
access to non directory and FERPA
protected records, that request should be
referred to the Associate Dean of Students
for Academic Support at ext. 84159 or to
the Registrar’s Office at ext. 83191.
What to do cases???
• Can you release a list of students enrolled in
a given class ?
• You should not provide anyone with lists of
students enrolled in your class(es) to
individuals that do not have a legitimate
educational interest. Refer any requests for
information to the Office of Student Records
and Registration.
• A medical school admissions office
wants to confirm that an LU alum
earned a 3.95 GPA in your department
and graduated with Highest Honors.
Can you confirm both facts?
– Honors conferred is designated as directory
information and may be released to a third party.
Grade point average could not be released without
the student’s written consent.
• If a former student has applied for a
position in my department, may I view
his or her account?
– No. Accessing a Lehigh University student’s
record on-line for non-educational purposes, such
as potential employment, is not permissible.
Request a transcript from the student as part of an
employment process.
Definite Don’t do’s !!!!
• A student calls on the phone and asks for
his/her own GPA or major GPA. Do you tell
them?
– By the title of the section you can tell. NO. Even if
they give you their name, DOB, LIN, SSN (you
actually can’t ask that one). You can never be sure
who is on the other end of the line.
Definite Don’t do’s !!!! [[2]]
• A student emails you from his/her PIN
protected LU e-mail account and asks for
GPA or major GPA, can you send it back?
– Just like the prior screen, NO. One difference to
remember that if they have e-mail access they can
look up their own gpa. Unless they don’ t know
their PIN and/or forgotten PIN questions.
Definite Don’t do’s !!!! [[3]]
• A student comes to your office and asks to
see his/her folder? Then asks for copies of
transcripts you have used for advising
purposes, can you give them copies?
– No. Students have the right to view, not the right to
a copy. Third party transcripts are a troubled part
of the regulations. Refer the student to the
Registrar’s Office.
Don’t Ever Do !!!!!!!!
• Give your LOGIN ID and Password to
anyone else.
– Have them go through the required training and
request access.
– A violation of this is a violation of federal and
University regulations and will be taken seriously.
• EMAIL RECORDS: Although there still remains some
“gray” areas in electronic records policies there are some
fundamentals that will protect advisers and Lehigh.
• Registration records must be retained for one full year
after the end of a term. Any email communications
pertaining to registration and drop/add advice should be
kept for that time.
• Degree program Changes and Authorizations must
be kept for five years after the last date of attendance or
graduation. If these approvals are communicated via email (rather than hardcopy forms) and relate to degree
program changes, course substitution approvals,
performance evaluations or other degree issues, they
must be kept for the 5 year time period.
• Adviser Notes and Comments system The
University provides a method for permanently
storing adviser and faculty comments and
advising notes. That system complies with
FPCO standards and does not require any
faculty action to protect, retain, or provide
FERPA access to a student. It is called the
Adviser Notes and Comment System and is
available through the University Portal and Self
Service for Faculty. Instructions for use of the
system are available on the Registrar’s web site,
or contacting the Registrar’s Office
Did you know?
• You can get MS ACCESS handy-dandy
reports to:
– Print a nice copy of a students schedule
– Print the schedule of each student in a class with 8
or 9 per page
– E-mail, labels, or spreadsheet any class roster or
list of majors
– Access any class roster to e-mail, create grade
excel file,
– Write Emil or Tracy and they are yours.
Registrar Web Page
• Under Faculty menu
• Select for FERPA for Faculty and Advisers
• And/Or
• Faculty Adviser Notes System
• Questions and Answers????