Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974, as amended, (commonly known as the Buckley Amendment) is a Federal law which provides that colleges and universities will maintain the confidentiality of student education records.
What Constitutes “Education Records”?
Education records as defined by FERPA include, but are not limited to, grades, the admissions application and supporting documents (except those recommendations to which access has been waived), and any documents, notes, or information added to a student’s active folder maintained in the Registrar’s office, the Student Affairs office, or by the faculty adviser. Education records include even the handwritten notes of members of the admissions staff which were made on or included in the application folder.
It is important for faculty members to understand that education records do not include “records of instructional, supervisory, administrative, and educational personnel which are the sole possession of the maker and are not accessible or revealed to any individual except a temporary substitute.” This definition means that faculty members may make any notes about a student (an advisee or a student in class), and as long as those notes are not shared with someone else – another faculty member, the Dean, a counselor – those notes are not open to the student or the parents. However, as soon as, or if, those notes are shared with someone else, they become part of the student′s education records. Moreover, such notes should not be placed in the student’s advising file, since that file is defined as an accessible education record.
Who Has Access To Education Records?
Off Campus -- The law basically says that no one outside the institution shall have access to students’ education records nor will the institution disclose any information from those records without the written consent of students. There are exceptions, of course, including disclosing information to persons in an emergency in order to protect the health or safety of students or other persons. Records may be disclosed to others off campus as well, such as to certain law enforcement agents.
On Campus -- The only people on campus who are allowed access to education records are those who are, individually or collectively, acting in the student’s educational interest. This group is defined by the College to include personnel in the Registrar’s Office, the professional staff of the Office of Student Affairs, Financial Aid, Institutional Research, and College officials with a legitimate educational interest as determined by the Registrar. It is under that last category that faculty advisers are included.
What Information Can and Should Be Provided?
To Anyone -- Directory Information may be provided to anyone. Directory Information includes, but is not limited to, student name, parents’ names, campus and home addresses and telephone numbers, sex, dates of attendance, year of graduation, degree awarded or expected, academic major, and faculty adviser. Students do have the right, however, to withhold Directory Information. The request for non-disclosure will be honored by the College until rescinded by the student in writing. The request for non-disclosure, unless rescinded, remains in effect even after the student leaves the College.
To Parents -- Of importance to faculty members is the fact that the Buckley Amendment does allow the College to provide academic progress reports (grades) and other academic information to parents at any time if the student is declared as a dependent on the parent’s federal income tax form. Upon matriculation, dependent/independent status is indicated by the student on an appropriate form. Since almost all of our regular undergraduates are dependent students, there is usually no problem in discussing grades or other academic information with a parent. The Registrar’s Office keeps a record of those students who are independent students and notifies the appropriate offices and faculty advisers at the beginning of each academic year. In the case of divorced parents, both natural parents have access to records of a dependent student no matter who has legal custody or who is paying the bills. The question of what should be discussed with parents as opposed to what can be discussed is another matter. It is clear that a faculty adviser can discuss grades with parents and can do so objectively. The question usually arises, however, of how subjective to get with analysis of the reasons for poor achievement. One must consider if in-depth discussions with parents could damage the adviser’s relationship with the advisee and balance that with the parents’ need and right to know. The answer to that dilemma is different for each adviser and for each student’s situation.
To Students -- Students may not inspect and review the following records: financial information submitted by their parents; confidential letters and recommendations associated with admission to the College, employment or job placement, or honors to which they have waived their rights of inspection and review; or education records containing information about more than one student, in which case the institution will permit access only to that part of the record which pertains to the inquiring student.
For additional information about FERPA, see http://www.rhodes.edu/1382.asp.
