FERPA for Faculty, Staff and Administrators

WHAT IS FERPA?

FERPA stands for Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as Amended.   It is commonly known as FERPA, the Privacy Act or the Buckley Amendment.   It is a federal law designed to protect the privacy of educational records, to establish the right of students to inspect and review their educational records and to provide guidelines for the correction of inaccurate and misleading data through informal and formal hearings.

FERPA allows release of specified items but does not require it. Items that may be released are called directory information.   North Central Texas College has classified these items as directory information: student's name, local address, permanent address, local telephone number, place of birth, dates of attendance, major, classification, enrollment status (full-time or part-time), previous institution(s) attended, degree(s) awarded, academic honors/awards, sports participation and weight/height of athletes.

Students may place a directory hold on any or all of this information by completing the Hold Directory Information form and turning it in to the Registrar's Office.

Items that cannot be identified as directory information are a student's social security number or institutional identification number, race/ethnicity, citizenship, nationality, gender, grades, GPA or class schedule.

WHAT IS A STUDENT EDUCATIONAL RECORD?

Any record, with certain exceptions, maintained by an institution that is directly related to a student or students.   This record can contain a student's name, or students' names, or information from which an individual student, or students, can be personally (individually) identified. These records include files, documents and materials in whatever medium (handwriting, print, monitor screen, tapes, disks, film, microfilm, microfiche or notes) that contain information directly related to students and from which students can be personally identified.

If ever in doubt whether information may be released, DON'T . Please call the Registrar at 940-668-4222.   The registrar will help you determine if the information is an educational record and/or whether it may be disclosed without written consent.   To be safe, always think written consent.

WHAT IS LEGITIMATE EDUCATIONAL INTEREST?

A legitimate educational interest shall mean any authorized interest, or activity undertaken in the name of the college for which access to an educational record is necessary or appropriate to the proper performance of the undertaking.

This means if a student is assigned to you for advising, you have a legitimate educational interest and may access his/her records.   If a good friend asks you to tell him the grades his daughter has made, DON'T.   This has two problems.   First unless this student is your advisee, you do not have a legitimate educational interest.   Second if the parent has not filed the Certification of Dependency form with the Office of the Registrar, the parent is not entitled to this information.

In post-secondary institutions, the student "owns" his/her educational record from the first term of enrollment.   This has nothing to do with age of the student.

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

Statements made by a person making a recommendation that are made from that person's personal observation or knowledge do not require a written release from the student who is the subject of the recommendation.   However, if personally identifiable information obtained from a student's educational record is included (GPA, grades, etc.), the writer is required to obtain a signed release from the student.   This letter would become a part of the student's educational record and the student has the right to read it unless he/she has waived that right.

POSTING OF GRADES BY FACULTY

The public posting of grades either by the student's name, institutional student identification number, social security number or any portion of the number without the student's written permission is a violation of FERPA.   This includes posting grades to a class/institutional website and applies to any public posting of grades for students taking distance education courses.

Even with names obscured, numeric student identifiers are considered personally identifiable information.   The practice of posting grades by social security number, student identification number or any portion of the number violates FERPA.

Notification of grades via a postcard violates a student's privacy.

There is no guarantee of confidentiality of sending grades via the Internet.   The institution would be held responsible if an unauthorized third party gained access, in any manner, to a student's education record through any electronic transmission method. A third party in this definition could be parents or guardians, boyfriend or girlfriend, roommate, etc. Only secure web sites are approved by FERPA for accessing grade information.

PENALTIES FOR VIOLATING FERPA

The Family Policy Compliance Office reviews and investigates complaints of violations of FERPA.   The penalty for violating FERPA can be loss of all federal funding, including grants and financial aid.

SPECIAL "DON'TS" FOR FACULTY

To avoid violations of FERPA rules, DO NOT:

• At any time use the social security number, institutional identification number or any portion of the number of a student in a public posting of grades

• Ever link the name of a student with that student's social security number, institutional identification number in any public manner

• Leave graded tests or papers in a stack for students to pick up by sorting through the tests or papers of all students

• Circulate a printed class list with student name and social security number/institutional identification number or grades as an attendance roster

• Discuss the progress of any student with anyone other than the student (including parents/guardians) 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 college employees in finding a student on campus

• Discuss with another faculty member the GPA of a student

QUESTIONS?  

The staff members of the Office of the Registrar are available to assist you in dealing with issues relating to FERPA. If you have questions please call Michelle Winters at 940-668-4222 or Melinda Carroll at 940-498-6284.