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ECURE 2001: Rainsberger Presentation: Slides
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FERPA in the Digital Age: What You Need to Know
ECURE
10:30-12:00, October 12, 2001
Richard Rainsberger
Coordinator, Admissions and Records
Central Virginia Community College
1
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974
“A federal law designed to protect the privacy of education records, to establish the right of students to inspect and review their education records, and to provide guidelines for the correction of inaccurate and misleading data through informal and formal hearings.”
________________________________
Definitions of Terms for Admissions and Records. Washington, D.C.: AACRAO, 1980, p. 28.
2
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974
This act is enforced by the Family Policy Compliance Office, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C.
3
The Authoritative Source
Family Policy Compliance Office
Leroy Rooker, Director
U.S. Dept. of Education
400 Maryland Ave., SW
Washington,D.C. 20202-4605
College students must be permitted to inspect their own education records.
School officials may not disclose personally identifiable information about students nor permit inspection of their records without written permission unless such action is covered by certain exceptions permitted by the act.
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An Additional Corollary for the High Tech Age
Whether we are dealing with high-tech or low-tech education, we only have one education records law:
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An Additional Corollary for the High Tech Age
And…
we do not change our policies simply because our educational delivery methods have changed.
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Key Concepts
Required annual notification
Written permission of student required to disclose
The exceptions to written permission
Student’s right to access their records
The “musts” and “mays” in FERPA
Parents/parental disclosure
Legitimate Educational Interest
8
Key Terms
Education Record
Directory Information
School Official
Personally Identifiable
Eligible Student
9
What Is An Education 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, tapes, disks, film, microfilm, microfiche) which contain information directly related to students and from which students can be personally (individually) identified.
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“Personally Identifiable”
“Personally identifiable” means data or information which includes:
the name of the student, the student’s parent, or other family members
the student’s campus or home address;
a personal identifier (such as a social security number or student number)
a list of personal characteristics or other information which would make the student’s identity easily traceable
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Grades Posted on Bulletin Board outside of Instructor’s Office
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IST133-02 Grade Book
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What an Education Record Is Not!!
“sole possession” notes
law enforcement unit records
records maintained exclusively for individuals in the their capacity as employees
records of individuals who are employed as a result of their status as students (work study) are education records.
doctor-patient privilege records
alumni records
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What Is an Education Record? (Summary)
If you have a record that is:
maintained by your institution
personally identifiable to a student (directly related to a student and from which a student can be identified)
not one of the excluded categories of records…
then, you have an education record and
it is subject to FERPA
15
Requirements for Compliance
Directory Information
information not normally considered a violation of a person's privacy
students must be notified of the items of directory information.
students must be given the opportunity to request that directory information not be released. this right of non-disclosure
applies to directory information only.
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What Can Directory Information Include?
student’s name
address
telephone number
date/place of birth
major
fields of study
participation in officially recognized activities and sports
height/weight of athletic team members
dates of attendance
degrees and awards received
most recent educational institution attended
other similar information as defined by the institution that would not normally be considered an invasion of a student’s privacy
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What Can Directory Information Include?
Directory information may include the following recent additions to student information:
class schedule
e-mail address
class rosters
photographs
Class schedule and class rosters are currently (2001) under review as to whether they will remain directory information
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What Can Directory Information Include?
Directory information can never include a student’s:
race
gender
social security number
grades
GPA
country of citizenship
religion
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Directory Information College XXX Style
XXX College has designated directory information, according to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 to be the student’s:
name
local and permanent address/ telephone number
major field of study
participation in officially recognized activities/sports
weight and height of members of athletic teams
dates of attendance
degrees and awards received and dates
most recent previous educational institution attended
academic level
enrollment status (FT/PT)
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Directory Information
It is important to remember that “directory information” be defined as such.
If a data element isn’t defined as “directory information” it isn’t directory information and can only be released if the student’s written permission is obtained or the release can be justified under one of the exceptions to students’ written permission found in FERPA.
21
“School Officials”
A “school official” can be a person:
employed by the college in an administrative, supervisory, academic, research, or support staff position (including law enforcement and health staff personnel),
elected to the board of trustees,
or company employed by or under contract to the college to perform a special task such as the attorney, auditor, or collection agency,
or student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks.
22
“Legitimate Educational Interest”
The demonstrated need to know by those officials of an institution who act in the student’s educational interest, including faculty, administration, clerical and professional employees, and other persons who manage student record information.
Although FERPA does not define “legitimate educational interest,” it states that institutions must specify the criteria for determining it.
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Requirements for Compliance
What we must do…
Provide annual notification to students of their FERPA rights
Provide students’ access to their education records
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Procedures and Strategies for Compliance
Disclosure of education record information
Institutions shall obtain written consent from students before disclosing any personally identifiable information from their education records (with the exceptions as noted in sections 2 and 3 below). the written consent must:
specify the records to be released
state the purpose of the disclosure
identify the party or parties to whom disclosure may be made
be signed and dated by the student.
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Procedures and Strategies for Compliance
Disclosure of education record information
Institutions must disclose education records without written consent of students to the following:
students who request the information from their own records
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Procedures and Strategies for Compliance
Disclosure of education record information
Institutions may disclose education records
without written consent of students to the following:
authorized representatives of the following for audit,
evaluation, or enforcement of federal and state supported programs:
comptroller general of the united states
the secretary of the united states department of education
u.s. attorney general (law enforcement only)
state educational authorities
personnel within the institution determined by the institution to have a legitimate educational interest
officials of other institutions in which the student seeks to enroll, on condition that the issuing institution makes a reasonable attempt to inform the student of the disclosure
persons or organizations providing to the student financial aid, or determining financial aid decisions
organizations conducting studies to develop, validate, and administer predictive tests, to administer student aid programs, or to improve instruction
accrediting organizations carrying out their accrediting functions
parents of a student who have established that student’s status as a dependent — IRS Code of 1986, Section 152
persons in compliance with a judicial order or a lawfully issued subpoena, provided that the institution first make a reasonable attempt.to notify the student. Exception: if the subpoena is issued from a federal grand jury, or for a law enforcement purpose, and orders the institution not to notify the student.
a court if the student has initiated legal action against the institution or the institution has initiated legal action against the student
persons in an emergency, if the knowledge of information, in fact, is necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or other persons
an alleged victim of any crime of violence of the results of any institutional disciplinary proceeding against the alleged perpetrator of that crime with respect to that crime
veterans administration officials in response to requests related to va programs
representatives of the immigration and naturalization service for purposes of the coordinated interagency partnership regulating international (cipris)
Parents of a student under the age of 21 regarding a violation of any law, at any level, or institutional policy or rule governing the use of alcohol or a controlled substance does not supersede any state law that prohibits disclosure of this information.
the public regarding the final results of an institutional disciplinary proceeding as long as the student has been determined to be the alleged perpetrator of a crime of violence or non-forcible sex offense
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What do the “final results” include?
Must include only: the name of the student, violation committed, and any sanction imposed by the institution against the student.
The institution may not disclose the name of any other student, including a victim or witness, without prior written consent of the other student.
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What about Parents?
When a student reaches the age of 18 or begins attending a postsecondary institution regardless of age, FERPA rights transfer to the student.
Parents may obtain directory information only at the discretion of the institution.
Parents may obtain non-directory information (grades, gpa, etc.) only at the discretion of the institution AND after it has been determined that their child is legally their dependent.
Parents may also obtain non-directory information by obtaining a signed consent from their child.
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Procedures and Strategies for Compliance
B. Records of requests and disclosures
All institutions are required to maintain records of requests and disclosures of personally identifiable information
These records will include the names and addresses of the requestor and his/her indicated interest in the records.
Records of requests and disclosures do not have to be kept for:
Requests from students for their own use
Disclosures in response to written requests from students
Requests made by school officials
Those specified as directory information
What’s left?
These records of requests and disclosures are part of the student's education records and must be retained as long as the education records to which they refer are maintained by the institution.
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Key Concepts
Required annual notification
Written permission of student required to disclose
Richard A. Rainsberger, Ph.D.
Director, Admissions and Records
Central Virginia Community College
434-832-7630
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Current Issues and FERPA
Faculty — > e-mail — > students
See Attachment A.
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Current Issues and FERPA
Posting grades
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IST133-02 Grade Book
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Current Issues and FERPA
Distance Learning
We do not change our policies simply because our educational delivery methods have changed.
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Current Issues and FERPA
E-signatures/digital signatures
Electronic signature — “An electronic sound, symbol, or process, attached to or logically associated with a contract or other record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record.” §106 E-sign Act, 2000.
PIN
In lieu of written permission, a PIN can only be used by a student within a secure web-based system to authorize release of non-directory information to him/herself.
55
Current Issues and FERPA
E-mail transcript requests
Written permission is required. Therefore, faxed signatures are OK. A “typed” name is not.
Tracking/logging
When do those bits and bytes become personally identifiable to a student and become subject to FERPA?
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Current Issues and FERPA
Tracking/logging
Rezmierski, Virginia and Nathaniel St. Clair, “Identifying Where Technology Logging and Monitoring for Increased Security End and Violations of Personal Privacy and Student Records Begin: A Report to the Digital Government Program of the National Science Foundation,” 2001.
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Current Issues and FERPA
Annual notification via the web
Only if all students are required to have PCs and they have unrestricted access to the institution’s web page.
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Current Issues and FERPA
The Cyber Library
See Attachment B.
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Current Issues and FERPA
Outsourcing
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Outsourcing
An institution’s hiring of an agent to perform a process/task that the institution would normally perform itself on a continuing basis.
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Subcontracting
An arrangement between the college and consultants for one-time projects.
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By outsourcing, you are establishing an agency relationship:
Agent: An organization, company, or bureau that provides some service for another; a company having a franchise to represent another.
§ 99.31 Under what conditions is prior consent (of a student) not required to disclose information?
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§ 99.31 Under what conditions is prior consent (of a student) not required to disclose information?
An … institution may disclose personally identifiable information from an education record of a student … if the disclosure meets one or more of the following conditions:
The disclosure is to other school officials whom the … institution has determined to have legitimate educational interests.
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§ 99.33 What limitations apply to the redisclosure of information?
(a)(1) An … institution may disclose personally identifiable information from an education record only on the condition that the party to whom the information is disclosed will not disclose the information to any other party without the prior consent of the student. …
(e) If this Office (FPCO) determines that a third party improperly rediscloses personally identifiable information from education records …, the … institution may not allow that third party access to personally identifiable information from education records for at least five years.
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§ 99.7 What must an educational … institution include in its annual notification?
(a)(3)(iii) If the … institution has a policy of disclosing education records under §99.31(a)(1), a specification of criteria for determining who constitutes a school official and what constitutes a legitimate educational interest (must be included in the annual notification).
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Model Annual Notification of Rights under FERPA for Post Secondary Institutions
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords students certain rights with respect to their education records. They are.…
(3) The right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student’s education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.
One exception which permits disclosure without consent is disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is a person employed by the University in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position (including law enforcement unit personnel and health staff); a person or company with whom the University has contracted (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent); a person serving on the Board of Trustees; or a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks.
A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility. …
“…nothing in FERPA prevents an educational institution from contracting with a person or entity outside the institution to perform services that the institution would otherwise provide for itself.”
(Letter from LeRoy Rooker to Daniel Boehmer, April 19,1993 found in McDonald, Steven J., The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act: A Legal Compendium, NACUA, 1999, pp. 221-223.)
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![[graphic of IST133-02 Grade Book]](img/book.gif)