Confidentiality of Student Records
Introduction
Education records are kept by University offices to facilitate the educational development of students. Faculty and staff members may also keep informal records relating to their functional responsibilities with individual students.
A federal law, the Family Educational Rights And Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (FERPA), also known as the Buckley Amendment, affords students certain rights concerning their education records. Students have the right to have some control over the disclosure of information from their records. Educational institutions have the responsibility to prevent improper disclosure of personally identifiable information from the records.
Students and Parents rights relating to educational records.
Students have the right to know about the purposes, content, and location of information kept as part of their education records. They have the right to gain access to and challenge the content of their education records. Students also have the right to expect that information in their education records will be kept confidential, disclosed only with their permission or under provisions of the law.
FERPA considers all students independent which limits the education record information that may be released to parents, without the student's specific written permission, to directory information. Parents have the right, under certain conditions, to gain access to information in their student's education records. Parents who claimed the student as a dependent on their most recent IRS 1040 are permitted access to the student's education records.
Education Records
Education records are specifically defined as records, files, documents, and other materials that contain information directly related to a student and maintained by the University or someone acting for the University according to policy.
Excluded from education records are records of instructional, supervisory, and administrative personnel and ancillary educational personnel in the sole possession of the maker and that are not accessible or revealed to any other person, except for a substitute. Additionally, notes of a professor or staff member intended for his or her own use are not part of the education record, nor are records of police services, application records of students not admitted to the University, alumni records, or records of physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, or other recognized professionals.
Records relating to an individual who is employed by the University not as a result of his or her status as a student are also excluded. However, employment records relating to University students who are employed as a result of their status as students are considered education records.
Directory Information
Some information about students is considered Directory Information. Directory Information may be publicly shared by the institution unless the student has taken formal action to restrict its release.
Directory information includes:
- Name
- Class Level
- Degree and Major
- Birth Date
- Place of Birth
- Dates of Attendance
- Degrees Awarded
- Graduation Date
- Enrollment Status (Fulltime/Parttime)
- Previous University Attended
- Sports and Activities Participation
- Athlete's Height and Weight
- Awards and Honors
Students can make a request that their Directory Information not be released at any time while they are an enrolled student at the University. The Registrar's Office has a form to fill out for this request. The request will be honored until such time at the student requests otherwise in writing. In the event that such written notification is not filed, the University assumes that the student does not object to the release of the directory information. Once a student is no longer enrolled at the University s/he can no longer request that their directory information not be released.
To obtain a complete copy of UMFK's FERPA policy, contact the Registrar's Office (207)834-7520.