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academic, career, and personal development. The student and the faculty
advisor have a shared responsibility in this advising process.
IV.A.4. FERPA
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), once referred to as the
Buckley Amendment, is the legislation which determines policy for confidentiality and student
privacy in advising. It applies to student records after 1/1/75.
Under the Act, students have the right to see their permanent academic records, with the
following exceptions: security records; health and counseling records; confidential letters of
recommendation or other confidential evaluations (where students have waived the right of
inspection); parents’ confidential statements and income tax returns; and personal notes made by
advisors, faculty members, and administrative personnel.—
Advisors should remove personal
notes from advising folders when they are forwarded to a new advisor or permanently
transferred when students leave campus; otherwise, these notes become part of the official
record that students have a right to inspect.
FERPA also restricts access to and disclosure of information from a student’s educational record
without the written consent of the student, except in certain instances permitted under the Act.
Data considered “Directory Information” may be disclosed without prior written consent, unless
a student notifies the Records Office to restrict release of that information.
Although in no sense a substitute for legal advice on particular issues, the list below offers some
guidelines for advisors’ and faculty members’ compliance with the Act:
In general, parents, spouses, and their relations do not have a right to information
contained in a student’s educational record. Many students, though, will allow
their parents or guardians the right to these records. Advisors may check with the
Records Office to see if a student has signed a form to this effect. Nevertheless, it
is advisable not to release information over the phone since it is difficult to
confirm a caller’s identity. If the need to discuss confidential information arises,
suggest a personal meeting instead of a phone conversation.
Students’ scores or grades should not be displayed publicly. Even with names
obscured, numeric student identifiers are considered personally identifiable
information and must not be used. Grades, transcripts, or degree audits
distributed for purposes of advising should not be placed in plain view in open
mailboxes located in public places.
Graded papers or tests should not be left unattended on a desk in plain view in a public
area, nor should students sort through them in order to retrieve their own work.
Class rosters, grade sheets, and other reports should be handled in a confidential manner
and the information contained on them should not be disclosed to third parties.