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Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

The privacy of student records is protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). The Registrar has the institutional responsibility for interpreting both the Act and the rules and regulations issued by the Department of Education to enforce this Act.
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    Student Right to Privacy

    Under FERPA, students have the right to see their education records and the right to request a change if there is an error in any record. FERPA addresses two types of information: directory information and non-directory information.

     Directory information includes the student’s name, address, e-mail address, telephone listing, major field of study, dates of attendance, degrees and awards received, most recent previous educational agency or institution attended, and participation in officially recognized activities and sports. A student’s directory information is not usually provided to anyone who requests it, including persons outside the College. A student may withhold directory information by notifying the Office of Academic Records in writing. A request to withhold directory information remains in effect as long as the student continues to be enrolled, or until the student files a written request with the Office of Academic Records to discontinue the withholding. All students are responsible for keeping the College informed of their correct mailing address, both school and home. Any change in address should be updated by the student through the address change function on TheSIS. Parent address change information should be submitted to the Office of Academic Records using the change of address form located on the Office of Academic Records home page.

     Non-directory information makes up the remainder of the student’s education record. The education record includes, but is not limited to, academic, disciplinary, financial aid, health, student account, and other information directly related to a student’s enrollment at Birmingham-Southern College. Students may give permission to allow their education record to be disclosed to a designated individual(s) by signing the FERPA Release Form - Student Consent for Access to Education Records. FERPA also allows a student’s academic record to be shared without the student’s direct consent with parents or guardians who certify their student is claimed as a dependent for IRS purposes.

     The school discloses education records without a student’s prior written consent under the FERPA exception for disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is a person employed by Birmingham-Southern College in an administrative, supervisory, academic, research, or support staff position (including law enforcement unit personnel and health staff); a person serving on the Board of Trustees; or a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee. A school official also may include a volunteer or contractor outside of the College who performs an institutional service of function for which the school would otherwise use its own employees and who is under the direct control of the school with respect to the use and maintenance of personally identifiable information from education records, such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent or a student volunteering to assist another school official in performing their tasks. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill their professional responsibilities for Birmingham-Southern College.

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    Protections for Distance Education

    Birmingham-Southern College (BSC) is committed to protecting the privacy of all students, both face-to-face and online learners. Policies and practices are established and adhered to that ensure the security of student information and data.

    Policies that address these protections include:

    • Ethical Use policy – describes the protocols for protecting and respecting all of the College communities, including students. The policy establishes that all use of technology at BSC is in accordance with all laws and must respect the privacy of data in the Birmingham-Southern technology systems.
    • Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) policy – protects the records of students maintained by the College. Access to the educational information is dictated by the policy. The Office of Academic Records educates the campus community about the treatment of student records. Before a BSC employee is given access to the student data system, a training session is required.

     These policies are available on the Birmingham-Southern College website.

     Procedures for protecting student privacy in online courses:

    • The campus Learning Management System, Moodle, functions with security parameters that were established when the system came on-line at BSC. The data that flows from the legacy system, Colleague, follows these parameters.
    • Faculty only have access to the online course or courses they are teaching. They are allowed to post course materials, assignments, examinations, and other instructional content. As in all courses, confidentiality of grades is maintained in the LMS.
    • Upon admission, a new student to BSC is assigned a unique identification number and email address. These provide student access to administrative software including registration (TheSIS) and course participation software (Moodle and email).
    • Access to online course information is limited to students who are enrolled in the specific course. Students can access materials for the course, upload assignments, take exams, and participate in online discussions with other students enrolled in the course.
    • Passwords are to be kept with the highest confidentiality. BSC employs a two-factor authentication process. If a password is changed, a secondary email account, text messaging, or voice verification over a landline is required.
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    FERPA Tutorial

    If you are BSC faculty or staff needing access to Ellucian Colleague, please view the FERPA Tutorial presentation and complete the Security Agreement form at the end. Signed Security Agreements should be submitted to the Office of Academic Records.