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Staff & Faculty
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Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
Online FERPA Guide
What is FERPA?
What are education records?
Access to student records
Posting grades
Returning assignments
Parents requesting information
Crisis situations/emergencies
Letters of recommendation
Who to contact with questions/concerns
What is FERPA?
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), as amended, is a federal law that sets forth requirements regarding the privacy of student records. FERPA governs the release of records maintained by an educational institution and access to those records. Institutions that receive funds administered by the Federal Office of Education are bound by FERPA requirements and failure to comply may result in the loss of federal funding.
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What are education records?
Under FERPA, education records are defined as records that are directly related to a student and are maintained by an educational agency, institution, or party acting for the agency or institution. Education records can exist in any medium, including, but not limited to, typewritten, hand-written, computer generated, videotape, audiotape, film, microfilm, microfiche, and email.
Education records do not include:
- Sole possession records, i.e., records/notes in sole possession of the maker, used only as a personal memory aid and not revealed or accessible to any other person except a temporary substitute for the maker of the record. This may include notes an instructor makes while providing career or professional guidance to a student.
- Medical treatment records that include, but are not limited to, records maintained by physicians, psychiatrists, and psychologists.
- Employment records unless employment is based on student status, i.e. a graduate teaching assistant or work-study student.
- Records created and maintained by a law enforcement unit.
- Post-attendance records, i.e., information about a person that was obtained when the person was no longer a student (alumni records) and not related to the person as a student.
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Access to Student Records
The Salt Lake • Tooele Applied Technology College (SLTATC) may not disclose information contained in education records without the student’s consent, except under certain limited conditions. For example, the SLTATC may disclose what is considered to be “directory” information unless the student has restricted disclosure of such information with the Student Services Department.
Directory information at the Salt Lake • Tooele Applied Technology College is defined as:
- Student’s Name
- Address
- Telephone number
- Date of birth
- Field of study
- Dates of attendance
- Enrollment Status
- Degrees and awards received
- Most recent previous educational agency/institution attended
- Participation in recognized activities
- E-mail address
If the student has restricted the disclosure of directory information, a privacy restriction will appear on the student’s academic records.
In addition, the College can release information to a school official if it can be determined that the individual has a legitimate educational interest. A school official is a person employed by the College in an administrative or faculty position, or a staff member in a professional or support position who is involved in work that requires disclosure of this information; a person or company with whom the SLTATC has contracted (such as an attorney or auditor) working on a project for the SLTATC that requires disclosure of this information; the President of the Utah College of Applied Technology (UCAT); or staff of the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education who are working on a project that requires disclosure of this information. Upon request, the College may disclose education records without consent to an official at another school, in which a student seeks or intends to enroll.
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Returning Assigments
Assignments and papers that contain "personally identifiable" information should not be distributed to the student in a way that would allow other students to view the information. Graded papers should not be left unattended in an office or classroom for students to sort through or returned to students via another student. Both of these examples are a violation of FERPA. A possible solution would be to leave the exams, quizzes, etc. with an assistant or secretary who requests proper identification prior to distributing the information to the student.
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Parents Requesting Information
When a student reaches the age of 18 or begins attending a post secondary institution, FERPA rights transfer to the student. Concerns such as progress in a course, deficiencies in a subject area, scores and grades on papers, exams, etc. are all examples of personally identifiable information that constitute part of the student's education record. This information is protected under FERPA and parents may not have access unless (1) the student provides written authorization that specifically identifies what information may be released to the parent(s), (2) the parent(s) establish that the student is a dependent according to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, Section 152 or (3) the student is a secondary student enrolled in a high school program and also enrolled in a SLTATC program or course for the purpose of receiving high school credit for SLTATC coursework.
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Crisis Situations/Emergencies
If non-directory information is needed to resolve a crisis or emergency situation, an education institution may release that information if the institution determines that the information is "necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or other individuals." Factors considered in making this assessment are: the severity of the threat to the health or safety of those involved; the need for the information; the time required to deal with the emergency; and the ability of the parties to whom the information is to be given to deal with the emergency. Requests of this nature should be directed to the Student Services Department, 493-8700 or to the Office of the President, 493-8700.
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Letters of Recommendation
Written permission from the student is required for a letter of recommendation if any information included in the recommendation is part of the "education record" (courses taken, grades, GPA and other non-directory information). The signed release must specify the records to be disclosed, the purpose of the disclosure and the party to whom the disclosure can be made. If the letter of recommendation is kept on file by the person writing the recommendation, then it becomes part of the student’s education record and the student has the right to read it unless he/she has specifically waived that right of access. The only time a written release from the student is not required is if the recommendation will be based solely upon personal acquaintance/observation with the student and the letter will not contain any information derived from educational records concerning the student’s participation, performance or academic achievement in school. For your convenience, a sample release form for letters of recommendation has been included.
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Who to Contact with Questions or Concerns
Any questions concerning FERPA may be directed to:
The Student Services Department, 493-8700, studentservices@sltatc.org
The Office of Compliance, 1-202-260-3887, Family Policy Compliance Office, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20202-4605
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