Upcoming Deadline - September 2012 Events Calendar Submissions

July 23, 2012 is the deadline for submitting information for the September Calendar of Events. Please use the Calendar Request Form to submit items. Feel free to contact Paula Raum, x2915, with any questions regarding the printed calendar advertisement. 

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FERPA Facts from the Central Office

In order to meet the operational needs of a college, and without prejudicing a student, Congress included a limited number of provisions that authorize the disclosure of/access to FERPA-protected information without a student's prior written consent. These provisions are to be read narrowly; that is, disclosure/access is not permitted unless a provision of FERPA clearly states a permissible ground to disclose/provide access to protected information without a student's prior consent. Any doubts are to be resolved against permitting disclosure/access.

The first - and perhaps most significant - nonconsensual disclosure provision in FERPA relates to "school officials" with "a legitimate educational interest." FERPA permits disclosure to/access by school officials with a legitimate educational interest without the consent of the student (parent in K - 12) to whom the protected information pertains. 

FERPA provides that a "school official" includes, but is not limited to the following:  a person employed by a college in an administrative, supervisory, academic, research or support staff position (including law enforcement and security personnel - whether or not sworn, counseling and health staff); a person or company with whom a college has contracted (such as an attorney, auditor, collection agent or official of the National Student Clearinghouse - subject to the existence of a written contract containing required terms); a person serving on a college's governing board (Board of Regents) who is authorized to act on its behalf; or a college student serving on an official committee, such as a student conduct or grievance committee, or a college student assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks, such as a student worker. 

FERPA also provides that a school official has "a legitimate educational interest" if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her college-related professional responsibilities, i.e., a "need to know." 

It is important to note that FERPA makes clear that college employees are not authorized to determine for themselves if he/she possesses the requisite "legitimate educational interest" to allow access to protected information. FERPA requires the college to make the determination.

FERPA Practice Pointer: Employee discipline is NOT "a legitimate educational interest." That is, a written complaint or written statement from a student regarding an employee's behavior is an education record of the student and protected from disclosure to the subject employee by FERPA. Neither the record - nor the information contained in it - may be provided to the employee as part of an investigatory or disciplinary process, unless the student's prior express consent has been obtained, without violating FERPA.  It is, therefore, important to obtain the student's FERPA compliant consent should any action on the student's complaint/statement be contemplated. 

When enacting the FERPA, Congress clearly indicated a strong preference for a school to obtain the prior written consent of a student (parent in the K-12 setting) before disclosing or granting access to FERPA-protected student information to anyone. At the same time, Congress recognized that the operational needs of an educational institution (not a System) make obtaining prior consent in every instance impractical and/or unreasonable.

Please note that by clicking on the name of each event you will be able to automatically download the event to your calendar or obtain further information. To see this weeks event's calendar, visit the public folders under Events and Calendars - Weekly/Monthly Events.