Subject: FW: Blog post

|
|
|
TOPIC: |
|
INTRODUCTION:
|
|
DISCUSSION:
|
|
|
Answer: FERPA limits the
disclosure of information from student “education records,” a term that the
law defines quite broadly and that is not limited to “academic”
records. |
|
Question: |
When
may information from education records be disclosed? |
|
Answer: In general,
information derived from a student’s education records may be disclosed only
if: (1) it is “directory information;” (2) the student has consented to the
disclosure; or (3) the law provides an exception that permits disclosure
without the student’s consent. |
|
Question: What
is "directory information"? |
|
|
Answer: FERPA allows
institutions to designate certain classes of information as “directory
information” that may be released to anyone without a student’s consent [14].
Directory information may (but is not required to) include such items as the
student’s name, address (local, permanent, and e-mail), telephone number
(local and permanent), photograph, dates of attendance at the institution,
major, degrees and awards received, participation in officially recognized
activities and sports, and date and place of birth, as well as other
information “that would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of
privacy if disclosed [15].”
A student’s social security number or any student identification number that
could be used by itself, without a password, PIN, or other authenticating
factor, to access educational records may not be designated as directory
information [16].
An institution that wishes to make directory information available must first
give its students an opportunity to “opt out” and block the release of their
own directory information, usually by making a formal request to the
institution’s registrar’s office [17].
Even if a student has chosen to block the release of directory information,
the institution may nevertheless continue to disclose that student’s
directory information under any other exception that may be applicable or
with the student’s case-by-case consent. |
|
Question: |
|
May
information from student education records be shared with others on campus? |
|
Answer: Yes. Under one of FERPA’s many exceptions to
the general prohibition against disclosure, campus personnel are free to
share information from student education records with other “school
officials” who have “legitimate educational interests” in the information [18]. Each
institution must define for itself who qualifies as a “school official” and
what is a “legitimate educational interest” and give annual notice of its
definitions to its students [19].
These definitions can be quite broad – “school officials” need not be limited
to “officers,” or even to employees [20], and
“legitimate educational interests” (much like “education records”) need not
be limited either to “academic” interests or to instances that are beneficial
to the student. The Family Policy Compliance Office (“FPCO”) [21], the
office within the U.S. Department of Education charged with overseeing and
enforcing FERPA, offers the following model definitions: A
school official is a person employed by the University in an administrative,
supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position (including law
enforcement unit personnel and health staff); a person or company with whom
the University has contracted as its agent to provide a service instead of
using University employees or officials (such as an attorney, auditor, or
collection agent); a person serving on the Board of Trustees; or a student
serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance
committee, or assisting another school official in performing his or her
tasks. At
institutions that follow these or similar models, an employee concerned that
a student’s statements or behavior evidence a potential threat could – and
should – share relevant information with the dean of students, the judicial
affairs office, the campus counseling center, the campus law enforcement
unit, or other appropriate “school officials” whose job it is to deal with
such issues. |
|
Question: |
|
May
information from a student’s education records be disclosed to protect health
or safety? |
|
Answer: Yes. FERPA permits the
disclosure of information from student education records “to appropriate
parties, including parents..., in connection with an emergency if knowledge
of the information is necessary to protect the health or safety of the
student or other individuals [23].”
For example, if a student sends an e-mail to his resident assistant saying
that he has just been diagnosed with a highly contagious disease such as
measles, the institution could alert the student’s roommate, and perhaps
others with whom the student has come in close contact, to urge them to seek
appropriate testing and medical care [24].
Safety concerns warranting disclosure could include a student’s statements
about suicide, unusually erratic and angry behaviors, or similar conduct that
others would reasonably see as posing a risk of serious harm [25]. |
|
Question: |
|
When
may a college or university disclose information from a student’s education
records to the student’s parent or legal guardian? |
|
Answer: Once a student is in
attendance at a postsecondary institution, all rights provided by FERPA rest
with the student, even if the student is younger than 18 years old [29].
Education record information may therefore be disclosed to the parent of a
college or university student only with the student’s consent or in instances
in which one of the exceptions to FERPA permits disclosure. In addition to
the other exceptions discussed in this Note, two such exceptions specifically
address communications to parents. |
|
Question: |
|
What
about disclosing information from the student discipline process, either to
others on campus or to other institutions? |
|
Answer: FERPA expressly
permits institutions to include in a student’s education records appropriate
information concerning disciplinary action taken against the student for
conduct that posed a significant risk to the safety or well being of that
student, other students, or other members of the community [34].
Such information may be disclosed to any “school officials” who have
“legitimate educational interests” in the behavior of the student, and it
also may be disclosed as appropriate under the health and safety emergency
exception. FERPA also expressly provides that, for purposes of the health and
safety emergency exception, the “appropriate parties” to whom disclosure may
be made include teachers and officials at other institutions who have
legitimate educational interests in the behavior of the student [35]. |
|
Question: |
|
Are
there other circumstances in which a college or university may disclose
information from student education records to another institution without the
student’s consent? |
|
Answer: In addition to the
exceptions discussed above, FERPA expressly permits (but does not require)
the disclosure of information from a student's education records to officials
of other institutions at which the student seeks or intends to enroll or
where the student is already enrolled, so long as the disclosure is related
to the student’s enrollment or transfer [39].
To take advantage of this exception, the institution must either inform its
students generally, in its annual FERPA notice, of its practice of doing so [40], or
make a reasonable attempt to notify the individual student that it has done
so [41]. In
either case, upon request, the institution also must provide the student with
a copy of the disclosed records and give the student an opportunity for a
hearing to challenge the content of the disclosed records [42]. |
|
Question: |
|
Can
a college or university get information such as disciplinary or mental health
records from a student’s high school records? |
|
Answer: Yes. Colleges and
universities have several options for obtaining information from a student’s
high school records. They can ask students to consent to the disclosure of
those records. Consent by the student would permit the high school to disclose
the information. In addition, the college or university may ask the high
school to disclose the student’s records under an applicable FERPA exception,
including the exception that expressly permits the disclosure of information
from a student's education records to officials of other institutions at
which the student seeks or intends to enroll or where the student is already
enrolled, so long as the disclosure is related to the student’s enrollment or
transfer. Again, the prior institution may, but is not required by FERPA to,
disclose information. The requirements of this exception are discussed more
fully in the preceding question. A prior institution may also rely on the
current institution's determination that there is a health or safety
emergency and may disclose relevant information to the current institution
under that exception [43].
State law may provide additional options for access to these records. For
example, under Virginia law (Virginia Code Annotated § 23-2.1:3), colleges
and universities “…may require that any student accepted to and who has
committed to attend, or is attending, such institution provide, to the extent
available, from the originating school a complete student record, including
any mental health records held by the school. These records shall be kept
confidential as required by state and federal law…” Finally, in appropriate
circumstances, high school records may be obtained by a subpoena or court
order. |
|
Question: |
|
Is
the disclosure of campus law enforcement unit records restricted by FERPA? |
|
Answer: No. Records that are
created by the campus law enforcement unit (whether commissioned police or
non-commissioned security) at least in part for a law enforcement purpose are
not “education records” and, at least as far as FERPA is concerned, may be
shared freely with anyone the institution, in its discretion, deems
appropriate [44].
For example, FERPA would not prevent a campus law enforcement unit from
disclosing to external law enforcement agencies an incident report concerning
the unit’s response to a student’s threatening statements or behavior.
However, any copies of that report that are shared with other campus offices
would become subject to FERPA, though the original in the law enforcement
unit would continue not to be [45].
Moreover, any student education records that other campus offices share with
the campus law enforcement unit, as “school officials” with a “legitimate
educational interest,” remain subject to FERPA even in the hands of that unit
[46]. |
|
Question: |
|
What
if the institution receives a court order or subpoena requesting student
records? |
|
Answer: The institution may
disclose records in response to a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena
but generally must notify the student of the order or subpoena before
complying [47].
An exception to this general rule is that a federal grand jury subpoena or
other subpoena issued for a law enforcement purpose may instruct the
institution not to notify the student [48]. |
|
Question: |
|
May
an employee disclose personal knowledge and impressions about a student,
based on the employee’s personal interactions with the student? |
|
Answer: Yes. FERPA’s
disclosure restrictions apply only to information derived from student
education records, not to personal knowledge derived from direct, personal
experience with a student [49].
For example, a faculty or staff member who personally observes a student
engaging in erratic and threatening behavior is not prohibited by FERPA from
disclosing that observation. (If at some point the employee describes the
observation in a personally identifiable record, that record would be subject
to FERPA protections. The employee would still be permitted to disclose the
personal observation but would not be permitted to disclose the record of the
observation unless one of the exceptions to FERPA applied or the student
consented to the disclosure). Again, however, the employee generally should
limit disclosure of such information to professionals trained to evaluate and
manage it, as other privacy laws conceivably could apply and prohibit broader
disclosures, depending upon the circumstances. |
|
Question: What
other laws protect student privacy? |
|
|
Answer: Students may have
additional privacy rights under state privacy and confidentiality laws and
under federal laws. The Department of Health and Human Services and the
Department of Education have issued joint guidance on the application of
FERPA and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) [50] to
student health records. This joint guidance confirms that the HIPAA privacy
rule expressly excludes student health records maintained by colleges and
universities [51].
Moreover, certain professionals on campus, such as medical and mental health
care providers, may be bound by professional obligations of confidentiality
that require a higher burden to be met (such as a significant threat
of serious and imminent harm to a specifically foreseeable
victim) before disclosure of information in their possession may be made.
Even when this is the case, however, other personnel on campus (such as a
faculty member, dean of students, or residential life employee) may disclose
information about a student under the lower FERPA health and safety emergency
standard if the circumstances warrant. |
|
Question: What
happens if I violate FERPA? |
|
|
Answer: If an institution
regularly violates FERPA, it runs the risk of losing its education-related
federal funding. While thus far, the Family Policy Compliance Office (FPCO)
has not revoked any institution’s funding, it works with these institutions
to get them to comply with the statute voluntarily. |
|
Question: |
|
What
should a faculty member or other college or university employee do if he or
she is concerned about a student? |
|
Answer: If the concern is that
a student may engage in violent behavior, toward self or others, and the
threat appears to be imminent, the employee should contact the campus police
or security office immediately. If the concern is of a less urgent nature, or
the employee is not quite sure what to make of a student's comments or
conduct, the employee should consult with professionals on campus or
associated with the institution, such as the Dean of Students, a campus
counseling center, or law enforcement, who may be able to assess the
potential threat, identify resources for the student, and provide information
that could assist in deciding on an appropriate course of action. In
consultation with appropriate campus resources, a collective decision may
then be made to contact a family member, an appropriate off-campus resource,
or others. |
|
CONCLUSION:
|
Permitted Uses of NACUANOTES
Copyright and Disclaimer Notice
View
this document in PDF
or Word
NACUANOTES
Homepage| NACUANOTES
Issues
Contact Us | NACUA Home Page
"To advance the
effective practice of higher education attorneys for the benefit of the
colleges and universities they serve."