- What are the specific guidelines for the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)?
Here are the guidelines:
What is FERPA?
- FERPA stands for the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
- It is a federal law that protects the privacy of student educational records.
What are the rights of an eligible student?
- Right to review and inspect records maintained by the school.
- Right to request that Massasoit correct anything they believe to be inaccurate or misleading.
- Right to consent to the disclosure of personally identifiable information (PII)
Who is an “eligible student”?
- An eligible student is defined in FERPA as a student who has reached the age of 18 years of age OR is attending a postsecondary institution.
- At Massasoit, all enrolled students, regardless of age, are considered eligible students and protected by FERPA.
- FERPA remains in effect throughout the eligible student’s lifetime.
What about deceased students?
- While FERPA does not inherently apply to students who are deceased, Massasoit applies the same FERPA protections to the records of deceased students.
- An exception to this policy is the release of information to a spouse, parent(s), guardian(s), dependents, or executor(s) of a student’s estate for a period of one year after the death, or pursuant to a court order or lawfully issued subpoena at any time. Beyond one year, deceased student information is treated the same as other student information. Any request for deceased student information must be in writing accompanied by an official death certificate.
What are educational records?
- Records directly related to a student and maintained by Massasoit.
This does not include:
- Sole possession records
- Employment records
- Law enforcement records
- Health and medical records
- Alumni records
What constitutes PII (Personally Identifiable Information)?
- Student name and address
- Family names and addresses
- Social security number
- Date of birth, place of birth, mother’s maiden name
- Information that would allow re-identification of the student's identity
What constitutes directory information?
- Student name
- Town of residence
- College email address
- Level of education (first or second year)
- Enrollment status (full- or part-time)
- Program of study
- Dates of attendance
- Degrees
- Awards received from Massasoit (e.g., Dean’s List, athletics awards, etc.)
Maintenance of educational records
- Records with personally identifiable information should not be left out on a desk or visible on a computer screen.
- Records with personally identifiable information should be placed in a secure file cabinet, desk drawer, etc.
- Records not archived in Banner should be placed in a fireproof and disaster-resistant environment.