- 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 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.