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FSEC briefed on FERPA
By DONNA BUDNIEWSKI
Reporter Assistant Editor
Once a student reaches the age of 18 or begins attending a postsecondary institution, parental access to educational records is no longer a given without the written consent of the student, Terri Mangione, senior associate vice provost for student academic records and financial services, told members of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee yesterday.
Mangione gave senators a brief overview of issues relating to students' rights, including the federal Family Education Right to Privacy Act (FERPA).
The law, also known as the Buckley Amendment, was intended to protect the privacy of educational records, to establish the right of students to inspect and review their educational records and to provide guidelines for the correction or deletion of inaccurate or misleading data through informal and formal hearings, she said. FERPA establishes the rights of parents and students in educational settings and governs a variety of situations, such as the public posting of grades by educators and who can have access to directory information about students.
The public posting of grades, either on a Web site or outside a classroom, using a student's name, institutional identification number or Social Security number without the student's written permission is a violation of FERPA. Mangione recommended that faculty members who want to post grades use a randomly assigned, unique identifier—and not post the grades in alphabetical order according to the original class list. Faculty also must first obtain students' written permission before proceeding, she added.
Leaving graded exams, with names and grades visible, for pickup by students is no different than posting grades in a hallway, according to FERPA, and requires the written permission of students or the institution could be held liable, Mangione noted.
"There's a practicality to all of this and generally, the FERPA guidelines are not out there as an intention to make things more difficult, more costly or more time-consuming, but to just make sure the students' privacy is being protected," she explained. "So, I think that if you're stacking a thousand papers (outside an office or classroom) that are 5 to 10 percent of their grade and they are not going to be able to figure out (other) students' final grade, you're probably going to be okay in that kind of situation.
"Whatever you can do, try and not have it (the grade) flashing out in front of others so that the student would be embarrassed, or worse yet, be looked on to provide help or assistance to other students because of a good grade" she added.
A summary of FERPA's position regarding the access of parents to their children's records once the student reaches 18 or begins attending a postsecondary institution—regardless of age—says that rights transfer from the parent to the student and parents only may obtain directory information at the discretion of the institution and may obtain information regarding grades, grade-point average, etc., only at the discretion of the institution and after it has been determined that the student is his or her legal dependent. Parents only may obtain non-directory information by obtaining signed consent from their child.
According to the summary, FERPA protects students' rights at postsecondary institutions by allowing students to inspect and review all records, within 45 days of a request by the student, that are directly related to the student and are maintained by an educational agency, institution or by a party acting for the agency or institution. The student can seek amendment of records that the student believes to be inaccurate, misleading or otherwise in violation of the student's privacy rights.
The law protects the rights of the student to consent to disclosure of personally identifiable information contained in the student's educational records and to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the educational agency or institution to comply with the requirements of the law.
For more information regarding FERPA, visit the Student Affairs Web site at http://www.student-affairs.buffalo.edu/judicial/art7.shtml. For a more detailed explanation of FERPA, visit the federal government's Web site at http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html. A copy of the policy is available in the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, 542 Capen Hall, North Campus.