FRONTLINE
FERPA
Strategies for Compliance with the
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
Prepared by
the Office of Legal Affairs
Updated November 14, 2008
Objectives
At the conclusion of this briefing, participants
will:
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Have a set of strategies for dealing with particular kinds
of requests for access to student information.
Have the opportunity to apply those strategies to a list of
specific problem situations submitted by participants in
advance of the briefing.
Know the elements of a valid student consent.
Know where to go for additional information.
Some Initial Points
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Focus here is on students currently attending or who
have attended at any time in the past, and on
information collected about them while they were
attending.
We will treat files of applicants who have never been in
attendance as confidential, same as enrolled students.
FERPA does not require that we provide any
information “at once” or even the same day or week.
We have a reasonable time to respond.
Get each request for disclosures of confidential
information in writing.
“Records” means any format, including electronic.
The Strategy That Always Works
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Obtain a valid student consent to disclose
confidential information from the student’s
record.
Requirements for valid consent:
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Written
Dated
Signed by student
Purpose of disclosure
Records to be disclosed
To whom records to be disclosed
Strategy I
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Subpoenas and Court Orders to produce
student records:
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Hand–deliver to Office of Legal Affairs on date
received.
For a subpoena/court order that appears limited to
items in the Registrar’s Office files, the
subpoena/court order can be delivered to the
Registrar.
Time is very important—don’t delay.
Strategy II
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People who want to help students by
providing jobs, internships, financial
assistance, etc:
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Obtain the student’s written consent either in advance
for a class of requests, or individually when the
specific request is received,
OR
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Achieve the result the benefactor wants without
releasing confidential student information to the
would-be benefactor.
Strategy III
Parents who ask for information about their
son/daughter’s student account balance, grades, class
attendance:
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Say “Yes, and all I need is the student’s written consent,”
not “No, we can’t release”.
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If student won’t sign release, have parent contact the
Office of Legal Affairs.
Strategy IV
Law enforcement officials who seek information
about students but who do not have a subpoena or
court order:
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Refer to UNC Charlotte’s Chief of Police or Watch
Commander for handling 24/7.
Strategy V
People who request information about a
student because of “an emergency”:
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Must be a true “health or safety emergency” to rely on
that specific FERPA exception (i.e. immediate loss of life,
injury, danger, etc.).
If not a true emergency, we cannot use this exception.
Need written consent.
Other ways to solve the problem.
Strategy VI
People who request “directory information” about a
particular student:
 Determine
 Is it “directory information” only that is requested?
(see http://www.legal.uncc.edu/DirectoryInfo.html)
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AND
 Has the student “blocked” disclosure of directory
information?
If the request is only “Is the student enrolled,” or “What
degree did the student receive?”, use Ed Verify or
National Student Clearinghouse located on the web at:
http://www.registrar.uncc.edu/verify.htm.
Strategy VII
People who request “directory information”
about a whole database of students:
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Refer the requesting party to the University Registrar.
Where to Get Help
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FERPA Guidance Website
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http://www.legal.uncc.edu/ferpa-resources.html
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Tutorial
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Consent Form
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“Handling Parent Requests for Confidential Information from Student
Records” link
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Office of Legal Affairs Staff
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David Broome, [email protected]
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Amy Kelso, [email protected]
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Krista Newkirk, [email protected]
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Jesh Humphrey, [email protected]
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Christopher Knauer, Registrar, [email protected]
For Emergency Requests, call Campus Police, x2200
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