Article 3, Part 6 – Student Records – Guidelines and Regulations Governing Access and Release

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§ 3-603 Access to Student's Personally Identifiable Education Records

  1. By students: A student’s education record shall be made accessible to the student requesting access to their record within a reasonable time, but in no case more than forty-five (45) days after the request for access has been made.
  2. By Parents (including legal guardians): Access to a student’s education record will generally be granted to a parent only with the student’s prior written consent, except in the following circumstances:
    1. Dependent student. Parents of a dependent student, as defined in section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, may be given the same access to that student’s education records as is available to the student without the student’s written consent if the parent documents to the satisfaction of the record’s custodian that the parent claimed the student as an exemption on the filing of the last federal income tax statement.
    2. Incidents involving alcohol or a controlled substance. The university may disclose information from a student’s education record to parents regarding the violation of any federal, state, or local law, or any rule or policy of the institution, governing the use of alcohol or a controlled substance if: (A) The student is under the age of twenty-one, and (B) The student is found to have committed a violation of the Student Code relating to alcohol or controlled substances, and (C) the Dean of Students determines it to be in the best interest of the student and the university.
    3. Health and safety emergency. The university may disclose information from a student’s education record to parents in connection with an emergency if knowledge of the information is necessary to protect the health and safety of the student or other individuals.
  3. By Others
    1. Information from a student’s education record may be disclosed to others:
      1. with the prior written consent of the student, specifying the records to be disclosed, the purpose of the disclosure, and to whom the disclosure is made, with a copy of the information disclosed provided to the student if requested;
      2. in compliance with judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena, provided the university makes a reasonable effort to notify the student of the order or subpoena in advance of compliance, unless the order or subpoena directs otherwise; or
      3. by the Dean of Students or the emergency dean on duty 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.
      4. if deemed by the Dean of Students to be necessary to protect public safety, the following information may be disclosed to the public:
        1. The name, code violation, and sanction of a student found (after all appeals through the disciplinary system) to be in violation of those provisions of § 1 302 applying to crimes of violence or nonforcible sex offenses; or
        2. Information about sex offenders and other individuals required to register under section 170101 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, 42 USC 14071 received pursuant to federal law and guidelines.
    2. Otherwise, personally identifiable education records of students may be disclosed without the student’s written consent only to the following persons, subject to certain conditions as specified in FERPA:
      1. to other university officials, including faculty who have legitimate educational interests:
      2. to officials of other schools or school systems in which the student seeks or intends to enroll or where the student has already enrolled so long as the disclosure is for the purposes related to the student’s enrollment or transfer, upon condition that the student is notified of the disclosure, receives a copy of the record if desired, and has an opportunity for a hearing to challenge the content of the record;
      3. to those representatives of the federal government and state agencies who are identified in FERPA;
      4. in connection with the student’s application for, or receipt of, financial aid;
      5. to state and local officials or authorities to which such information is specifically required to be reported or disclosed concerning the juvenile justice system;
      6. to organizations (including the federal, state and local governments and independent organization) conducting studies for, or on behalf of the university under a written agreement for the purpose of developing, validating, or administering predictive tests, administering student aid programs, and improving instruction, if such studies are conducted in such a manner as will not permit the personal identification of students and their parents by persons other than representatives of such organizations and such information will be destroyed when no longer required for the purpose for which it is conducted;
      7. to accrediting organizations in order to carry out their accrediting functions;
      8. to the victim of an alleged perpetrator of a crime of violence or a non-forcible sex offense, the final results of a disciplinary proceeding under the conditions set forth in FERPA;
      9. to the apparent record originator in order to verify authenticity of a record.,
    3. Except as set forth in FERPA, records may be disclosed, with or without the student’s consent, to a third party only on the condition that the recipient will not permit others to have access to the personal information without the written consent of the student. With the exception of university officials described under §3-602(e), persons desiring access to a student’s record must sign a written form, available for inspection by the student and the official responsible for the record maintenance, indicating specifically thereon the legitimate educational or other interest for which the information is sought.
    4. Custodians of records and other record-maintenance personnel shall have access to student records while performing the record-keeping function, without the necessity of executing access forms.
    5. In the interests of public safety, the name, code violations, and sanction of a student found (after all appeals through the disciplinary system) to be in violation of those provisions of § 1‑302 applying to violent offenses and nonforcible sex offenses may be released to the public. This release of information is permitted under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) Section  951.
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