Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, with which
The New School complies, was enacted to protect the privacy of
education records, to establish the right of students to inspect and
review their education records, and to provide guidelines for
correction of inaccurate or misleading statements.
The New School has established the following student information as
public or directory information, which may be disclosed by the
institution at its discretion: student name; major field of study;
dates of attendance; full- or part-time enrollment status; year level;
degrees and awards received, including dean’s list; the most recent
previous educational agency or institution attended, addresses, phone
numbers, photographs, email addresses, and date and place of birth.
Students may request that The New School withhold release of their
directory information by notifying the Registrar’s Office in writing.
This notification must be renewed annually at the start of each fall
semester.
The Family Educational Rights and
Privacy Act (FERPA) affords students certain rights with respect to
their education records. These rights include:
(1) The right to inspect and review the student's education records
within 45 days of the day the university receives a request for access.
A
student should submit to the registrar, dean, head of the academic
department, or other appropriate official, a written request that
identifies the record(s) the student wishes to inspect. The university
official will make arrangements for access and notify the student of
the time and place where the records may be inspected. If the records
are not maintained by the university official to whom the request was
submitted, that official shall advise the student of the correct
official to whom the request should be addressed.
(2) The right to request the amendment of the student’s education
records that the student believes are inaccurate, misleading, or
otherwise in violation of the student’s privacy rights under FERPA.
A
student who wishes to ask the university to amend a record should write
the university official responsible for the record, clearly identify
the part of the record the student wants changed, and specify why it
should be changed.
If the university
decides not to amend the record as requested, the university will
notify the student in writing of the decision and the student’s right
to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional
information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the
student when notified of the right to a hearing.
(3)
The right to provide written consent before the university discloses
personally identifiable information from the student's education
records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without
consent.
The university discloses education records without a student’s prior
written consent under the FERPA exception for disclosure to school
officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is a
person employed by the University in an administrative, supervisory,
academic or research, or support staff position (including law
enforcement unit personnel and health staff); a person or company with
whom the University has contracted as its agent to provide a service
instead of using university employees or officials (such as an
attorney, auditor, or collection agent); a person serving on the Board
of Trustees; or a student serving on an official committee, such as a
disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school
official in performing his or her tasks.
A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official
needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her
professional responsibilities for the University.
(4)
The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education
concerning alleged failures by the university to comply with the
requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the Office that
administers FERPA is:
Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue SW
Washington, DC 20202-4605
FERPA UPDATE
As of January 3, 2012, U.S. Department of
Education FERPA regulations expand the circumstances under which education
records and personally identifiable information (PII) contained in such
records—including Social Security Number, grades, and other private
information—may be shared without a student’s consent.
First, the U.S. Comptroller General, the U.S.
Attorney General, the U.S. Secretary of Education, or state or local education
authorities (“Federal and State Authorities”) may allow access to a student’s records
and PII without the student’s consent to any third party designated by a
Federal or State Authority to evaluate a federal- or state-supported education
program. The evaluation may relate to any program that is “principally engaged
in the provision of education,” such as early childhood education and job
training as well as any program that is administered by an education agency or
institution.
Second, Federal and State Authorities may allow
access to education records and PII without the student’s consent to
researchers performing certain types of studies, in certain cases even when the
educational institution did not request or objects to such research. Federal
and State Authorities must obtain certain use-restriction and data security
promises from the entities that they authorize to receive a student’s PII, but
the Authorities need not maintain direct control over such entities.
In addition, in connection with Statewide
Longitudinal Data Systems, State Authorities may collect, compile, permanently
retain, and share without a student’s consent PII from the student’s education
records and may track a student’s participation in education and other programs
by linking such PII to other personal information about the student that they
obtain from other federal or state data sources, including workforce
development, unemployment insurance, child welfare, juvenile justice, military
service, and migrant student records systems.
