Family Education, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA)

According to the US Department of Education, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) regulates the disclosure of educational records. Under 18, a child's parents are in control of the minor's records, and after 18 or at a higher education facility the student is in control of their records. Disclosure of grades or personal information about a student is not allowed to be released to others without the parent or student's consent. The student (or parent if the student is under the age of 18) also gets to have access to their own records or petition to amended the records if they are incorrect. There are only certain circumstances in which disclosure without consent is allowed to include:

  • School officials with legitimate educational interest;
  • Other schools to which a student is transferring;
  • Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes;
  • Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student;
  • Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the school;
  • Accrediting organizations;
  • To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena;
  • Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies; and
  • State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific State law. ("Family")

If records are disclosed though, the individual having been exposed does not have the right to sue. Gonzaga v. Roe decided that "FERPA provisions create no personal rights to enforce under §1983. Pp. 3—15" ("Gonzaga").

The Family Policy Compliance Office (FPCO), overseeing FERPA, added email addresses and photographs as areas of directory information in 2000 (Edmonds 133). Edmonds describes this because "student photographs may also contain information about students, such as race and, for some students, disabilities" which is problematic because these photos could reveal which students have a particular status at the school. Regarding email addresses, some argue that if email addresses are FERPA records, then so are email systems, and "for schools that have confidentiality policies limiting access to student e-mail, this argument, if successful, could result in the parents having access to records that school staff cannot access, and the school having either to violate its own confidentiality policy or FERPA" (133).


FERPA INTERPRETATIONS

California Example:

San Bernardino Valley College spells out that "notifying students of their grades via e-mail is a violation of FERPA. Confidentiality is not guaranteed by this means of communication. Further, the posting of grades in any public space on the internet (using the student's name, student number, or social security number) is also prohibited" ("Student Privacy"). This raises the question if online conferencing is considered the same as email. Mount Carmel College of Nursing's policies (BELOW) seem to contradict this.

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While some say discussing student information over the internet is problematic, others encourage the task. According to Mount Carmel's College of Nursing (Ohio):

When an alleged act of misconduct is brought before the Chairperson:

  1. The student will be notified of the hearing date by the Chairperson.
  2. The hearing will be scheduled no sooner than five working days after the student has received the written allegation and all relevant documents.
  3. The student accused of misconduct is encouraged by the Chairperson to attend the Committee hearing. Distance online students may participate via teleconference, SKYPE, Google Talk/Hangouts, or Blackboard Collaborate, (Method of communication is at the discretion of the Academic/Professional Misconduct Committee.)

In these respects then, the use of online tools is encouraged. There is no mention of FERPA issues.

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In 2011, Georgia Tech and "the College's Technology Services Organization (TSO) took down all past course websites stored on College servers" because "FERPA prohibits the release of student names in connection with any particular classes in which they have been enrolled, and this connection can be either explicit or reasonably inferred" (Galil & Imlay, 2011).

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Fayetteville State University: On a university website, the school posted the following information:

"Do you require students to send a letter to the editor, or post to a non-university blog, or post to a social networking site not affiliated with faculty, or comparable activity?

  • In such cases the activity may not be FERPA-protected because it has not been received and, therefore, is not in the custody of the university.
  • However, the copy of the student submission which is maintained by the faculty member is FERPA-protected and the information contained in the copy should not be released by the professor unless it is disclosed under a specific FERPA exception allowing such disclosure.
  • In addition, a student should be allowed to opt-out of this type of student submission and the faculty must offer at least one option that will allow the student to meet the requirements of the assignment without making the student’s comments publically available." ("FERPA and Online Courses").

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North Carolina State University acknowledged, "Please note that FERPA was written before the Internet existed, it is an awkward fit to modern teaching, and concerns about the workability or usefulness of FERPA are better addressed to the U.S. Department of Education" ("FERPA Privacy Checklist for Online Course Hosting").

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ASU advocates using some online tools but does not mention FERPA (Hobson; Google+).

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References:

"Academic Information and Policies." Mount Carmel College of Nursing. Mount Carmel College of Nursing, 2014. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. <http://catalog.mccn.edu/content.php?catoid=6&navoid=268>.

Edmonds, Vincent Harold. Court Cases Involving Schools and Universities Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. Diss. The U of Alabama, 2010. Ann Arbor (Mich.): ProQuest, 2010. Web.

"Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)." Ed.gov. U.S. Department of Education, n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2014. <http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html>.

""FERPA and Online Courses- Fayetteville State University"" Fayetteville State University. Fayetteville State University, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. <http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CDUQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uncfsu.edu%2Fdocuments%2Fonlineeducation%2Fpdf%2FFERPA_and_Online_Courses.pptx&ei=Y2dMU6X2FY2ayQH-44HwCQ&usg=AFQjCNHiWOe5kjXAhsNg8YfGsWpK2VAyZw&bvm=bv.64764171,d.aWc>.

"FERPA Privacy Checklist for Online Course Hosting." North Carolina State University. North Carolina State University, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. <http://www.ncsu.edu/general_counsel/legal_topics/ferpa/FERPAPrivacyChecklistforOnlineCourseHosting_000.html>.

Galil, Zvi, and John P. Imlay, Jr. "FERPA Concerns Prompt Temporary Removal of Past Course Websites." College of Computing. Georgia Tech College of Computing, 15 Nov. 2011. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. <http://www.cc.gatech.edu/news/ferpa-concerns-prompt-temporary-removal-past-course-websites>.

"Gonzaga Univ. V. Doe." GONZAGA UNIV. V. DOE. Cornell University Legal Information Institute, 24 Apr. 2002. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. <http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/01-679.ZS.html>.

"Google+ (plus) at ASU for Faculty and Staff." ASU Help Center. Arizona State University, 11 Nov. 2011. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. <http://help.asu.edu/sims/selfhelp/SelfhelpKbView.seam%3Bjsessionid%3D1E2FB1A6FC3A9B8EF30B9DD816C018D8.node1?parature_id=8373-8193-6955&source=Selfhelp&cid=132724>.

Hobson, Sean. "Third-Party Tools Used in ASU Online Courses." TeachOnline. Arizona State University, 28 Mar. 2014. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. <http://teachonline.asu.edu/2014/03/third-party-tools-used-in-asu-online-courses/?utm_source=TeachOnline&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=a1cbf7f228-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_term=0_028c5b1481-a1cbf7f228-60585749>.

"Student Privacy and Online Classes." Student Privacy and Online Classes. San Bernardino Valley College, n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. <http://www.valleycollege.edu/online-classes/faculty-resources-online-classes/ferpa>.