Verify Identity via Phone/Email
Typically, if the student knows their S Number, we ask for at least two additional pieces of information and if they don’t know their S Number, we ask for at least three pieces of information.
The following questions are recommended for a student who is requesting information via phone to verify identity before you disclose any information.
Full Name including middle initial and any prefix or suffix
Year of Birth
Last term enrolled at the college
Grade received for a class taken (student must state class name and grade received)
Address
Program of Study last declared at the college
Degree(s) or Certificate(s) granted
Cumulative GPA
List three courses taken at the college (student must state class names)
Previous name used at the college
According to the U.S. Department of Education, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a “Federal law designed to protect the privacy of student education records.”
FERPA gives students the right to do the following:
Inspect and review their education records.
Request an amendment to their education records.
Participate in a hearing if the request for an amendment is unsatisfactory.
Request that the institution not disclose directory information items about them.
File a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education.
In general, colleges must do the following:
Notify the students annually about FERPA.
Provide students access to inspect and review their education records.
Allow students to request to amend their education records.
Provide students an opportunity to sign written releases of their student record information.
Keep records of requests for and disclosures of student education records.
Restrict school officials’ access to records for legitimate educational purposes only.
Defined from institution to institution in its annual notification, a school official may be the following:
An employee of a college (administrative, supervisory, academic, research, or support staff position).
A person elected to the board of trustees.
A company or person employed/contracted by a college to perform a special task (i.e., attorney, auditor, or collection agency).
A person or student serving on an official committee (i.e., disciplinary/grievance, scholarship) or assisting an official in their tasks (i.e., work study students).
Contractors, Volunteers, and others performing institutional functions.
CCCS has designated the National Student Clearinghouse as a school official as we utilize their services for enrollment and degree verification.
An education record is any record, with certain exceptions, maintained by an educational agency or institution or by a party acting for the agency or institution that is directly related to a student or students. This record can contain a student’s name(s) or information from which an individual student can be personally (individually) identified.
These records may include the following: files, documents, and materials in whatever medium (handwritten, print, tapes, disks, film, microfilm, microfiche) which contain information directly related to students and from which students can be personally (individually) identified.
Registration forms
Transcripts
Student information displayed on a computer screen
Grades
Student schedules
Class rosters
Any paper with the students SSN or Student ID, or information that is personally identifiable to a student and from which a student can be identified.
Employment records if the student is employed as a result of their status as a student
Personal notes made outside the presence of the student are not considered education records; however, once you share that information with someone else, it then is protected by FERPA standards.
Other examples of items that are not part of an educational record are:
Case Study
Law enforcement unit records
Employment records
Medical records
Alumni records
A legitimate educational interest is the demonstrated “need to know” by those officials of an institution who act in the student’s educational interest. FERPA allows schools to establish their own criteria for this.
Personally identifiable means data or information which may include the following:
Student name, the student’s parent, or other family members
The student’s campus or home address
A personal identifier (such as a social security number or student number)
A list of personal characteristics or other information which would make the student’s identity easily traceable
Faculty should not post, display, or make the following available to the general public or other students (even if they are in the same class):
Class lists
Grade sheets
Anything containing a student SSN, student ID, GPA or grade
Any other information that would personally identify the student
Faculty generally may not view a student’s education records without first identifying a legitimate educational interest.
All employees who have access to educational records are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of those records.
Staff may not release non-directory information to a third party without the written consent of the student.
Staff should be aware of what is considered directory information and only release such information after confirming that the student has not requested directory exclusion.
Please remember, if in doubt, don’t give out. Speak to your supervisor or your college Registrar.
Current regulations also provide that even after a student has become an “eligible student” under FERPA, postsecondary institutions (and high schools, for students over 18 years of age) may allow parents to have access to their child’s education records, without the student’s consent, in the following circumstances:
the student is a dependent for Federal income tax purposes
the disclosure is in connection with a health or safety emergency under the conditions specified in (i.e., if knowledge of the information is necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or other individuals
for postsecondary students, the student has violated any Federal, State or local law, or any rule or policy of the institution, governing the use or possession of alcohol or a controlled substance, if the institution determines that the student has committed a disciplinary violation regarding that use or possession and the student is under 21 at the time of the disclosure.
Computer users must either lock the screen or clear all student data and log out of any student record system whenever they leave their computer. Users should not share passwords with anyone.
Personally identifiable student records should never be stored on a laptop or any other portable memory device.
Student rights begin when the student is in attendance as defined by the institution. For CCCS colleges, FERPA rights begin at the time a student is admitted.
Many higher education institutions have directories. The following items are designated as directory information. Colleges may disclose any of this information without prior written consent, unless notified by the student in writing to the contrary by the first official class meeting date of each semester.
Student name
Major field of study
Dates of attendance
Degrees and certificates awarded
Enrollment status (i.e. full-time, three-quarter-time, half-time, withdrawn, graduated or deceased)
Most recent educational institution attended
Participation in officially recognized activities and sports
Height and weight (only for students in officially recognized activities and sports)
Physical addresses may not be released as directory information except to:
Graduation lists released to news media, which may include the student’s city of residence only,
Other listings to the news media and College personnel for special awards, honors, and events,
Notification to Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society for students who are eligible to be considered for membership,
As may be needed by cash management service providers engaged by CCCS or the Colleges to process student refunds, or
To four year institutions who have a written agreement with the System, to consider CCCS students who have graduated or applied to graduate from a degree program, for scholarship or admissions consideration.
E-Mail addresses may not be released as directory information except to:
Notification to Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society for students who are eligible to be considered for membership,
As may be needed by cash management service providers engaged by CCCS or the Colleges to process student refunds, or
To four year institutions who have a written agreement with the System, to consider CCCS students who have graduated or applied to graduate from a degree program, for scholarship or admissions consideration.
Phone numbers may not be released as directory information except to:
To four year institutions who have a written agreement with the System, to consider CCCS students who have graduated or applied to graduate from a degree program, for scholarship or admissions consideration.
Directory information may NEVER include the following:
Social Security number
Race/ethnicity
Gender
A student’s entire date of birth (only birth year can be provided)
Anything that is harmful or an invasion of privacy
An emergency (non-emergencies are insufficient)
In making a determination whether a disclosure may be made to the appropriate party, the college must take into account the totality of the circumstances pertaining to a threat to the health or safety of others.