FERPA - Students

WHAT ARE FERPA RIGHTS?

Students have three primary rights under FERPA. They have the right to: inspect and review their education records; have some control over the disclosure of information from their education record, and seek to amend their education records, under certain circumstances.

WHEN DO FERPA RIGHTS BEGIN?

A student's FERPA rights begin on the first day of the student's first term at Benedictine College.

WHAT ARE EDUCATION RECORDS?

Under FERPA, education records are defined as records that are directly related to a student and are maintained by an education agency or institution or by a party acting for the agency or institution. Education records can exist in any medium, including typed or electronic.

WITHHOLDING THE RELEASE OF INFORMATION

According to FERPA, a student can request, while still enrolled, that the institution not release any directory information about him/her. Institutions must comply with this request. At BC, students who wish to restrict the release of directory information about themselvesshould stop by the Office of Academic Records and Registration or contact the office by email (bcregistrar).

Students who wish to restrict directory information should realize that THIS ACTION COULD HAVE NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES. The names of students who have restricted their directory information will not appear in the commencement program or other college publications. Also, employers, credit card companies, loan agencies, scholarship committees and the like will be denied any of your directory information and will be told: "I'm sorry, but we have no information available about this person's attendance at Benedictine College."

PARENT'S ACCESS TO A STUDENT'S RECORDS

At the postsecondary level, parents have no inherent rights to access or inspect their son or daughter's education records. This right is limited solely to the student. At Benedictine College, records may be released to parents only if they have been given a written release by the student or in compliance with a subpoena.However, the Benedictine College policy is that we will mail information to the student’s primary address on file without written permission.

CRISIS SITUTATIONS/EMERGENCIES

If non-directory information is needed to resolve a crisis or emergency situation, an education institution may release that information if the institution determines that the information is "necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or other individuals." Factors considered in making this assessment are: the severity of the threat to the health or safety of those involved; the need for the information; the time required to deal with the emergency; and the ability of the parties to whom the information is to be given to deal with the emergency.

Annual Notification of Student’s Rights under FERPA

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 College receives a request for access.A student should submit to the Registrar, Associate Dean, Department Chair, or other appropriate official, a written request that identifies the record(s) the student wishes to inspect.  The College 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 College 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 College to amend a record  should write the College official responsible for the record, clearly identify the part of the record the student wants changed, and specify why it should be changed.If Benedictine College decides not to amend the record as requested, the College 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 College discloses personally identifiable information from the student's education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.The College 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 College 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 College has contracted as its agent to provide a service instead of using College employees or officials (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent); a person serving on the Board of Directors; or a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance com¬mittee, 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 College.Upon request, Benedictine College also discloses education records without consent to officials of another school in which a student seeks or intends to enroll.
  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 20202-5901

Benedictine College considers the following to be Directory Information

This information may be released for each student without their permission:

  1. Name
  2. Address (hometown, e.g. permanant & campus)
  3. Telephone number
  4. Email address
  5. Date and place of birth
  6. Major and minor field(s) of study
  7. Classification (e.g. Junior, Senior)
  8. Enrollment status (fulltime, part time)
  9. Dates of attendance
  10. Degrees sought and/or conferred
  11. Awards and honors received
  12. Photograph
  13. Participation in officially recognized activities and sports as well as weight and height of participants.

As of January 3, 2012, the U.S. Department of Education's FERPA regulations expand the circumstances under which a student’s education records and personally identifiable information (PII) contained in such records—including Social Security Number, grades, or other private information — may be accessed without a student’s consent. First, the U.S. Comptroller General, the U.S. Attorney General, the U.S. Secretary of Education, or state and 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 a student’s education records and PII without consent of the student to researchers performing certain types of studies, in certain cases even when Benedictine College objects to or does not request 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 student’s consent PII from student education records, and they may track student 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.

If you have any questions about your rights or to request clarification or further information, please contact:

Sister Linda Herndon, OSB, Ph.D.,

Associate Dean & Registrar

216 St. Benedict Hall

Benedictine College

1020 N. 2nd St.

Atchison, KS 66002

email: lherndon@benedictine.edu

phone: 913.360.7553

WHO TO CONTACT WITH GENERAL QUESTIONS/CONCERNS

General questions may be directed to the Office of Academic Records and Registration.

Location