FERPA and Appropriate Use of SSN
FERPA stands for Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (sometimes called
the Buckley Amendment), passed by Congress in 1974. FERPA grants students the
right to inspect their educational record and also requires that colleges
protect the privacy of student information, including the Social Security Number
or Student Identification Number. FERPA grants four specific rights to the
student:
- the right to see the information that the institution is keeping on the
student
- the right to seek amendment to those records and in certain cases append
a statement to the record
- the right to consent to disclosure of his/her records
- the right to file a complaint with the FERPA Office in Washington
Under FERPA guidelines schools MUST have a student’s written consent prior to
disclosure of education records and MUST ensure confidentiality of information,
including the student’s identification and/or Social Security Number.
To
avoid violations of FERPA rules, DO NOT
- at any time use the entire Student ID number of a student in a public
posting of grades
- ever link the name of the student with that student’s ID number in any
public manner
- require that students use their Student ID to sign-in to a class or lab
on a roster that will be viewed by other students
- leave graded tests in a stack for students to pick up sorting through
the papers of all students
- circulate a printed class list with the student name and Student ID
number or grades as an attendance roster
- discuss the progress of any student with anyone other than the student
(including parents) without the consent of the student
- provide anyone with lists of students enrolled in your class for any
commercial purpose
- provide anyone with student schedules or assist anyone other than
college employees in finding a student on campus
For more information go to the FERPA web site:
http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/students.html
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