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(Refer to Policy C 6.8.100 or WAC 132Y-126)
Purpose.
The college shall establish and enforce guidelines, which are in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 (Buckley Amendment) concerning the information, which becomes a part of a student’s permanent educational records and governing the conditions of its disclosure. Except as otherwise indicated in the procedural guidelines, the college will not provide information contained in student educational records in response to inquiries from either within or without the college unless the expressed consent of the student has been given. Inquiries from relatives, other students, faculty, and staff, acting as private persons or members of extra-collegiate groups or organizations, will be defined as coming from outside the college. Exception will be made in the disclosure of personally identifiable information from the educational records of a student to appropriate parties in connection with an emergency if knowledge of the information is necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or other individual.
Release of Information
(1) Requests from Outside the College
(a) Unless the student specifically requests otherwise, designated officials of the college will routinely respond to requests for the following directory information about a student:
(i) student’s name and address,
(ii) telephone number,
(iii) date and place of birth,
(iv) major field of study,
(v) extracurricular activities,
(vi) height and weight of athletic team members,
(vii) dates of attendance,
(viii) degrees and awards received,
(ix) other institutions attended, and
(x) veteran status.
(b) All rights of inspection and review of educational records at the college and consent required for release of these records are accorded only to and required only of the student in question. A parent wishing to obtain information from these educational records or to grant consent for the release of these records without consent of the student must submit an affidavit stating that the student is a dependent for income tax purposes.
(c) Standard admission and placement test data regarding individual tests required to form a basis for a decision about an individual may be provided at the discretion of the college official with the data in response to a proper request from a recognized institution of higher education.
(d) Designated officials of the college may disclose personally identifiable information from the educational records of a student without the written consent of the eligible student if the disclosure is in connection with financial aid for which a student has applied for which a student has received; provided, that personally identifiable information from the educational records of the student may be disclosed only as may be necessary for such purposes as:
(i) determining the eligibility of the student for financial aid;
(ii) determining the amount of the financial aid;
(iii) determining the condition which will be imposed regarding the financial aid; and
(iv) enforcing the terms or conditions of the financial aid, or if it is to comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena; provided, that a reasonable effort has been made to notify the eligible student of the order or subpoena in advance of compliance therewith.
(e) Information obtained during professional medical and psychological treatment or counseling will be released by the professional only in accordance with the ethics of his or her profession, provided that the records can be personally reviewed by a physician or other appropriate professional of the student’s choice.
(2) Requests from Prospective Employers
Only with written permission of the student concerned will the college furnish non-public information to prospective employers. The college respects the right of its students to determine prospective employers to whom they wish the college to furnish non-public information, or recommendations, and generally places the responsibility for providing this information in the hands of the student concerned.
(3) Requests from Inside the College
(a) Where required for the performance of responsibilities to the college, employees may obtain the following information on the basis of need to know without the consent of the student involved:
(i) Academic record and status;
(ii) Reports of academic and other campus misconduct, including disciplinary action;
(iii) Results of counseling other than professional medical or psychological;
(iv) National origin and ethnic background;
(v) Standard test data regarding individual tests for decision about an individual;
(vi) Student-produced paper for class assignments;
(vii) Financial information including delinquencies, etc.;
(viii) Evaluative materials about a student, with the consent of the author of the evaluation;
(b) College disciplinary and investigating authorities may have access to all of the information in 1-8 above if it is required in the performance of their duties excepting national origin and ethnic background.
(c) Recognizing college student organizations, such as scholastic and service honoraries, may obtain information relating to a student’s academic record and status.
(d) Except as noted above, records and reference materials containing evaluations of students may be released only with the consent of both the student and author of the evaluation.
(e) In special circumstances, qualified research personnel may be permitted access to information contained in a student’s records where the student’s name will not accompany the data.
(f) Registration office records may be obtained by submitting a written and signed request for the desired information and the purpose for which the information is needed, except as noted below:
(i) The following offices will have walk-in access to all registration office records except transcripts:
(A) Veterans
(B) Financial Aid
(C) Cashiers
(ii) Supervisors of employees of the above offices must ensure that anyone using registration records understands the Privacy Act of 1974 and follows its requirements.
(iii) Records prior to 2014: when pulled by employees of the above offices records will not leave the office except to be copied and must be immediately returned upon completion to the Enrollment Services administrator. As of 2014, 2015, records are scanned. Upon request to the appropriate Enrollment Services staff, a copy can be printed.
(iv) When copies of transcripts are needed by the above offices for the performance of official duties of the college, they may be obtained by submitting the name and student I.D. for those records needed.
(4) Requests from Students
Requests by a student to view or secure copies of any of his or her educational records will be processed as follows:
(a) Through the records division of the Registration Office:
(i) Application for admission,
(ii) High school and/or college transcripts,
(iii) Standardized test scores (ACT and SAT),
(iv) Quarterly registration forms and receipts,
(v) Program change forms,
(vi) Quarterly grade reports,
(vii) Official college transcripts,
(viii) Change of grade forms, and
(ix) Directory information.
(b) Through the Counseling Office: Interest and aptitude test scores.
(c) Through the Vice President for Student Services Office: Disciplinary records.
(d) Through the Placement Office: Student placement credentials.
(e) Through the Veterans Office: Veterans information for VA eligibilities.
(f) Through the Financial Aid Office: Financial aid processing information.
A period of time no greater than 10 working days may be required by these offices to process a request.
(5) The College is Not Required to Permit a Student to Inspect and Review the Following Records:
(a) Financial records and statements of his or her parents or any information contained herein.
(b) Confidential letters and confidential statements of recommendations which were placed in the educational records of a student prior to January 1, 1975.
(c) Confidential letters and confidential statements of recommendation, which were placed in the educational records of the student after January 1, 1975:
(i) respecting admission to an educational institution,
(ii) respecting an application for employment, and
(iii) respecting the receipt of an honor or honorary recognition.
Educational Records Limitations
Transcripts of a student’s scholastic records shall contain only information about his or her academic status and eligibility to continue at the college. Disciplinary records shall be kept separate from academic records and no notation of any disciplinary action shall appear on a student’s transcript. Special precautions shall be exercised to ensure that information from disciplinary or counseling files is not revealed to unauthorized persons. Provision shall be made for periodic review and routine destruction of non-current disciplinary records by the offices maintaining such information. No records shall be kept which reflect a student’s political or ideological beliefs or associations.
Exceptions
The Vice President for Student Services will be responsible for reviewing unusual requests for information and assisting in interpretation of the rules and regulations of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) as published in the 45 Code of Federal Register, Section 99 et seq.
Amendment of Educational Records
- Request to Ammend Educational Records: Please refer to Edmonds CC Student Freedoms, Section VIII, Part B, Educational Records Appeal Procedures .
- Right to a Hearing: Please refer to Edmonds CC Student Freedoms, Section VIII, Part C, Right to a Hearing .
Fee Schedule
The college may charge a fee for copies of educational records, which are made there for the parents of students, students, and eligible students at the rate of ten cents per page.
Disclosure Record
All requests for educational records, except those made by parents of students, students, eligible students, school officials as defined in WAC 1324-126-002 (2) of these guidelines, and requests for directory information, shall be listed with the student’s file containing the requested information.
Procedural Forms
Attendant forms to implement the procedures are:
(1) Annual Notice to Students,
(2) Request to Prevent Disclosure of Directory Information,
(3) Public Notice Designating Directory Information,
(4) Student Request to Inspect and Review Educational Records,
(5) Request to Review Educational Records, and
(6) Student Request for Formal Hearing.
Copies of these forms are available through the Vice President for Student Services office.
Annual Notification
The college will give annual notification to students of these procedures concerning their educational records.
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