(Photo courtesy of fromthebarn.org)
By Philip Ellefson, Staff Writer ellefson15@up.edu
What is FERPA?
Passed by Congress in 1974, The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, is a federal law that prohibits all educational institutions from releasing a student's educational records without the student's consent. The University is required by law to follow FERPA policy, and can lose federal funding for noncompliance. Under FERPA, all records defined as educational records must be kept confidential by the University. This confidentiality applies to all people, from parents to law enforcement.
Students have a say in what's released and what's kept private
Although some students see the student information release form as the only way to exercise their rights under FERPA, the implications of the law go beyond sharing information with the parents of students.
Frank Lomonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center in Arlington, Va., said the law was initally passed to prevent law enforcement and government agencies from getting ahold of students records.
But, students have the right to share or not share any information, including email addresses and school addresses, with their parents or any other agency.
"Anything can be opted out of," Lomonte said. "You literally could ask that your school not release any information whatsoever."
UP's student information release form does not cover decisions about directory information. Unless a student notifies the registrar by the end of the first week of classes that he or she does not want to share directory information, that information is made public.
Lomonte said students should make sure they understand the implications of the policy on directory information.
"You want to look every year at what your school defines as directory information, and decide if you feel comfortable sharing that information," Lomonte said.
FERPA form goes online
At the beginning of every school year, each UP student signs the FERPA student information release form. Now, we will be clicking instead of signing, and filling out one form instead of several.
Until this year, students had to sign several paper forms in different departments in order to indicate what information to release. This year, Web and Administration Systems has consolidated those forms and made them available on PilotsUP.
Director of Web and Administration Systems Jenny Walsh said the different forms caused confusion.
"A student filled out a form in Financial Aid but they also have to fill one out with the academic adviser and other departments," Walsh said.
Now, once a student fills out the student information release form, all of the information can be accessed by any department. Walsh said the new system is much more efficient.
"It's pretty simple, and that's our intent. We do not want complexity," Walsh said.
But some students found the online form to be confusing. Freshman Alyssa Wicknick thinks the form could be improved.
"It should be a lot more straightforward about what your parents will be able to see and what they won't," Wicknick said.
Sophomore Nicolas Boesé said there are advantages and disadvantages to switching to an online form.
"I think, on the one hand, students are interacting a lot more on the internet than on a paper form, so they might be more attentive," Boesé said. "At the same time, going through orientation assistant training this summer, I learned that there's a lot more to PilotsUP than I knew, and I do think the University should make an effort to make students more aware."
Walsh said that although the conversion to an online form may be confusing, it is more efficient.
"If there's one thing I've definitely seen over my eight years here, it's that people can adjust to efficiency," Walsh said.
The student information release form can be accessed through PilotsUP under the "Forms" tab.
What FERPA covers
- Grades
- Disciplinary Records
- Student Accounts
What FERPA doesn't cover
- Law enforcement records
- Health department records ( protected by HIPPAA law)
- Directory information
