FERPA Friday October 27th, 2023

What is FERPA Friday?

FERPA Friday will be a new installation that will cover FERPA related topics to help faculty, staff and students better understand the rules and regulations. There will also be a question-and-answer section that pertains to that week’s topic, along with a real-life example to help with context. If you have any suggestions of topics that you would like to have covered, please email ferpa@wm.edu.

Protecting Education Records

As a school official, you have a legal responsibility to protect the confidentiality of education records.

Do Not...	Do...
Do not permit inspection of a student's education record. Do not disclose personally identifiable information about a student. Do not save education records to a private device.	Only access what you need to know. Curiosity is not a need to know. Use university devices and the university network to access education records. Avoid using unsecured WiFi. Secure your desk, cabinets, office and lock your desktop, laptop and portable device screens when not in use.

Discussing General Information

W&M school officials may discuss general information, but not the specifics of a particular student.

General information can include:

Open courses for the upcoming term
Admissions deadlines and requirements
Major requirements as defined by the catalog
The financial aid process, forms and requirements
How to navigate W&M's website for more information

As a "rule of thumb" if a W&M school official must look a student up in a system (ex: Banner) they are not dealing with general information and should not share.

Information Requested from an Outside Party should be directed to:

Dean of Students Office – to assist families with health and safety emergencies; where students provide permission for office to discuss academic and student conduct with families; where students can grant families proxy access to view student info through their my.wm account.

University Registrar's Office – process requests for access to education records.

University Counsel - all legal matters, including subpoenas, all court orders, and powers of attorney.

What to do if you or someone else has inadvertently disclosed a student's education records?

If a student files a complaint citing FERPA infractions, or if an administrator or faculty member realizes they have disclosed a student’s information improperly please contact the Office of the University Registrar so they may be aware of the situation and involve the necessary legal personnel depending on the severity of the circumstances.
In the case of a compliant or inadvertently disclosed information, please reach out to the parties who received said information and ask them to destroy/delete and not share any documents that they may have received in error.
If the Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) is involved, the institution will have to show steps taken to remedy the infraction and put better practices into motion (i.e. updating policies & procedures) to make sure it does not happen in the future.

Questions/Answers

Student representatives on committees (e.g. honors, curriculum etc.) may have the right to see other students' education records during the deliberations of that committee?

Answer

True - However, the student on the committee must maintain confidentiality and not disclose any information outside of a committee meeting/hearing.

You receive a phone call asking to verify (1) that a currently enrolled student: attends your institution, (2) what the student's telephone number(s) are, (3) what the student's current enrollment status is, and (4) the student's GPA. According to FERPA , you can verify all of these except which one.

A) Dates of attendance B) Telephone Numbers C) Current Enrollment Status D) GPA

Answer

D - A school official cannot disclose GPA to an outside party as that is not considered directory information.

If you have any questions regarding a FERPA related matter, or suggestions that you would like to see on a future FERPA Friday please email ferpa@wm.edu.