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The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 affords students certain rights with respect to their education records.
These rights are:
The right to request the amendment of the student's education records that the student believes are inaccurate or misleading. Students may ask the University to amend a record that they believe is inaccurate or misleading. They should write to the Registrar, clearly identify the part of the record they want changed, and specify why it is inaccurate or misleading. If the University decides not to amend the record as requested by the student, the University will notify the student of the decision and advise the student of his or her right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment.
NOTE: The right to challenge grades does not apply under the act unless the grade assigned was inaccurately recorded.
The right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student's education records, except to the extent that the law authorizes disclosure without consent. One exception that permits disclosure without consent is disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is defined as a person employed by the University 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 University has contracted as its agent to provide a service instead of using university employees or officials (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent); a person serving on the Board of Trustees; or a student serving on an official committee; such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, 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 educational record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibilities for the University.
Another exception is the release of "directory information," which may be released without a student's consent unless specifically prohibited by the student. The following is considered directory information:
A student's grades are considered directory information only to the extent that dean's list and graduation honors may be published. Individual grades and GPA information are not directory information and will not be released without the consent of the student. A request form to prevent disclosure of directory information is available at the Registrar's Office (Boyden Hall, 003) and must be filed prior to the close of the drop/add period in any given semester or term.
NOTE: As a public university, all directory information is also considered public information, and is therefore subject to release to outside parties upon request.
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 federal law as they pertain to access and disclosure of
students' education records. The name and address of the office that administers
this law is:
Bridgewater State University Student Handbook 2013-2014. All Rights Reserved.
