The Meaning of FERPA:
Family Education
Rights to Privacy Act

Also known as the "Buckley Amendment", FERPA was first adopted in 1975 to ensure that parents and students had access to educational records while guaranteeing families privacy by limiting access of outside third parties to a student's educational record. Any "personally identifiable information" outside of directory information (name, address, phone number, e-mail, etc) is considered part of a student's educational record and is protected. Directory information, which is not normally protected, may be withheld from publication by any student at the beginning of each academic year.

Unfortunately, by delineating a cut-off age of 18, the legislation led to the classification of parents as outside third parties, and forced schools following the letter of the law to seek waivers from students in order to share even the most basic kinds of information. During the past two decades, schools have struggled to stay within federal guidelines while maintaining an appropriate and responsible relationship with parents. Nationally, parents twenty years ago experienced a freeze-out where schools assumed an in loco parentis relationship with students. This was followed by a gradually softening of the legislation and a movement away from in loco parentis, which proved impossible to sustain, contrary to the educational goals of many institutions, and opened schools up to serious fiscal jeopardy.

The relationship between University officials and parents of IWU students is influenced by two factors: Federal law in the form of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), as well as the institution's philosophy and practice of student development. Our goal is to maintain a reasonable, consistent approach to parents that results in student safety, personal growth, and ultimately the delivery of a diploma at Commencement, 2005.

Our institutional goal is to negotiate between two realities caused by a loophole in the Federal law: institutions may share educational records with parents of students listed as dependents on parents' tax returns, the overwhelming majority of our students.

1)  We do not believe that parents paying for the education of their student should be closed out of the information flow about that student, especially regarding academics. We do send grades home. We do answer questions about classroom performance. We do this because we believe it the proper use of an enormous hole in the federal law as it applies to the vast majority of our traditional students.

 2)  At the same time, we are conscious of our mission in aiding each student obtain an independent identity. We know that students require time and space in which to experiment, to make mistakes, to learn from experience. It is a vital part of our educational mission to develop instrumental skills to problem solve, to think critically, and to assume responsibility for one’s actions. A part of our job is to create the buffer of that time and space. We achieve this by approaching students in disciplinary and social contexts as adults, holding them (not you) fully accountable for their behavior.

Disclosure to parents from the Division of Student Affairs is governed by several principles:

1)  Our primary responsibility is to the safety and well-being of the student entrusted to us. When safety or well-being is significantly jeopardized, we do not hesitate to intervene. For example, when students are injured and require medical attention in local hospitals, parents are notified by whatever means necessary. Even in these obvious situations, we try to ensure that students are aware of and agree to our contacting parents.

 2)  When the circumstances call for it, we sometimes provide a buffer for students. Not all family systems lead inexorably to success at the university. Sometimes students convince us they need some help in creating some space with parents in which to succeed at IWU. We do not question or seek to change individual family patterns of behavior. We do work with families and students to ensure the achievement of goals cited above. Example: One family proposed to call their student every morning to make sure he was up for class. This is almost certainly a student who will not succeed in our system.

 3)  We cannot have too much information from all sources. We are small enough an institution to be able to take into account all relevant information about a student. During several students' time at IWU, parents have shared with us information about dyslexia, about particular family traumas, about emotional or psychological concerns, knowledge of which has benefited the student in each case. During that same time, parents have not shared information about nutritional allergies, pre-suicidal behavior, serious addictions, knowledge of which could have helped us help students. In some extreme cases, parents have asked us to not share news of the death of a close relative until later in a semester. When such requests were clearly in the best interest of the student, and after appropriate discussion we have agreed. In short, we will work with you on a case-by-case basis, following our principles, always in the best interest of the student.

FERPA allows students access to their educational records and limits the ability of others to access those records, except as authorized by law. Students have the right to inspect their education records, with certain exceptions.

The University’s procedures for implementing FERPA and for exercising FERPA rights are outlined in its Compliance Manual for the Act. The University informs students of their rights under FERPA via the Student Handbook published by the Office of the Dean of Students, the Office of the Provost and Student Senate. Questions concerning FERPA may be addressed to the Dean of Students Office.

The University will provide grades and access to student education records to parents who certify that the students are financially dependent, as defined in Section 152 of the 1986 Internal Revenue Code.

FERPA affords the right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student's education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent. One exception, which permits disclosure without consent, is disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. School officials include faculty, clerical, ancillary, research and professional employees, medical and legal personnel, and members of University, college, or departmental committees. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility. Upon request, the University discloses education records without consent to officials of another school in which a student seeks or intends to enroll.

Directory Information

The University designates the following categories of student records information as directory information:

•  student’s name
•  local/residence hall address
•  local/ residence hall telephone number
•  electronic mail address
•  college
•  degree and major field of study
•  classification (senior, junior, sophomore, freshman)
•  dates of attendance
•  status (full or part-time registration)
•  degrees
•  honors and awards received
•  hometown
•  participation in officially recognized activities
•  weight and height of members of athletic teams

Directory Information may be disclosed by the University without the consent of the student unless the student has restricted the release of this information. The student has the right to restrict the release of directory information. Unless restricted by the student, the University will publish in its printed University Student/Faculty/Staff Directory the following:

•  student's name
•  local/ residence hall address
•  local/ residence hall telephone number
•  electronic mail address
•  year of graduation
•  degree and major field of study
•  hometown

The following information will be displayed within the IT Online Directory unless otherwise restricted by the student:

•  student’s name
•  electronic mail address
•  degree and major field of study
•  date of graduation

To restrict the publishing of this information, the student must either inform The Dean of Students Office (Holmes Hall, Room 209) or Information Technology (IT House) of the restriction.

Students may remove or set the restriction to release directory information at any time during the semester, and this will dictate whether or not the student’s information is found in the University’s electronic directories. The printed directory, however, is published only once each Fall semester. For the printed directory, students must remove or set the restriction to release Directory Information prior to the end of the second week of classes in the Fall semester. A request for restriction will result in all the student's information being withheld. A request to partially withhold particular portions of his/her information is not possible.

A student’s notification to restrict the release of Directory Information will remain in effect until the student either (1) submits written notice to release the information, or (2) changes the Directory Information setting via the Privacy Restrictions option within Student Link. The University assumes that failure on the part of the student to request the withholding of Directory Information indicates individual approval for the disclosure.