The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal privacy law that gives students certain protections regarding their education records, including grades, transcripts, disciplinary records, contact and family information, accommodations, class schedules, and student health records (including immunizations). To protect the student’s privacy, the law requires schools to ask for written consent before disclosing personally identifiable information to individuals other than the student. All students participating in a clinical learning experience must sign consent to release records for health and safety records to be shared with clinical agencies.

A Buckley hold is placed on a student's academic record that prohibits the College from releasing directory information to anyone other than the student, except to school officials with a legitimate educational interest, and in other situations where consent is not required by law, such as a lawful subpoena.

Clarkson College hereby designates the following categories of student information as public or “Directory Information.” The institution may disclose such information for any purpose at its discretion.

Category I:         

Name, photograph, current and permanent address, marital status, telephone number, dates of attendance, classification, and current class schedule.

Category II:        

Previous institution(s) attended, major field of study, awards, honors (includes Dean’s List), degree(s) conferred (including dates).

Category III:      

Past and present participation in officially recognized activities, physical factors, date, and place of birth.

Clarkson assumes that failure on the part of any student to specifically request the withholding of categories of “Directory Information” indicates individual approval for disclosure.

A student has the right to inspect all official College records, files, and data directly related to him/her. The College maintains these records for each student: application and general correspondence, evaluations, tests, and grades, reports of disciplinary infractions, health and attendance, financial aid, and student information. Records not included in this provision are parents’ financial records and confidential statements of recommendation in the student’s file prior to January 1, 1975.

The College will release personal student data to other persons only if the student signs a consent form to release the requested information, states the reason for such release, and names the person to whom the records should be sent. However, the College must comply with any judicial order or lawfully ordered subpoena upon the condition that the student is notified of all orders in advance by the College. Examples include but are not limited to:

• College officials having a legitimate educational interest.
• Parents of financially dependent students, dependent as defined in the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, Section 152.
• Officials connected with a student’s application for or receipt of financial aid.
• Organizations conducting research for predictive tests under the conditions specified by law.
• Secretary of Health and Human Services and certain other lawfully designated local, state, and federal officials.
• Persons representing accreditation agencies in their official capacity as visitors.
• Third-party officials for audit or evaluation purposes, e.g., Joint Commission.
• Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies.  

Information about students or former students will not be released without the student’s consent other than in the exceptions stated in the Federal Act. FERPA affords students certain rights with respect to their educational records.

• The right to inspect and review the student's education records within forty-five (45) days after the day Clarkson College receives a request for access. A student should submit to the Registrar’s Office a written request that identifies the record(s) the student wishes to inspect.
• The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records that the student believes are inaccurate or misleading. Students may ask to amend a record they believe is inaccurate or misleading. Grades are not subject to challenge.
• The right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information from the student's education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without con­sent. One exception that permits disclosure without consent is disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. 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 responsibilities for the College.
• The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by Clarkson College to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the office that administers FERPA are:

U.S. Department of Education
Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC, 20202

Procedure:

Currently enrolled students may withhold disclosure of any directory information under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. To withhold disclosure, written notification must be submitted to the Registrar’s Office with a Buckley Hold form. FERPA information will be emailed to all students, staff, and faculty at the beginning of each fall semester by the Registrar’s Office. For requesters calling or stopping in at the main desk, requests will be transferred to the Registrar’s Office. Without the student’s written permission, it is a violation of FERPA to release non-directory information over the phone to a third party unless the information requested is needed to help resolve an emergency situation. [FERPA 1998, p. 36]  

EMERGENCY SITUATION 

With Buckley hold, Registrar’s Office personnel will say that if (student's name) is in this institution, we will get the message to them.  

Without a Buckley hold, Registrar’s Office personnel will offer to locate a person to get a message to the individual personally.  

NOT AN EMERGENCY SITUATION