Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 establishes the rights of students to inspect and review their education record; provides that personally identifiable information will not, with certain exceptions, be disclosed without the students’ permission; provides for guidelines for the correction of inaccurate or misleading data through informal or formal hearings; grants the right to file complaints with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) office concerning alleged failures by the institution to comply with the Act; and makes provision for notice to the students concerning their rights.

No one shall have access to, nor will the institution disclose, any information from students’ education records — other than Directory Information — without the written consent of students, except to officials of other institutions in which students seek to enroll; to persons or organizations providing students financial aid; to accrediting agencies carrying out the accreditation function; in compliance with a judicial order; in emergency situations when necessary to protect the health or safety of students or other persons; and to those members of the College community with a legitimate educational interest.

“Legitimate educational interest” means and includes a demonstrable need to know by any staff member in terms of his or her assigned duties. Parents of a dependent child (as defined by IRS code) are also eligible to inspect that dependent student’s record.

Educational records that are not governed by the Act and are not accessible to students include:
  1. Records kept by Harper personnel such as faculty, counselors and administrators, which are used only by the maker or his or her substitute and are not available to any other person.
  2. Law enforcement records which are kept apart from the student’s other educational records and are maintained solely for law enforcement purposes. These records are made available for inspection by Public Safety personnel only when acting in the line of duty and only to law enforcement officials of the same jurisdiction. Educational records maintained by the institution may not be disclosed to the personnel of the law enforcement unit.
  3. Employment records for College employees, which are kept solely for business reasons.
  4. Student records made or maintained by a physician, psychiatrist, psychologist or other recognized professional or para-professional acting in his or her professional or para-professional capacity, and which are made, maintained or used only in connection with the provision of treatment to the student and are not available to anyone other than persons providing such treatment, except that such records can be personally reviewed by a physician or other appropriate professional of the student’s choice.
Directory Information
The following items are hereby designated as “Directory Information,” and as such may be disclosed or released by the College for any purpose, at its discretion:

The student’s name, address, telephone listing, date and place of birth, major field of study, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weights and heights of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance, part-time/full-time enrollment status, degrees and awards received and the most recent previous educational institution attended.

Currently enrolled students have the right to withhold the release and disclosure of any or all of these items by giving written notice on the appropriate form to that effect to the dean of enrollment services by the first day of each course or program, as the case may be, for which they enroll. Request for non-disclosure will be effective for only one academic year; therefore, authorization to withhold Directory Information must be filed annually.