FAMILY EDUCATION RIGHTS AND PRIVACY ACT
NOTIFICATION OF STUDENT RIGHTS UNDER FERPA
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ("FERPA") of 1974, as amended, ensures
the confidentiality of student educational records and restricts disclosure of such
records to third parties, except as authorized by law. FERPA also affords students
certain rights with respect to their education records. These rights include:
I. The right to inspect and review the student's educational records within 45 days
of the day the College receives a request for access.
A student should submit to the Registrar, Dean, head of the academic department, or
other appropriate official, a written request that identifies the record(s) the student
wishes to inspect. The College official will make arrangements for access and notify
the student of the time and place where the records may be inspected. If the records
are not maintained by the College official to whom the request was submitted, that
official shall advise the student of the correct official to whom the request should
be addressed.
II. The right to request the amendment of the student's educational records the student
believes are inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student's privacy
rights under FERPA.
A student who wishes to ask the College to amend a record should write the College
official responsible for the record, clearly identify the part of the record the student
wants changed, and specify why it should be changed.
If the College decides not to amend the record as requested, the College will notify
the student in writing of the decision and the student's right to a hearing regarding
the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures
will be provided to the student when notified of the right to a hearing.
III. The right to provide written consent before the College discloses personally
identifiable information from the student’s educational record, except to the extent
FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.The College will disclose information
from a student’s education records only with the written consent of the student, except:
- When the disclosure is to school officials with legitimate educational interests.
A school official is a person employed by the College in an administrative, supervisory,
academic, research, law enforcement or support staff position; a person or company
with whom the College has contracted to perform required functions (such as an attorney,
auditor, service provider 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 their tasks. A school
official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an
education record in order to fulfill their professional responsibility.
- When the disclosure is of “Directory Information.”
- The College designates the following items as “Directory Information:”
student name; hometown; MCLA mail box Unit #; campus electronic mail address; campus
username/id; campus voicemail number; date of birth; major and minor fields of study;
dates of attendance; current enrollment status (full or part time); certificates,
degrees, honors, and awards received and date(s) received (including scholarships
that are not need based); date of graduation; current class standing (FR, SO, JR,
SR) whether or not currently enrolled; participation in officially recognized activities
including conferences and sports sponsored by the College; weight and height of athletic
team members; photograph, not including MCLA student identification photo.
The College may disclose any of these items without prior written consent, unless
the student has submitted a written request to the Student Records Office not to release
directory information pertaining to the student. Requests will be processed within
24 hours after receipt.
The College may disclose information from a student’s education records without the
prior written consent of the student under the following circumstances:
- To officials of other institutions in which the student seeks or intends to enroll
at the request of either the student or the institution;
- To authorized representatives of the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department
of Defense (under the Solomon Amendment), U.S. Attorney General, INS, the Comptroller
General of the United States, state education authorities, organizations conducting
studies for or on behalf of the College, and accrediting organizations;
- In connection with a student’s application for, and receipt of, financial aid; · To
comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena;
- To parents of dependent students as defined by the Internal Revenue Code, Section
152; · To appropriate parties in a health or safety emergency;
- To the alleged victim of any crime of violence or forcible sexual assault the results
of any disciplinary proceedings conducted by the College; or
- The College may disclose the result of a disciplinary proceeding to a parent or guardian
as long as the student is under the age of 21 at the time of the incident and the
proceeding has resulted in a violation of College drug or alcohol policies or any
local, State or Federal law.
IV. The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Educations concerning
alleged failures by the College to comply with the requirements of FERPA.
The name and address of the Office that administers FERPA is:
Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202-5901