- Directly relates to a student of the College and is maintained by the College or by a party acting for the College.
- Contains information, recorded in any way, including but not limited to: handwriting, print, film, microfilm, audio/videotapes, computer media, and microfiche.
- Relates to a student attending the College and who is employed by the College. An example of this type of record is the performance rating of a student enrolled and working for the College.
- Records of instructional, administrative, and educational personnel which are the sole possession of the maker and are not accessible or revealed to any individual except a temporary substitute for the maker of the record.
- Records of the law enforcement unit, student health records, employment records, or alumni records. Health records, however, may be reviewed by physicians of the student’s choosing.
- Alumni records which contain information about a student after he or she is no longer in attendance at the College and which do not relate to the person as a student.
- Records maintained by Montgomery County Community College legal counsel.
- Student’s full name
- Addresses
- Local and assigned campus electronic mail
- Telephone listing
- Date of birth
- Major field of study
- Dates of attendance/enrollment
- Degrees, honors and awards received
- Most recent previous school attended
- Enrollment status (full-time or part-time)
- Financial information submitted by their parents;
- Confidential letters and recommendations associated with admissions;
- Recommendations for employment, job placement, or honors to which they have waived their rights for inspection and review; and
- Education records containing information about more than one student, in which case the College will permit access only to that part of the record which pertains to the inquiring student.
- The right to inspect and review the student’s education records
within 45 days of the College receiving a request for access.
Students should submit to the Director of Student Records and Registration Systems, written requests that identify the record(s) they wish to inspect. The Director of Student Records and Registration Systems 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 Director of Student Records and Registration Systems, that official shall advise the student of the correct official/department the student should expect to hear from within 15 business days.
- The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records
that the student believes is inaccurate.
Students may ask the College to amend a record that they believe is inaccurate. They should direct a written request to the Director of Student Records and Registration Systems clearly identifying the part of the record they want changed, and specify why it is inaccurate.
- If the College decides not to amend the record, as requested by the student,
the College will notify the student of the decision within 15 days and will
advise the student of his or her 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. 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 as indicated below:
- To school officials who have a legitimate educational interest in the record.
- To other schools.
- To certain officials of the U.S. Department of Education, and state and local educational authorities in connection with certain state or federally supported education programs.
- In connection with a student’s request for or receipt of financial aid, as necessary to determine the eligibility, amount or conditions of the financial aid, or to enforce the terms and conditions of the aid.
- To organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the College.
- To accrediting organizations to carry out their functions.
- To comply with a judicial order or a lawfully issued subpoena.
- To appropriate parties in a health or safety emergency.
- As it relates to directory information, unless the student restricts directory information.
- To the student.
- Results of disciplinary hearing to alleged victim of a crime of violence.
- The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education 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 - Honors or other recognition lists
- Graduation programs
- Student’s full name
- Addresses
- Local and assigned campus electronic mail
- Telephone listing
- Date of birth
- Major field of study
- Dates of attendance/enrollment
- Degrees, honors and awards received
- Most recent previous school attended
- Enrollment status (full-time or part-time)
- Student’s full name
- Addresses
- Local and assigned campus electronic mail
- Telephone listing
- Date of birth
- Major field of study
- Dates of attendance/enrollment
- Degrees, honors and awards received
- Most recent previous school attended
- Classification
- Enrollment status (full-time or part-time)
Student Affairs
Board of Trustees Policy
SUBJECT: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act |
NUMBER: 4.5 |
| DATE: January
2007 |
|
| SUPERSEDES: |
Purpose
Montgomery County Community College (the College) accords all the rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (the Act) to its students. The College collects, maintains, secures and destroys student records for the educational welfare and advancement of the students. No one outside the College shall have access to, nor will the College disclose any information from students’ education records without the written consent of the students, except to personnel within the College, to officials of other institutions in which students seek to enroll, to persons or organizations providing students financial aid, to accrediting agencies carrying out their accreditation functions, to persons in compliance with a judicial order, to persons in an emergency in order to protect the health or safety of students or other persons, and to individuals and agencies permitted under the Act. The Act affords current and former attending and registered students of the College the right to access their education records.
Policy
This Policy, the accompanying Procedures, the Annual Notification(s) disseminated by the College, and additional notices required by the regulations implementing the Act serve as the Policy and guidance for the privacy of student records. School officials who have been determined by the College to have legitimate educational interests may receive personally identifiable information from a student’s education records without the student’s consent. Subject to the requirements of the Act, the College may provide directory information from a student’s education record, unless the student has stated in writing that such information may not be disclosed.
Definitions
“Directory Information” is personally identifiable information that is generally not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if released. It can be disclosed to outside organizations without a student’s prior written consent.
“Legitimate Educational Interest” refers to the College required use of the education record for any college related business needed for enrollment, placement or programming of the student, or the review, reevaluation, or monitoring of the student’s placement, educational progress, or enrollment status at the College.
“Personally Identifiable Information” includes, but is not limited to: the name of a student; the name of the student’s parent or other family member; the address of the student or student’s family; a personal identifier, such as the student’s social security number or student number; a list of personal characteristics which would make the student’s identity easily traceable; other information which would make the student’s identity easily traceable, such as date of birth and mother’s maiden name.
“An Education Record” is a record that:
Education records do not include:
Procedures
Within Montgomery County Community College, school officials who have been determined by the College to have legitimate educational interests may receive personally identifiable information from the students’ education records without the students’ consent. These school officials may include personnel employed by the college in an administrative, supervisory, academic, research, or support staff position (including law enforcement unit personnel and health staff); a person or company with whom the College has contracted as its agent to provide service instead of using college employees or officials; or a student serving on an official committee such as a disciplinary or grievance committee. The College may provide directory information in accordance with the provisions of the Act to include:
Students may withhold directory information by notifying the Director of Student Records and Registration Systems in writing within three weeks after the first day of classes for the semester in which the withholding of directory information is to take effect. Students’ requests for non-disclosure will be honored until the student requests its removal.
The law provides students with the right to inspect and review information contained in their education records, to request amendment of the contents of their education records, to have hearings if the outcomes of the request are unsatisfactory, and to submit explanatory statements for inclusion in their files if they feel the decisions of the hearing panels to be unacceptable. The law also provides students with the right to inspect and review the records of disclosure of information from their education records. The types of education records and the custodian of each type of education record are listed in Appendix A to this policy. Students wishing to review their education records must make a written request to the Office of Student Records and Registration listing the item or items of interest.
Only records covered by the Act will be made available within forty-five days of the written request. Students may have copies of their records with certain exceptions: a copy of the academic record if the student has an outstanding financial obligation to the College or a transcript, original or source document that exists elsewhere.
Students may not inspect and review the following, as outlined by the Act:
The College is not required to permit students to inspect and review confidential letters and recommendations placed in their files prior to January 1, 1975, provided those letters were collected under established policies of confidentiality and were used only for the purposes for which they were collected.
Students who believe that their education records contain information that is inaccurate or misleading, or is otherwise in violation of their privacy or other rights must make a written request to the Director of Student Records and Registration Systems, who will in turn communicate directly with the custodians of the records in question. If the custodians of the records in question are in agreement with the student request, the appropriate records will be amended. If not, the student will be notified, in writing, within 15 business days that the records will not be amended; and will be informed by the custodians of the records in question of the right to a formal hearing. A student request for a formal hearing must be made in writing to the Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management who, within 15 business days after receiving such request, will inform the student of the date, place, and time of the hearing. The student may present evidence relevant to the issues raised and may be assisted or represented at the hearing by one or more persons of his or her choice, including an attorney, at the student’s expense.
The hearing panel which will adjudicate such challenges will be composed of the Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost, the Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, and the Director of Student Records and Registration Systems. If a member of the hearing panel has a direct interest in the outcome of the hearing, the President of Montgomery County Community College will replace the member with an individual who does not have a direct interest in the outcome of the hearing.
The decision of the hearing panel will be final, will be based solely on the evidence presented at the hearing, will consist of written statements summarizing the evidence and stating the reasons for the decision, and will be delivered to all parties concerned. The education records will be corrected or amended in accordance with the decision of the hearing panel, if the decision is in favor of the student. If the decision is unsatisfactory to the student, the student may place a statement with the education records commenting on the information in the records or setting forth any reasons for disagreeing with the records. The statement will be maintained as part of the student’s records, and released whenever the records in question are disclosed.
Students who believe that the adjudications of their challenges were unfair or not in keeping with the provisions of the Act, may request, in writing, assistance from the President of the College. Further, students who believe that their rights have been violated, may file complaints with: Family Policy Compliance Office, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20202-5901, concerning the alleged failures of Montgomery County Community College to comply with the Act.
In compliance with the Act, annual notification to students of their rights will be provided.
Revisions and clarifications will be published as experience with the law and the College’s policy warrant.
Appendix A
Types and Custodians of Education Records
| Admissions and Registration Systems | Director of Student Records and Registration Systems |
| Advising and Counseling | Dean of Student Success |
| Disciplinary | Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management |
| Financial Aid | Director of Financial Aid |
| Student Financial Accounts | Supervisor, Accounts Receivable |
| Testing | Assistant Director of Placement Testing and Advising |
| Veterans | Director of Student Activities |
Appendix B
Fee Schedule for Copies of Education Records
Ten cents ($.10) per page for those records on paper or computer generated.
Five dollars ($5.00) per copy for official transcripts.
Notification of Rights under FERPA
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) afford students certain rights with respect to their education records. These rights include:
Notice for Directory Information
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a Federal law, requires that Montgomery County Community College, with certain exceptions, obtain your written consent prior to the disclosure of personally identifiable information from your education records. However, the College may disclose appropriately designated “directory information” without written consent, unless you have advised the College to the contrary in accordance with college procedures. The primary purpose of directory information is to allow the College to include this type of information from your education records in certain publications. Examples include:
Directory information, which may be personally identifiable information is generally not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if released. It can be disclosed to outside organizations without a student’s prior written consent.
If you do not want the College to disclose directory information from your education records without your prior written consent, you must notify the College in writing within three weeks of the first day of classes for the term. The College has designated the following information as directory information:
Request to Prevent Disclosure of Directory Information
The items listed under Directory Information may be released in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), as amended. Under the provisions of FERPA, as amended, you have the right to withhold the disclosure of directory information. Please consider carefully the consequences of any decision to withhold directory information. Should you decide to notify the College not to release directory information; any future requests for such information from non-institutional persons or organizations will be refused. For example, the College would be unable to verify degree, major or enrollment for possible employment, credit card applications, and insurance purposes, mortgage information, apartment leases, etc.
Should you decide to withhold directory information, you may authorize at a later date, on a transaction-by-transaction basis the release of directory or non-directory information (for example, the release of a transcript for employment purposes) or you may cancel the withhold of directory information, using the form on the back of this page.
Note to students about to graduate: The withhold directory flag will remain on your records after graduation if you have requested that the information be withheld; therefore we will not be able to verify your degree to potential employers without your written consent.
Montgomery County Community College will honor your request to withhold the information listed below, but cannot assume responsibility to contact you for subsequent permission to release that information. It is the student’s responsibility to notify the College when providing permission for information to be released. Regardless of the effect upon you, the College assumes no liability for consequences resulting from honoring your request for directory information to be withheld.
Directory information includes the following:
