FERPA Policy & Forms

Notification of Student Rights Under FERPA

The College subscribes fully to the guidelines set forth in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974, Section 438 of the General Education Provision Act. It provides students access to education records directly related to them and protects the private information contained within those files from unauthorized persons.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that applies to educational agencies and institutions that receive funding under a program administered by the U.S. Department of Education. It affords students certain rights with respect to access to, amendment, and disclosure of their education records. Specifically, these rights include:

The right to inspect and review the student’s education records within 45 days of the day the College receives a request for access.

A student should submit to the Registrar a written request that identifies the record(s) the student wishes to inspect. The Registrar 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 Registrar, the Registrar shall advise the student of the correct official to whom the request should be addressed.

The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records that 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.

The right to provide written consent before the College discloses personally identifiable information from the student’s education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.

The College discloses education records without a student’s prior written consent under the FERPA exception for disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is a person employed by the College in an administrative, supervisory, academic or 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 a service instead of using College employees or officials (such as an attorney, auditor, 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 his or her tasks.

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.

Upon request, the College may also disclose education records without consent to officials of another school in which a student seeks or intends to enroll. In such cases, the College will make reasonable efforts to notify students of this action.

Exceptions

Exceptions to the rights outlined above relate, primarily, to student and/ or campus safety issues. The limited occasions when a student’s consent is not required to disclose personally identifiable information include:

• To protect the health or safety of students or other individuals. Such a release of information could include medical or law enforcement personnel, public health officials, and parents. This information may include medical or health treatment records;
  • To provide timely warning and information of crimes that represent a threat to the safety of students or employees;
• To provide information from campus law enforcement units to others;
• To another institution at which the student seeks or intends to enroll;
• To parents if a student is a dependent for income tax purposes, if a health or safety emergency involves their child, or if a student under the age of 21 has violated any law or policy concerning the use or possession of alcohol or other controlled substance. Please note that disclosure of information to parents in these circumstances is permitted, not required. The policy of Antioch College is to notify parents only in the case of a health or safety emergency or other set of extraordinary circumstances that affect a student’s status at the college.

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 202-5901

Directory Information

Antioch College shall give public notice of the categories of information that it has designated as directory information by identifying them in the curriculum catalog as well as on the College’s website, in One Morgan Place, and in other publications directed to students. The College shall give students a reasonable period of time to inform the institution that any or all of the information designated should not be released without their prior consent. The Registrar will post such notification annually at the beginning of Fall Quarter in One Morgan Place and other appropriate venues to offer students the opportunity to opt out of releasing any or all of the information designated as directory information. The Cooperative Education Program will offer opt-out opportunities at the beginning of the cooperative work term before job lists are circulated. Academic Affairs will offer training for all new matriculating students regarding their FERPA rights within their first term on campus.

The US Federal Government’s definition of the term “directory information” relating to a student includes the following: the student’s name, address, telephone listing, date and place of birth, major field of study, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance, degrees and awards received, and the most recent previous educational agency or institution attended by the student.

Antioch College considers cooperative education job placement as one of the officially recognized activities that is central to its mission. For this reason, students’ names will periodically be listed in association with their co-op employer, the position that they have attained, as well as the city, state, and country where they are working. Students will be given the opportunity to opt out of these listings prior to publication.

Self-designed majors are also considered integral to programming at Antioch College. For this reason, the titles and descriptions of these will be published regularly.

With these unique features in mind, Antioch College’s definition of the term “directory information” relating to a student includes the following: the student’s name; city, state/province and country of origin; major field of study, including self-designed majors and descriptions thereof; participation in officially recognized activities including cooperative education, research experiences, and study abroad; dates of attendance; degrees and awards received including publications, conference presentations, academic achievements, and other honors; and recent previous educational agency or institution attended by the student.

Student Consent for Release of Records

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 inform this institution not to release directory information, any future request 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, 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 Directory Information designation. See below for instructions.

Antioch College’s definition of directory information relating to a student includes the following:

• Student’s name
• City, state/ province, and country of origin
• Major field of study, including self-designed majors and descriptions thereof
• Participation in officially recognized activities including cooperative education, research experiences, and study abroad
• Dates of attendance
• Degrees and awards received including publications, conference presentations, academic achievements, and other honors
• Recent previous educational agency or institution attended by the student.

Student Consent for Release of Records

Student Standing Information Release Authorization

The access authorized by this form will be in effect until you revoke it in writing (by submitting the Student Revocation of Information Release Authorization)

Parent One-Time Information Release Request

Under FERPA, Antioch College may release any and all information to parents, without the consent of the eligible student, if the student is a dependent for tax purposes under the IRS rules or if the student voluntarily provides the College with authorization providing parents access to educational records. Access is granted to both the parent who claims the student as well as the parent who is not claiming the student. In these instances, the parent must complete this Parent One-Time Information Release Request. The parent must provide verification of the student’s dependent status on their most recent Federal income tax return. If the parent has already provided a copy of the tax return to Antioch College for financial aid purposes, an additional copy is not required.

Student One Time Information Release Authorization

You may, at your discretion, grant the college permission to release information about your student records to a third party by submitting a completed Student Information Release Authorization. You must complete a separate form for each third party to whom you grant access to information on your student records each time you would like access to be granted.

Student Revocation Of Information Release Authorization

This form revokes the Student One-Time Information Release Authorization or Student Standing Information Release Authorization you previously submitted for the third party designee you name on this form.