FERPA
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974
This act sets out requirements designed to govern the access to, and release of, educational records, to establish the right of students to inspect and review their records, and to provide guidelines for the correction of inaccurate or misleading data through informal and formal hearings. Students also have the right to file complaints with the FERPA Office (U.S. Department of Education) concerning alleged failures of Crown to comply with provisions of FERPA.
Crown College has adopted policies and procedures concerning the implementation of FERPA on campus. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974, as amended, is a federal law, which states that a written institutional policy must be established and that a statement of adopted procedures covering the privacy rights of students be made available. The law provides that the institution will maintain the confidentiality of student education records.
Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with our privacy practices and contact us if you have any questions.
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
Release of Student Directory Information Overview
Directory Information can be released to an outside party without written consent of the student: name, home address, campus address, e-mail address, telephone numbers, dates of attendance, full-time/part-time status, classification, previous institutions(s) attended, major field(s) of study, awards, honors (e.g. Dean’s List), degree(s) conferred (e.g. BS, AA), photograph or digital image, past and present participation in officially recognized sports and activities, and height and weight of athletic team members.
Students have the right to suppress their directory information by completing a request form in the Registrar’s Office. The request is valid for one semester.
Within the Crown College community, only those employees who have a legitimate educational interest are allowed to access student education records. Designated offices may also disclose education records or components thereof to persons or organizations providing the student with financial aid, to accrediting agencies carrying out their accrediting functions, and to persons in an emergency in order to protect the health or safety of students or other persons. Other exceptions are listed in the official policy.
Confidential information cannot be released over the phone (since positive voice identification cannot usually be made).
Confidential information can be released directly to the student; however, it cannot be released directly to the student’s family members (e.g., parents, spouses, etc.) without the written consent of the student. Note, however, that when a student is a dependent of the parent as defined by the Internal Revenue Service, such information may be released to the parent without the written consent of the student.
Crown College Policy
Definition of Student Education Records
Education records are those records that are:
- Directly related to a student.
- Maintained by the institution or by a party acting for the institution.
Education records do not include 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, student health records, employment records or alumni records. Health records, however, may be reviewed by physicians of the students’ choosing.
Disclosure Within the Institution Without Prior Consent
Crown College may disclose educational records without written consent of students to the following: employees of Crown College who have a legitimate educational interest; those who maintain education records; faculty or staff who deal with students; and those who are designated by an employee to assist in his/her tasks. Crown College defines “legitimate educational interest” as “needs the record(s) to carry out employment responsibilities”. Therefore any Crown College employee or person acting on behalf of Crown College may have access to student records without the student’s consent if that person needs the access to carry out his/her employee responsibilities.
Disclosure to Students of Their Own Records
- Students have the right to inspect their educational records and to challenge contents which they believe to be inaccurate or misleading. A staff member must be present during students’ inspection and review.
- Students have the right to transcripts of their own academic records. Such transcripts are unofficial and should be labeled “ISSUED TO STUDENT.” Official copies may be given directly to the student in a sealed envelope labeled “RELEASED TO STUDENT — OFFICIAL ONLY IF UNOPENED.” The enclosed transcript will be marked “RELEASED TO THE STUDENT IN A SEALED COLLEGE ENVELOPE.”
- Designated offices will refuse to provide transcripts of academic records for non-payment of financial obligation, but students cannot be denied the right to inspect and review their records.
- Students must submit signed and dated requests in order for transcripts of their academic records to be released to third parties. Transcripts may be handed or mailed directly to the student upon verbal request of the student or anyone else.
- Designated offices will refuse to provide transcripts of academic records for non-payment of financial obligation, but students cannot be denied the right to inspect and review their records.
- Students must submit signed and dated requests in order for transcripts of their academic records to be released to third parties. Transcripts may be handed or mailed directly to the student upon verbal request of the student or anyone else.
- Designated offices are not obligated to provide to students copies of documents received from other institutions, i.e., transcripts from previous colleges.
- Students may not have access to records pertaining to parents’ financial status.
- Students may request to inspect educational records, in writing, on forms provided by the holding office, and shall be granted access to appropriate records within 30 days of such request.
- Students requesting inspection of education records shall be informed that the originators of such records will be notified of the inspection, and such notification shall be provided to the originator within 30 days of the request.
- Confidential letters and statements of recommendation, which were placed in the educational records prior to January 1, 1975, shall be used only for the purposes for which they were specifically intended and shall not be made available to students and/or parents. (99.12)
Disclosure to Parents and Other Education Institutions
- Information about students’ academic records or transcripts of them may be disclosed to students’ parents by either of two procedures:
- By obtaining the students’ written consent, or…
- By having the parents establish the student’s dependency as defined by Internal Revenue Code of 1954, Sec.152.
- Academic records will be disclosed to other educational institutions only upon the written consent of the student.
Disclosure to Government Agencies
- Designated offices will disclose academic records without the written consent of the students to the following agencies only:
- Comptroller General of the United States.
- The Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education.
- The United States Commissioner of Education, Director of National Institute of Education, or Assistant Secretary of Education.
- State educational authorities.
- State and local officials to whom disclosure is required by state statute adopted prior to November 19, 1974.
- Veterans Administration. (P.L. 94 502)
- Military Recruiters (Solomon Amendment)
- Designated offices will disclose academic records without written consent to persons in compliance with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena, provided that reasonable attempts to notify the student will be made.
Disclosure to Other Individuals and Organizations
- Designated offices may release without written consent certain information about individual students provided the following conditions are met prior to disclosure:
- That students will be informed of categories designated as directory information, by notice in the College student newspaper, bulletin board, or other generally distributed regularly issued source of College information.
- That students will be given opportunity to refuse disclosure of any or all categories of directory information. Directory information includes the following:
Name, address, telephone number, email address, dates of attendance, full-time/part-time status, classification, previous institution(s) attended, major field(s) of study, awards, honors (including honors lists) degree(s) conferred (including dates and any graduation honors), photograph or digital image, past and present participation in officially recognized sports and activities, physical factors (height, weight of athletes).
- Designated offices may also disclose education records or components thereof to persons or organizations providing the student with financial aid, to accrediting agencies carrying out their accrediting functions and to persons in an emergency in order to protect the health or safety of students or other persons.
Challenge of the Contents of Education Records
The College will provide students an opportunity to challenge the contents of their education records that the students consider to be inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of their privacy or other rights.
Students who are not provided the full relief sought by their challenges will be informed by the appropriate officials of their right to formal hearings on the matters. Decisions of the hearing panels will be final.
- Designated offices will correct or amend any education records in accordance with the decisions of the hearing panels if the decisions are in favor of the students.
- Should any decision be unsatisfactory to the student, the appropriate official must inform the student that:
- The student has the right to place with the education record a statement commenting on the information in the record, or a statement setting forth any reason for disagreement with the decision of the hearing panel.
- The statement placed in the education record by the student will be maintained as part of the record for so long as the record is held by the institution.
- This education record, when disclosed to an authorized party, must include the statement filed by the student.
Records of Requests and Disclosures
Designated offices will maintain records of requests and disclosures of personally identifiable information. The records of request, whether granted or not, shall include the names and addresses of the person(s) who requested the information and their interests in the information. Records of requests and disclosures need not be maintained for:
- Those made by College officials.
- Those specified as directory information.
- Those made by students for their own use.
- Those disclosures made in response to written requests from the students themselves.
Records of requests and disclosures are considered a part of students’ educational records, and will be retained as long as the education records to which they refer are retained. The records of requests and disclosures will be maintained in a form that permits students, responsible College officials, and Federal auditors to inspect them.
Additions, Deletions, and Amendments to This Policy
Where changes in statutes, guidelines or interpretations thereof are indicated by private or public authorities in this regard, and where such changes dictate immediate changes in policy, such changes are subject to the approval of the President’s Cabinet.
Our Companywide Commitment to Your Privacy
To make sure your personal information is secure, we communicate our privacy and security guidelines to Crown College employees and strictly enforce privacy safeguards within the company.
Privacy Questions
If you have any questions concerning the Crown College Privacy Policy or data processing, you would like to reach the director of Human Resources, or you would like to make a complaint about a possible breach in local privacy laws, please contact us. You can always contact us by phone at (952) 446-4100.
Crown College | 8700 College View Drive, Saint Bonifacius, Minnesota, USA, 55375
