WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY
Confidentiality of Records
Summary of the Family Rights & Privacy Act of 1974, as amended


The amended Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA) applies to education institutions to which funds have been made available under any
program administered by the Secretary of Education. The purpose of the Act is
to set out requirements for the protection and privacy of parents and students.
The following is a summary of FERPA stipulations. A copy of the complete law
is available in the Registrar’s Office.

Students’ Educational Records are the primary focus of the act and
include records that are maintained by an education institution which are
directly related to a student.

Institutional Directory Information is the information contained in an education record of a student which would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed. It includes:

• name,
• address,
• telephone number,
• date of birth,
• dates of attendance,
• full-time/part-time status,
• major program of study,
• degree(s) received,
• honors received.

Parents or eligible students have a right to refuse to allow the institution to disclose any or all of the above information. A form to request non-disclosure can be accessed and printed by clicking on the FERPA Non-Disclosure tab in the purple bar at the top left.

An Eligible Student is a student attending a postsecondary institution
or one who has reached the age of 18. When a student becomes an eligible
student, the rights accorded to parents transfer to the student.

Right to Inspect and Review – eligible students have the right to inspect
and review their educational records within a reasonable time after making a
request.

Limitation of the Rights – the institution does not have to permit a
student to inspect and review educational records which are financial records or
those which represent confidential letters and statements of recommendation
under certain provisions of the law.

Right to Amend Record – eligible students who have inspected their
education records may request amendments to the record if they believe the
record contains information which is inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of their
rights of privacy or other rights. The institution will decide whether to amend
the record within a reasonable time, and inform the student of the decision. If
the University decides not to amend the record, students have a right to a
hearing with an official of the institution who does not have a direct interest in
the outcome of the hearing.

Disclosure without Consent – an institution may disclose personally
identifiable information from a student’s education record without consent, if the
disclosure is to other school officials who have a legitimate education interest.
This includes persons employed by the University in an administrative,
supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position (including law
enforcement unit personnel and health staff); 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. Officials of other state and federal agencies who have a legitimate
interest, have a right to access without consent under parts 99.33, 34, 35 and
36 of the Act, provided they will not disclose the information to another party.
Information may be released to parents upon submission of certified evidence
that the parents declare the student as a dependent on their most recent Federal Income Tax form.

Complaints of Violations – complaints of violation of the above Act may be
directed to the Family Policy Regulations Office of the United States Department
of Education, Washington, D.C. 20202.