Student Consumer Information

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act affords students certain rights with respect to their education records. These rights apply to all students in attendance at a post-secondary institution. These rights include:

The right to inspect and review the student’s education record. Students should submit to the University Registrar a signed written request that identifies the record(s) they wish to inspect. Arrangements for access will be made within 45 days of the day the University receives the signed written request for access. The student will be notified of the time and place where the records may be inspected.

The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records that the student believes are inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of the student’s right to privacy. Students may request an amendment to the educational record by submitting a request in writing to the University Registrar. The request must state the specific portion of the education records the student believes is inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of their privacy rights and, if appropriate, state the correct information that should be in the records. After a review of the student’s request, the student will receive a decision in writing. If the University decides not to amend the record as requested by the student, the notification to the student will advise the student of his or her right to a hearing, and the hearing procedures. NOTE: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act was not intended to provide a process to be used to question substantive judgments that are correctly recorded. Under this, students may not request an amendment to grades that are recorded as issued by the faculty, outcomes to disciplinary hearings, reflections, or judgments recorded as part of an evaluation process, or other judgments correctly recorded. Students must refer to other institutional procedures to address these concerns.

The right to limit disclosures of some personally identifiable information contained in the student’s education records. To release personally identifiable information the student must provide a signed request/release to the appropriate office. FERPA does allow the release of personally identifiable information under the following conditions.

1. Directory information. Avila University has identified the following information as directory information that may be released without a student’s written consent: verification of enrollment status (full-time, part-time, graduate, undergraduate, and classification), name, a major and minor field of study, academic honors, degrees awarded, dates of attendance, participation in campus activities and sports, weight and height (only if a member of an athletic team), a most recent educational agency or institution attended, hometown, and photograph. Student’s addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers will be released without the student’s consent only in connection with campus events and to persons with a legitimate reason. Students have the option to opt-out of the release of all or part of directory information. This request must be provided in writing to the Registrar no later than the second week of the semester. Signed written requests to limit the release of directory information must be received in the Registration & Student Records Office by the end of the second week of the semester and will remain in force until rescinded in writing.
2. School officials with legitimate educational interests. At Avila University, 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 responsibility. This school official may be in an administrative, supervisory, academic, research, or support staff position, a person or company with whom the University has contracted, a person serving on the Board of Trustees, or a student serving on an official committee or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks. The Registrar is responsible for determining if a person has a legitimate educational interest to view education records. The Vice President for Student Affairs will determine legitimate educational interest for disciplinary records.
3. Officials at another school or institution to which a student seeks or intends to enroll.
4. Parents of dependent students. Before Avila University can release any personally identifiable information for a dependent student, the parent must provide proof of dependency. This must be provided each year to show continued dependency.
5. Lawfully issued subpoena or court order. Upon receipt of a lawfully issued subpoena or court order, FERPA requires the institution to notify the student at the student’s last known address. The student will be allowed 10 working days to block disclosure if they choose. (Blocking disclosure would require the student to obtain legal counsel at their own expense.) Exceptions to the wait time for disclosure are only in the event of a Grand Jury Subpoena OR if the judge has ordered that the request not be disclosed to the student prior to the release of the information.
6. Emergency Situations.
7. To authorized representatives of the Comptroller General of the United States, the Attorney General of the United States, or The Secretary.
8. State and local educational authorities.
9. In connection with financial aid for which the student has applied or which the student has received. This information is released if the information is necessary for such purposes as to determine eligibility for the aid, determine the amount of the aid, determine the conditions for the aid, or enforce the terms and conditions of the aid.

The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the University to comply with the requirements of FERPA. Complaints should be filed in writing to the following address:

Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202-5920

As of January 3, 2012, the U.S. Department of Education’s FERPA regulations expands the circumstances under which your education records and personally identifiable information (PII) contained in such records — including your Social Security Number, grades, or other private information — may be accessed without your consent. First, the U.S. Comptroller General, the U.S. Attorney General, the U.S. Secretary of Education, or state and local education authorities (“Federal and State Authorities”) may allow access to your records and PII without your consent to any third party designated by a Federal or State Authority to evaluate a federal- or state-supported education program. The evaluation may relate to any program that is “principally engaged in the provision of education,” such as early childhood education and job training, as well as any program that is administered by an education agency or institution. Second, Federal and State Authorities may allow access to your education records and PII without your consent to researchers performing certain types of studies, in certain cases even when we object to or do not request such research. Federal and State Authorities must obtain certain use-restriction and data security promises from the entities that they authorize to receive your PII, but the Authorities need not maintain direct control over such entities. In addition, in connection with Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems, State Authorities may collect, compile, permanently retain, and share without your consent PII from your education records, and they may track your participation in education and other programs by linking such PII to other personal information about you that they obtain from other Federal or State data sources, including workforce development, unemployment insurance, child welfare, juvenile justice, military service, and migrant student records systems.