FERPA for Student Workers

Description

FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Act) was enacted in 1974. It is a set of regulations that applies to those institutions that receive funding from the Department of Education. FERPA was written specifically for students and guarantees them the right to inspect and review their education records, the right to seek to amend education records, and the right to have some control over the disclosure of information from those education records.

An education record is defined as any record that directly identifies a student and is maintained by the institution or educational agency or by a party acting for the institution or education agency. A key distinction of educational records is that education records are shared. Education records can exist in any medium including the following: handwritten, typed, computer generated, videotape, audiotape, film, microfilm, microfiche, email, and others. For more information view the Department of Education website.

Do Not Release Without Written Authorization

  • Student number
  • Grades/Exam Scores
  • Grade Point Average
  • Social Security Number
  • Parent Address/Phone
  • Detail of Registration Information (i.e., courses, times)
  • Race, Ethnicity, or Nationality
  • Gender
  • Date of Birth
  • Total Credits
  • Number of Credits Enrolled in a Semester
  • Emergency Contact
  • Job Positions
  • Salary of any employee (Student or otherwise)

Compliance

In order to work in a department where you have access to FERPA protected information, you must complete two tasks.

  1. FERPA training (either in-person or online)
  2. Complete the Statement of FERPA Understanding.

Once both steps are complete, email documentation to student_employment@carolinau.edu

Please allow CU 48 hours to process the paperwork and contact the supervisor before accessing protected information.