Faculty and Staff
How does FERPA apply to faculty and staff?The law requires faculty and staff to treat students' education records in a legally specified manner.
Grades:
Students' scores or grades should not be displayed publicly. Even with names obscured, numeric student identifiers are considered personally identifiable information and must not be used. Grades, transcripts, counseling reports or degree audits distributed for purposes of advisement should not be placed in plain view in open mail boxes located in public places.
Papers:
Graded papers or tests should not be left unattended on a desk in plain view in a public area nor should students sort through them in order to retrieve their own work.
Athletes:
The education records of student athletes are covered by FERPA. Without a signed consent form,
personally identifiable information may not be disclosed from the education records of student
athletes.
Class rosters/grades sheets:
These and other reports should be handled in a confidential manner and the information contained on
them should not be redisclosed to third parties.
Parents:
Parents, spouses and other relations do not have a right to information contained in a student's
education record.
SIS:
Access to the Student Information System is not tantamount to authorization to view the data.
Faculty are deemed to be "school officials" and can access data in the SIS if they have
a "legitimate educational interest." A legitimate educational interest exists if the faculty
member needs to view the education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility.
Neither curiosity nor personal interest are a legitimate educational "need to know."
Disposing of documents with personally identifiable information:
All documents with personally identifiable information should be shredded. You should not throw any
personally identifiable documents in the trash.
Access to Student Records:
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) provides that students be apprised
of the location of their educational records and the administrator responsible for their maintenance.
Student records are filed in a variety of offices as listed in the Student Handbook. The
administrative offices are responsible for the records under their control and for the appropriate
release of information contained in these records. Angelo State University forwards educational records
to other educational institutions in which a student seeks or intends to enroll only upon request by
the student.
Important note:The above information is intended to give general information about the Buckley Amendment and to acquaint faculty and staff with some of the privacy issues surrounding students' educational records. It is not intended as nor is it a substitute for legal advice on any particular issue.