Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) governs and protects students’ rights to their individual educational records. The four primary student rights to eligible students are:

• Right to inspect and review their education records
• Right to request the amendment of inaccurate or inappropriate education records
• Right to consent to disclose his/her records
• Right to file a complaint, concerning an alleged failure of the University to comply with the requirements of FERPA, with the Family Compliance Office in the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C.

The Academic Advising Office complies with the FERPA, also commonly known as Buckley Amendment, as stated in the University’s catalog on the policy on Confidentiality of Student Records. In addition to the above-mentioned policy, the Academic Advising Office also adheres to the following:

• Sessions between advisor and advisee are confidential except when an advisor perceives a serious threat to the health or safety of the advisee.
• If needed, student identification will be requested before reviewing an advisee’s file with him/her during an advising session.
• Written permission is required from the student before the advisor can disclose information to parents, VR counselor, or any other individual.
• Students are responsible for the final outcome of their academic planning or decisions.