Center for Academic and Accessibility Resources

The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
FERPA Information For Students

The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, is a federal law that states (a) that a written institutional policy must be established and (b) that a statement of adopted procedures covering the privacy rights of students must be made available. California Lutheran University shall maintain the confidentiality of student education records in accordance with the provisions of the Act and shall accord all the rights under the Act to students who are declared independent and who are or have been in attendance at California Lutheran University.

RIGHTS OF INSPECTION
The Act provides students with the right to inspect and review information contained in their educational records, to challenge the contents of those records which students consider to be inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of their privacy or other rights, to have a hearing if the outcome of the challenge is unsatisfactory, and to submit explanatory statements for inclusion in their files if the decision of the hearing panels are unacceptable. The designated official at California Lutheran University has been assigned to coordinate the inspection and review procedures for student education records, which include admissions, personal, academic and financial files, and academic cooperative education and placement records.


EDUCATION RECORDS: DEFINTION
Education records are directly related to a student, which are maintained by California Lutheran University. Education records do not include the following:
  1. Records of instructional, supervisory, and administrative personnel, and ancillary educational personnel which are in the sole possession of the maker and are not accessible or revealed to any other individual except a substitute who may temporarily perform the duties of the maker.


  2. Records of a law enforcement unit of California Lutheran University, which are maintained separate from education records, are maintained solely for law enforcement purposes, and are not disclosed to individuals other than law enforcement officers of the same jurisdiction, provided that education records of California Lutheran University may not be disclosed to the law enforcement unit.


  3. Records relating to individuals who are employed by California Lutheran University which are made exclusively to individuals in their capacity as employees and are not available for another purpose.
    NOTE: Records of persons who are employed solely as a consequence of university attendance, e.g., teaching/graduate assistants and work-study students, are education records.


  4. Records created and maintained by a physician, psychiatrist, psychologist or other recognized professional or paraprofessional, such as student health records to be used solely in connection with the provision of treatment to the student and not disclosed to anyone other than for treatment purposes, provided that records may be disclosed to physicians or professionals of student's choice.
    NOTE: Treatment in this context does not include remedial education activities or other activities, which are part of the program of instruction at California Lutheran University.

  5. Records of an institution which contain only information relating to a person after that person is no longer a student at the institution, e.g., accomplishments of alumni.




REQUESTS FOR REVIEW
Students wishing to review their education records must make a written request to the University official who has the record in his or her custody, listing the item, or items, to be reviewed. Only those records covered by the Act will be available for review. The items requested shall be made available no later than 45 calendar days following receipt of the written request. Students have the right to a copy of the education record when failure to provide a copy of the record would prevent the student from inspecting and reviewing the record. A copy of the academic record may be refused if a "hold" for nonpayment of financial obligation exists. The copies shall be made at the student's expense and must be paid at the time the copying is done.


LIMITATIONS ON STUDENT RIGHTS
There are some limitations on the rights of students to inspect records. The students shall have no right of inspection or review of:
  1. financial information submitted by their parents;

  2. confidential letters and/or recommendations in the student's file prior to January 1, 1975, if such documents were intended to be confidential and were used only for the purpose intended;

  3. confidential letters and/or recommendations in the file subsequent to January 1, 1975, associated with admission, employment or job placement or the receipt of an honor or honorary recognition if the student has waived his or her right to inspect confidential letters and/or recommendations; and

  4. education records containing information about more than one student, in which case the institution will permit access only to that part of the record pertaining to the inquiring student.




WAIVER OF STUDENT RIGHTS
Students may waive any or all of their rights under the Act. California Lutheran University does not require waivers and no institutional service shall be denied students who fail to supply waivers. All waivers must be in writing and signed by the student. Students may waive their rights to inspect and review either individual documents (e.g., a letter of recommendation) or classes of documents (e.g., admission file). The items or documents to which students have waived the right of access shall be used only for the purpose(s) for which they are collected. If used for other purposes, the waivers shall be void and the documents may be inspected by the student. The student may revoke the waiver in writing, but by revoking it, she or he does not regain the right to inspect and review documents collected while the waiver was in force.


CONSENT PROVISIONS
No person outside California Lutheran University shall have access to nor shall California Lutheran University disclose any personally identifiable information form students' education records without the written consent of the student (see Section VIII). The consent must specify the records to be released, the purpose of the disclosure, the party or class of parties to whom disclosure may be made and must be signed and dated by the student. There are, however, exceptions to the consent policy. California Lutheran University reserves the right, as allowed under the Act, to disclose education records or components thereof without written consent to:
  1. personnel within the University who demonstrate a need to know and who act in the student's educational interest, including faculty, administration, clerical and professional employees and other persons who manage student records;

  2. officials of other institutions in which students seek to enroll, on the condition that California Lutheran University makes a reasonable attempt to inform the student of the disclosure at the student's last know address, unless the student initiated the request to transfer;

  3. officials of other schools in which the student in currently enrolled;

  4. persons or organizations providing student financial aid in order to determine the amount of eligibility, conditions of award and to enforce the terms of the award;

  5. accrediting organizations carrying out their accrediting functions;

  6. authorized representatives of the Controller General of the United States, the Secretary of the Department of Education, and State educational authorities, only if the information is necessary for audit and evaluation of federal and state-supported programs;

  7. state and federal officials to whom disclosure is required by state statute adopted prior to November 19, 1974;

  8. organizations conducting studies to develop, validate and administer predictive tests, to administer student aid programs, or to improve instruction, so long as there is no further external disclosure of personally identifiable information and the information is destroyed when no longer necessary for the projects;

  9. parents of dependent students who have established that student's status as a dependent according to Internal Revenue Code of 1954, Section 152 (as amended). This requires a certified copy of the parent's most recent Federal Income Tax Form;

  10. persons in compliance with a judicial order or a lawfully issued subpoena if reasonable effort is made to notify the student; and

  11. appropriate persons in a health or safety emergency, so long as:

    1. there is a serious threat to student or others;

    2. the knowledge of the information is necessary to meet the emergency;

    3. time is of the essence; and

    4. the persons to whom the information is disclosed are in a position to deal with the emergency.




INSTITUTIONAL RECORD OF DISCLOSURE
California Lutheran University shall keep a written record of all such exceptional disclosures and the student shall have the right to inspect such record. The record shall include the names of parties or agencies to which the disclosure is made, the legitimate reason for the disclosure, and the date of the disclosure. No record of disclosure shall be required for those requests made by students for their own use, those disclosures made with the written consent of the students, those made to California Lutheran University officials or those specified as Directory Information.


DISCLOSURE OF EDUCATION RECORD INFORMATION
California Lutheran University shall obtain written consent from students before disclosing any personally identifiable information form their education record (with exceptions as noted in Section IV). Such written consent for disclosure must:
  1. specify the records to be released;

  2. state the purpose of the disclosure;

  3. identify the party or class of parties to whom disclosure may be made; and

  4. be signed and dated by the student.

All such consents shall be maintained in the education record of the student.




DIRECTORY INFORMATION
At its discretion, California Lutheran University may provide directory information in accordance with the provisions of the Act to include student name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, major field of study, dates of attendance, degrees and awards received, the most recent previous educational agency or institution attended by the student, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, and weight and height of members of athletic teams. Students may withhold directory information by notifying the designated official in writing within 10 calendar days from the first scheduled day of class of fall term. All written requests for nondisclosure will be honored by the University for only one academic year; therefore, authorization to withhold directory information must be filed annually.


CHALLENGE OF CONTENTS OF EDUCATION RECORDS
Any student who believes that his or her education records contain information that is inaccurate or misleading or is otherwise in violation of his or her privacy or other rights may discuss his or her concerns informally with designated official. If the decision of that person is in agreement with the student's request, the appropriate records shall be amended and the student shall be notified in writing of the amendment(s). If the decision is not in agreement, the student shall be notified within 15 calendar days that the records will not be amended and the student shall be notified by the official of the student's right to a hearing. Student requests for a formal hearing must be made in writing within 30 calendar days from the mailing notice to the designated official who, within 30 days after receipt of the written request, shall inform the student of the date, time and place of the hearing. The student shall be afforded a full and fair opportunity to present evidence relevant to the issue(s) raised. If the student desires, she or he may be assisted or represented at the hearing by one or more persons of his or her choice, including an attorney, at the student's expense. The hearing shall be conducted by any party, including an official of California Lutheran University so long as the person does not have a direct interest in the outcome of the hearing. The hearing panel will adjudicate such challenges. The decision of the hearing panel shall be final, shall be based solely on the evidence presented at the hearing and shall be in writing, summarizing the evidence and stating the reasons for the decision. The written report shall be mailed to the student and any concerned party within 30 calendar days of the date of the hearing.
  1. If the hearing panel determines that the information at issue is inaccurate, misleading, or a violation of privacy or other rights, the student's record shall be amended in accordance with the decision and the student shall be so informed in writing.

  2. If the hearing panel decision is unsatisfactory to the student, the student may place with the education record a statement(s) commenting on the information in the record, or statements setting forth any reasons for disagreeing with the decision of the hearing panel. The statements shall be placed in the education record and shall be maintained as part of the record and shall be released whenever the records in question are disclosed to an authorized party.

NOTE: Rights of challenge cannot be used to question substantive educational judgments which are correctly recorded (e.g., course grades with which the student disagrees).

Students who believe that the adjudications of their challenges were unfair or not in keeping with the provisions of the Act may request, in writing, assistance from the President of California Lutheran University to aid them in filing a complaint with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act Office (FERPA), Department of Education, Room 4074, Switzer Building, Washington, D.C. 20202.




DESTRUCTION OF RECORDS
Once a student has requested access to his or her records, such student's records shall not be destroyed until inspection and review have been provided. The following items shall not be destroyed or removed from the record:
  1. "Explanation" placed in record by the student (see Section X).

  2. Records of disclosure and requests for disclosure.

California Lutheran University reserves the right to destroy information contained in student records and files when information on file is no longer valid and/or useful, (e.g., letters of recommendation once they have been used for their original purpose).