ACCESS TO STUDENT RECORDS
UNIVERSITY STUDENT EDUCATIONAL RECORDS (FERPA) POLICY

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974, as amended, was designated to protect the privacy of education records, to establish the right of students to inspect and review their education records, and to provide guidelines for the correction of inaccurate or misleading data through informal and formal hearings. FERPA affords students certain rights with respect to their education records. They are:

1. The right to inspect and review the student’s education
records within 45 days of the day the school receives a request
for access. Students should submit a written (letter or FAX)
request to Enrollment Services that identifies the record(s)
they wish to inspect. Enrollment Services will make
arrangements for access and notify the student of the time and
place where records may be inspected. If the records are not
maintained by Enrollment Services, Enrollment Services
designated staff will refer the student to the appropriate
personnel or office to access the record.

2. The right to request the amendment of a record that they
believe is inaccurate or misleading. Students may ask the
University to amend the student’s education records if he/she
believes they are inaccurate or misleading. If the University
decides not to amend the record as requested by the student,
the University will notify the student of the decision and
advise the student of his or her right to a hearing regarding
the request for amendment. If the University denies the
amendment request after the hearing, the student is given the
right to insert a statement in the education record.

3. The right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable
information contained in the student’s education records,
except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without
consent. UAA may release, without consent, certain directory
information. No one outside the University shall have access
to, nor will the University disclose any other information from
a student’s educational record, without the written consent of
the student, except to University officials with legitimate
educational interests, to officials of other institutions in which
a student seeks to enroll, to persons in compliance with a
judicial order, and to persons in an emergency in order to
protect the health or safety of the student or other persons, or
as otherwise permitted under FERPA.

A University official with legitimate educational interests is a person employed by the University as an administrator, supervisor, instructor, or administrative staff member; a person or company with whom the institution has contracted to perform a special task (such as an auditor or attorney); a member of the Board of Regents; a governmental entity or
any other entity with which a student is placed as part of his or her education; or a student serving on an official committee (such as a judicial or academic review committee or scholarship committee), or assisting another University official in performing his or her tasks. A University official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibilities.

The following information is designated as directory information and
may be released to the public by UAA:

a. Names of students
b. Dates of attendance at UAA
c. Program/Major field(s) of study
d. Degrees and certificates received including dates
e. Participation in officially recognized University activities
f. Academic and co-curricular awards, honors, and scholarships
received and dates received
g. Weight and height of students on athletic teams
h. Electronic mail addresses
i. Hometown; city, and state

In addition, UAA is required by Federal law (The Solomon Amendment) to provide student directory information (name, address, telephone listing, date and place of birth, level of education, academic major, degrees received, the educational institution in which the student most recently was enrolled) to United States Military Recruiting and Reserve
Officer Training Corps personnel upon their request unless the student has submitted a non-disclosure request according to UAA procedures. Students may inform the Enrollment Services Registrar that he/she does not give permission for the University to release his/her directory information. A written and signed request made by the student to not
release his/her directory information must be given to the Registrar within two weeks of the start of the academic term. The requests for non-disclosure are valid until a subsequent written request to release directory information is received. Students have 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. The name and address of the office that administers FERPA is:

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

A complete copy of the UAA procedures on the application of FERPA, including procedures for challenging the content of one’s records, is available in Enrollment Services. Links to the University of Alaska Board of Regents’ Policy and University Regulation (09.04.00) regarding education records are on the web site: www.alaska.edu/bor/contents/pt9.xml.