We want to be able to send our students an automatic confirmation of enrollment/drop/waitlist activity and their class details to the email address that the students provide. Our registrar maintains that this information is part of the student record and protected by FERPA so can only be sent over secure email, such as to a college-issued student email account. Noncredit students are unlikely to monitor anything but their personal email accounts.
I’m wondering if you have any information about what other colleges with noncredit programs are doing? Do they email personal addresses? What is the content of the email? Are they using any encryption schemes to send secure email? Has anyone had issues with FERPA violations?
Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.
A:
1. There are detailed guidelines available online which organizations should review and interpret on their own.
2. The University’s legal counsel, not the registrar, should hold the final word on what does and does not constitute a violation of FERPA (which is a law).
3. FERPA is VERY clear that certain “directory” information can be made publicly available as long as students have an option to have their information excluded.
4. There is a telephone number below which organizations can use to get additional information if they do not want to pursue a second internal opinion.
The following is excerpted from FERP Guidelines:
Schools may disclose, without consent, "directory" information such as a student's name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, honors and awards, and dates of attendance. However, schools must tell parents and eligible students about directory information and allow parents and eligible students a reasonable amount of time to request that the school not disclose directory information about them. Schools must notify parents and eligible students annually of their rights under FERPA. The actual means of notification (special letter, inclusion in a PTA bulletin, student handbook, or newspaper article) is left to the discretion of each school.
For additional information, you may call 1-800-USA-LEARN (1-800-872-5327) (voice). Individuals who use TDD may use the Federal Relay Service.
Or you may contact us at the following address:
Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20202-8520