FERPA Guidelines for Student Employees
The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 as amended entitle students to review "official records, files, and data directly related" to the students which the university maintains. Students may also request a hearing regarding any alleged "inaccurate, misleading, or inappropriate" information. In most circumstances, the university will not release information from students records to third parties without their consent. An interpretation of the law is printed below, and copies of it are available in the Office of the Registrar, 101 Student Services Center.
The following basic FERPA rules should be followed by UWSP student workers:
Rule #1:
FERPA recognizes a person enrolled in post-secondary education as a "student" and provides that individual certain rights, regardless of age. Therefore, a parent does not have an inherent right to access his/her student's education records.
Rule #2:
Student workers may have access to education records for the sole purpose of performing their jobs professionally and responsibly. They have a responsibility to protect the confidentiality of education records in their possession, regardless of the medium in which the records are presented.
- The same requirements and responsibilities for a school official also exists for student workers.
- University offices hiring student employees should require each employee to sign a Statement of FERPA Understanding acknowledge that they fully understand that the intentional disclosure of information to any unauthorized person is a violation of both FERPA and University of WI-Stevens Point policy. Disclosure of information could constitute just cause for disciplinary action including termination of employment regardless of whether criminal or civil penalties are imposed.
Rule #3:
Education records are considered confidential and may not be released, with the exception of unrestricted Directory Information. In some instances students may have restricted their directory information so it is the responsibility of the student workers to verify that Directory Information is not restricted before releasing it.
The student ID photo is defined as confidential and should not be used or displayed in any public setting without the student's permission. Class lists and student photos are confidential under university policy and federal law.
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