Recent changes in the Family Rights and Privacy Act clarify what information a college can disclose and under what circumstances, according to AU Dean of Students Robert Hradsky.
The new regulations were announced by the Department of Education in December after more than a year of debate regarding the act, known as FERPA, and the shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Many college administrators expressed concern that FERPA limited their ability to share information about potentially disturbed students, such as the Virginia Tech shooter, according to the Chronicle.
The new regulations now allow administrators or professors to share information if they believe there is a "significant" threat to student safety.
"I think the changes are a good idea considering what has happened," said Lauren Lee, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. "The policies they had weren't as effective as they should be."
Teachers know students much better than government officials who cannot regulate cases on a student-by-student basis, Lee said, so placing greater trust in universities is a good idea.
The Old FERPA
Before Congress enacted FERPA in 1974, school records were often kept in easy-to-access, unmonitored areas, according to the Chronicle. Administrators, whether they were seeking to do harm or good, could sometimes retrieve students' records and do with them as they wished.
"It was part of the Watergate era of opening up student records," said AU Assistant General Council Justin Perillo.
It was also a time of civil rights legislation that focused on nondiscrimination, students' right to protest, right to form groups and more, according to the Chronicle. When Congress realized they needed to safeguard students and their rights against possible infractions, FERPA was born.
The original act allowed universities to release student information if there was an "imminent" threat to student safety. Many faculty and staff members at universities saw it as restrictive and were hesitant to share information about students, Hradsky said.
The Revised FERPA
The act's alterations clarify what can and cannot be shared, Hradsky said.
The new FERPA states that information can be released if there is an "articulable and significant threat to the health or safety of a student or other individual." Rather than limiting the occasions when information can be released to emergencies, it places greater trust in colleges and allows them to decide when a threat is "significant," according to the Chronicle.
The belief that the changes are in response to the Virginia Tech shootings is a misconception, Perillo said. Rather, most FERPA revisions are in response to the Patriot Act and the Sex Crime Prevention Act, he said.
"It's not going to change any AU policies or procedures," Perillo said. "A lot of changes are reflections of current practices."
What FERPA Means for Students
According to the Department of Education 2008 Register, here are some of the basic points of FERPA:
If a student is struggling in his or her classes, Hradsky cannot talk about the student's grades with whomever he wants. But, he can tell an advisor about the student's grades. He, along with other administrators, professors and faculty, can share information on a "need-to-know basis," Hradsky said.
Cleo Roberts, a first year graduate student in the School of International Service, said it may sound like a good idea to release information about struggling students but it is impossible to know everything about a student's history with administration and professors.
"Students should have to give consent for that kind of easing of the rule," Roberts said.
Under FERPA, while peer grading is acceptable, a professor cannot hang up tests with students' names and grades on the wall. But if a professor did display tests or papers with students' names, students cannot sue for millions of dollars in money damages for this or any reason, according to the Chronicle.
FERPA says that colleges may disclose information to parents if their student is claimed as a dependent on taxes. While Lee said she could see disclosing information to potential employers as problematic, she does not have a problem with parents being told certain information.
"I can't imagine what the government can tell about you that your parents don't know or suspect," Lee said.
And if students need help, she added, it would be okay to tell their parents so the students can get the assistance they need.
But the issue is complicated, according to McKenna Taylor, a senior in the School of Communication. Although a professor may know a student well, the professor probably does not know everything about a student, she said. While students may be claimed as tax dependents, Taylor said keeping their parents informed should be up to them.
"Once your reach adulthood is it your right and responsibility even if you depend on your parents," she said.
You can reach this staff writer at landerson@theeagleonline.com.
