FERPA

In our student directory, Clarkson College provides extensive information about each student. You have the right, however, to withhold the disclosure of information under the Family Educational Right and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974.

It is your responsibility to direct Clarkson College to withhold information you do not wish to see released. Absent specific direction from a student (or via the student’s completion of Buckley Amendment forms), Clarkson College considers the following to be directory information:

  • Student's name
  • Photograph
  • Address
  • Email address
  • Telephone number
  • Date and place of birth
  • Major
  • Participation in officially recognized activities
  • Dates of attendance, degrees and awards received
  • Most recent previous educational agency or institution attended

The forms necessary to request withholding of information are available in the Registrar's office or on the Forms & Handbooks page.

Notification of Rights under FERPA for Postsecondary Institutions

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords eligible students certain rights with respect to their education records. (An “eligible student” under FERPA is a student who is 18 years of age or older or who attends a postsecondary institution at any age.) These rights include:

  1. The right to inspect and review the student's education records within 45 days after the day the Clarkson College receives a request for access. A student should submit to the registrar, dean, or program director, a written request that identifies the record(s) the student wishes to inspect. The school official will make arrangements for access and notify the student of the time and place where the records may be inspected. If the records are not maintained by the school official to whom the request was submitted, that official shall advise the student of the correct official to whom the request should be addressed.

  2. The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records that the student believes is inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student’s privacy rights under FERPA.

    A student who wishes to ask Clarkson College to amend a record should Clarkson College, clearly identify the part of the record the student wants changed, and specify why it should be changed.

    If Clarkson College decides not to amend the record as requested, Clarkson College will notify the student in writing of the decision and the student’s right to a hearing re­garding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the student when notified of the right to a hearing.

  3. The right to provide written consent before Clarkson College discloses personally identifiable information (PII) from the student's education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.

    Clarkson College discloses education records without a student’s prior written consent under the FERPA exception for disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is typically includes a person employed by the Clarkson College in an administrative, supervisory, academic, research, or support staff position (including law en­forcement unit personnel and health staff); a person serving on the board of trustees; or a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance com­mittee. A school official also may include a volunteer or contractor outside of the Clarkson College who performs an institutional service of function for which the school would otherwise use its own employees and who is under the direct control of the school with respect to the use and maintenance of PII from education records, such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent or a student volunteering to assist another school official in performing his or her tasks. A school official typically has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an educa­tion record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibilities for the Clarkson College.

    Upon request, the school also discloses education records without consent to offi­cials of another school in which a student seeks or intends to enroll. [NOTE: FERPA requires a school to make a reasonable attempt to notify each student of these disclosures unless the institution states in its annual notification that it intends to forward records on request or the disclosure is initiated by the student.]

  4. The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the [School] 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