Official Requests

Decision Practice | Student Requests | Official Requests | Parent Requests | External Requests

Official Requests Related to Educational Records

Below are common requests from University officials. Respond to all questions, and keep going until you get the right answer. After question #5, click Submit Your Answers, then continue to "Parent Requests."

1. A professor is grading papers and finds a disturbing essay from a student. Which of the following may the professor call? *

a) Dean of Students

b) CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services)

c) University Police — Director of Threat Assessment

d) Any of the above

Yes, maybe. If circumstances and the content of the essay are an urgency, you may contact the Dean of Students for help thinking through the situation and the best course of action. In such cases, FERPA does not prevent sharing what you know from personal experience and does not prevent action in the case of health and safety emergencies. Please select another response for more information.

Yes, maybe. If the circumstances and the content of the essay indicate, you may contact Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). If so, FERPA does not prevent sharing what you know from personal experience and does not prevent action in the case of health and safety emergencies. Please select another response for more information.

Yes, maybe. If circumstances and the content of the essay indicate a risk to campus safety, you are required to make a report to the Director of Threat Assessment. FERPA does not prevent sharing what you know from personal experience and does not prevent action in the case of health and safety emergencies. You may report concerning behaviors through the Wildcats Aware Concerning Behavior Reporting Form. Please select another response for more information.

Yes! Your referral to one, another, or all will depend on circumstances and the nature of the essay's content. The Dean of Students, CAPS, and University Police Director of Threat Assessment are all appropriate parties with whom to share a health or safety concern. FERPA does not prevent sharing what you know from personal experience and does not prevent action in the case of health and safety emergencies.

2. Is it okay to publicly post student grades on a website or course management system if the students are not identified by name, but by student ID number? Choose the best answer. *

Yes

FERPA does not permit the posting of grades, using either the entire student ID number or a portion of the ID number. Faculty members must develop a means of conveying grade information to students on an individual basis. Please try again.

That’s right. FERPA does not permit the posting of grades, using either the entire student ID number or a portion of the ID number. Faculty members must develop a means of conveying grade information to students on an individual basis.

3. A department assistant receives a phone call from a professor (whom she knows) stating that he’s lost his smartphone. He needs to get hold of a graduate student immediately to get some information for a paper they are both presenting tomorrow. The student information is not showing in the campus directory, the professor has misplaced it and the student has not responded to email. The professor wants the department assistant to look up the student in the system and provide the student’s cell phone number so he can speak to the student immediately. May the department assistant provide the graduate student’s phone number to the professor? Choose the best answer. *

Yes

That’s right. If the department assistant feels that the request is for a legitimate educational interest (e.g. student’s graduate school education), she may provide the information. If she’s not comfortable, she could always contact the student herself and ask him/her to get in touch with the professor. In case you were wondering about the fact that the student’s information is missing in the directory (maybe she placed a FERPA Hold on her public information), FERPA Hold doesn’t apply for internal requests with a legitimate education interest.

Incorrect. Please try again.

4. A professor is writing a letter of recommendation for a student. The professor requests from her Dean’s office the student’s grades for courses she is not teaching in order to get a full picture of his academic career. Should the Dean’s Office provide the student’s grades to the professor for this purpose? *

Yes

Incorrect. Please try again.

That’s right. The professor is a University official and may access student grades for legitimate educational interests. While it might be defensible that writing a letter of recommendation is a legitimate educational interest, the best course of action is for the professor to request this information directly from the student.

5. A faculty advisor group within a school wants to know which students are on academic probation to invite them to a workshop for help. Can you provide this information? Choose the best answer.

Yes

This is an internal request with a legitimate education interest and under FERPA would be acceptable for a school to review performance for their students.

Incorrect. Please try again.

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