The Details | Background | Definitions | Rights | Exceptions
University officials with legitimate educational interest
It’s okay to share education record information with Northwestern officials, such as faculty, administrators, staff members, or agents of Northwestern, as long as they have a legitimate educational interest. Sharing information among University officials is very common and necessary as faculty and staff perform their functions.
Some interests are clearly legitimate educational interests, like a faculty advisor wanting to see a student’s transcript to aid in advising. Some are clearly not legitimate educational interest, like a professor wanting to see a student’s transcript to decide whom to hire as a house-sitter.
There are other grey areas which require prudence, like a professor requesting grades for courses he does not teach in order to write a letter of recommendation for a student. When presented with a request for information where the educational interest is not immediately apparent, the best course of action is to
- Encourage the requester to get the information from the student directly. Students can share their own information with anyone they’d like.
- Or, contact the Office of General Counsel or the University Office of the Registrar for guidance.
When in doubt, don’t give it out.
Parents and Guardians with proof of dependency
It might seem surprising, but in general, FERPA places parents and guardians of college students in the same position as any other third party unless they provide proof of dependency for tax purposes.
University officials can contact the Office of the Registrar to find out more about documenting tax dependency. However, it is recommended to encourage parents to speak directly with their sons or daughters. There are other situations when someone at Northwestern may be in contact with a parent, such as if a health or safety issue exists or if an underage student violates Northwestern’s drug or alcohol policy. Most faculty or staff won’t need to handle this type of communication.
Health or Safety Emergencies
If an emergency exists that poses a serious threat to a student or others, information may be shared without written consent. FERPA says the threat must be “articulable and significant”, which means someone must be able to say what the threat is, and it must be serious enough to warrant sharing protected information.
FERPA also says that if such an emergency exists, share only what is necessary, and only with appropriate individuals (like the police).
If there is an immediate need for security or in an imminent life-threatening situation, call the police! Dial 911 for any emergency or 456 from a campus phone to reach Northwestern University Police.
If education record information is shared because of a health or safety emergency, the nature of the threat, what information was shared, and with whom needs to be recorded and filed with the student’s record.