The UNC
Policy Manual
700.2[R]
Adopted
05/25/95
Amended
07/01/07
On March 30, 1995, the
constituent institutions were advised of the determination by the Family Policy
Compliance Office, U.S. Department of Education, that UNC General
Administration must establish policies and procedures under the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) to the same extent as an
institution with enrolled students.
Attached are the policies and procedures of UNC General Administration
for the purposes of establishing students' rights under FERPA to examine their
education records maintained by this office, to seek modification to those records,
and to condition disclosure of those records to third parties.
Among
other considerations these policies and procedures address the matter of
records maintained at UNC General Administration that are the same as, or the
derivative of, student records of a constituent institution. In general, a student who has accessed his or
her education records at UNC General Administration will be directed to the
enrolling institution for any remedy aimed at modifying or correcting those
records. UNC General Administration
will, in turn, then consider what, if any, change should be made to its records
derived from those institutional records if the institution has deemed a change
to be appropriate.
These policies and procedures
place three specific duties on the constituent institutions:
1. To provide each year to students UNC
General Administration's annual notification of their FERPA rights. This may be done through annual distribution
of a sheet containing the statement of rights or by publication of those rights
in some document of general, annual distribution (e.g., a catalog, a student
newspaper, an orientation leaflet). (The
annual notification text is attached to the UNC General Administration policies
and procedures.)
2. To maintain for student access a
copy of the UNC General Administration FERPA policies and procedures in the
same place and in the same manner that the institution has established for
student access to its own FERPA policies and procedures.
3. To file with UNC General Administration
a copy of the institution's current FERPA policies and procedures. This is necessary, in particular, so that
this office can honor the "directory information" policies of the
institution and can refer to the appropriate institutional office on campus any
student challenge to records reposing at UNC General Administration but
originating at the institution.
These
policies and procedures are effective immediately.
The University of North Carolina General Administration
General Administration
Policies and Procedures under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of
1974
(Effective May 25, 1995)
The University of North Carolina
General Administration ("General Administration") has adopted these
policies and procedures in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and
Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g (as amended). These policies and procedures pertain to the
education records of students within the University of North Carolina
("the University") that General Administration maintains, whether
those records were created by General Administration or by a University
constituent institution and provided to General Administration.
It is the policy of General
Administration that University students be accorded the full legal rights
provided them under FERPA. Students
currently enrolled at a constituent institution of the University of North
Carolina are notified annually of these rights by means of an annual
notification (which is distributed through the students' respective
institutions) and by these policies and procedures (which are distributed to
and maintained by all constituent institutions of the University of North
Carolina and are referenced in an institutional publication of general
distribution). The annual notice to
students of their rights with respect to their education records at General
Administration and these policies and procedures are in addition to that notice
and those policies and procedures with respect to FERPA of each constituent institution. A copy of the current annual notification by
General Administration to students is attached to, and made a part of, these
policies and procedures.
Throughout this document the
numbers cited within the brackets at various places within the text refer to
federal FERPA regulations (as revised 1995).
These regulations contain narrow exceptions and specific rules for
certain special situations that are not always spelled out in the general
policy. Therefore, in dealing with specific FERPA questions, individuals should
refer to the FERPA regulations, which are provided with this document.
With respect to the education
records of students at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics and
in the High School Division of the North Carolina School of the Arts, rights
afforded under these policies and procedures to a student are to be afforded,
instead, to the student's parents to the extent established by FERPA.
I. The Student's Right to Inspect His
or Her Education Records.
A. Any individual who is, or has been,
in attendance at a constituent institution of the University is a
"student" and has the right to inspect and review his or her
education records. [99.3, 99.10]
"Education records" are
those records directly related to a student that are maintained by an
educational institution. The term does
not include:
1. Records of instructional,
supervisory, and administrative personnel that are in the sole possession of
their maker and are not revealed to anyone else except a substitute.
2. Records created and maintained by a
University law enforcement unit for law enforcement purposes.
3. Records relating solely to an
employee of General Administration or of a constituent institution of the
University of North Carolina in the individual's capacity as an employee that
are not available for any other purposes. (However, records relating to a
University student who is employed as a result of his or her status as a
student are education records.)
4. Student medical records created, maintained,
and used only in connection with provision of medical treatment to the student,
that are not disclosed to anyone other than the individuals providing the
treatment. (While a student may not
inspect his or her medical records, these records may be reviewed personally by
a physician of the student's choice.)
5. Records that contain only
information relating to a person after he or she is no longer a student, such
as alumni records. [99.3]
B. A student is not permitted to inspect
the following records:
1. Financial
records and statements of his or her parents.
2. Confidential letters and
confidential statements of recommendation that were placed in his or her
education records before January l, 1975, and that are used only for the purposes
for which they were intended.
3. Confidential letters and
confidential statements of recommendation concerning (a) admission to an
educational institution, (b) an application for employment, or (c) the receipt
of an honor, that were placed in his or her education records after January 1,
1975, where the student has waived his or her right to inspect those letters
and statements. [99.12]
C. A student who wishes to inspect his
or her education records must file a written request for inspection with the
individual who has custody of the records.
In some cases the student will be able to review the records immediately
while, in other cases, a certain amount of time will be needed to assemble the
records for inspection, but the student will not be required to wait more than
45 days after receipt of the request before being allowed to inspect his or her
education records. A student who
exercises the right to review his or her education records is also entitled to
a response from General Administration to reasonable requests for explanations
and interpretations of those records. If
a student has asked to inspect or review his or her education records, none of
those records shall be destroyed until the student's request to inspect or
review has been honored. [99.6, 99.10]
D. General Administration, upon a
student's request, may provide a student with a copy of his or her education
records, and General Administration will always provide a student a copy of his
or her education records where failure to provide such a copy would effectively
prevent exercise of the right to inspect and review education records. The office providing the copies may charge a
reasonable fee for each copy but will not charge a fee to search for or
retrieve the records in question. [99.6,
99.10, 99.11]
General Administration may deny a
request for a copy of education records if the student is easily able to come
to the office that maintains the records and inspect them in person and if the
records are so voluminous that copying them would be unreasonably burdensome
for General Administration employees charged with the task. [99.6]
E. Education records are maintained by
several offices and officials at General Administration. Most of these records
are copies or derivatives of education records created at a constituent
institution of the University; some, though, may include additional education
records created at General Administration.
Offices at General Administration that are most likely to maintain
education records are listed below:
1. Academic Affairs Division.
2. Legal Affairs Division.
3. Planning Division.
4. Research Division.
5. Student Services and Special
Programs Division.
All requests
to inspect education records should be directed to the secretary of The
University of North Carolina, whose office can be reached through the main
telephone number of General Administration in Chapel Hill, which is
9l9-962-1000. The secretary will
determine the location of records pertinent to the inquiry and direct the
student's request to the appropriate General Administration office. [99.6]
II. The Student's Right to Seek
Correction or Amendment of His or Her Education Records.
A. A student who believes that
information contained in his or her education records is inaccurate or
misleading or violates his or her privacy rights may discuss these concerns
informally with the custodian of the records in question and may request that
they be amended. [99.20]
B. Requests to amend education records
at General Administration whose information is identical to or derivative of
education records provided from another education agency (such as a constituent
institution of the University) will be referred to the originating educational
agency for consideration of the student's request to amend. Notation of this referral will be placed with
the pertinent education records of General Administration. Upon being informed of the disposition by the
originating agency of the request to amend, the custodian will determine what
action, if any, is appropriate with respect to related education records at
General Administration. [99.20]
C. If the custodian finds that the
request to amend relates to education records created by General Administration
and if the custodian agrees with the request for amendment, the custodian will
amend the records and so notify the student.
If the custodian does not agree to the amendment, the custodian will
notify the student within a reasonable period of time that the records will not
be amended and will inform the student of his or her right to a formal
hearing. All formal hearings will be
conducted by the Education Records Committee of the University of North
Carolina General Administration (the "committee"). The committee members shall be appointed by
the President of the University from staff of General Administration in such
numbers and for such terms of service as he may deem appropriate; however, no
member of the committee shall participate in a hearing in whose outcome the
member has any direct interest. [99.20,
99.21, 99.22]
D. Should the student and General
Administration agree that an explanatory statement alone is the appropriate
remedy, the student has the right, in lieu of requesting a formal hearing, to
place a statement in his or her education records commenting on the information
in question and/or setting forth any reasons for disagreeing with the
custodian's decision not to amend. Any
such statement will be maintained as part of the student's education records as
long as the record, or the contested portion of the record, is maintained by
General Administration, and the statement will be disclosed to any party to
whom the contested portion of the student's education record is disclosed
thereafter. [99.21]
E. A student request for a formal
hearing must be submitted within fifteen (15) days after the student receives
notice from the records custodian of his or her right to a formal hearing and
must be addressed to the secretary of the University, who will promptly refer
it to the appropriate person or panel for hearing. The request for hearing must be written, be
signed by the student, and contain a written statement setting forth the nature
of the student's grievance and the attempts the student has made to resolve the
matter with the custodian of the records in question. [99.6, 99.21]
F. A hearing will be held on the matter
within a reasonable time after receipt of the student's request, and he or she
will be given reasonable advance notice of the date, place, and time of the
hearing. [99.22]
G. The student will be afforded a full
and fair opportunity to present evidence relevant to the issues raised in the
complaint and may be assisted by individuals of the student's choice at his or
her own expense, including an attorney.
[99.21]
H. The committee's decision will be
based solely on the evidence presented at the hearing and will include a
summary of the evidence and the reasons for the decision. The student will be notified in writing of
the committee's findings and recommendations within a reasonable period of time
after the conclusion of the hearing. If
the committee decides that the challenged information within the student's
education records is inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the
privacy rights of the student, it will recommend that the appropriate General
Administration official amend the student's education records accordingly, and
the official will inform the student in writing when the amendment has been
made. [99.22]
I. If the committee decides that the
challenged information from the student's education records is not inaccurate,
misleading, or otherwise in violation of the privacy rights of the student, it
will inform the student that he or she has the right to place a statement in
his or her education records commenting on the information and/or setting forth
any reasons for disagreeing with the committee's decision. Any such statement will be maintained and
disclosed as set forth in section II.D., above.
[99.21]
III. Disclosure of Personally Identifiable
Information from a Student's Education Records.
A. "Personally identifiable
information" means such information as the name of the student, his or her
parent, or a member of the student's family; the address of a student or a member
of the student's family; a personal identifier such as the student's social
security number or student ID number; a list of personal characteristics from
which the student can be easily identified; or other information from which the
student can be easily identified. [99.3]
B. With certain exceptions, listed in
section III.D., below, General Administration will not disclose personally
identifiable information from a student's education records without the
student's prior written consent. To be
effective, the written consent must be signed and dated by the student and must
include:
1. A specification of the records to be
disclosed;
2. The purpose of the disclosure; and
3. The party or class of parties to
whom the disclosure may be made. [99.30]
C. When personally identifiable
information is disclosed from a student's education records pursuant to his or
her written consent, the student may also, upon request, obtain a copy of the
information so disclosed. [99.30(c)]
D. General
Administration may disclose personally identifiable information from a
student's education records without his or her prior written consent in the
following situations:
1. Disclosure
to other school officials, including teachers, officials, and employees of the
University who are determined to have a legitimate educational interest in the
information. Such officials are deemed
to have a "legitimate educational interest" in the information if it
is necessary or desirable for them to obtain the information in order to carry
out their official duties and/or to implement the policies of the
University. [99.31(a)(1)]
2. Disclosure
to officials of another school or school system in which the student seeks or
intends to enroll and disclosure to officials of another school or school
system in which a currently enrolled University student is contemporaneously
enrolled. (Note: students are hereby notified that it is the
policy of General Administration to forward education records upon request to
officials of other schools or school systems in these situations without
notifying the student of such transfer of records.) Upon request the student will be provided a
copy of the education records so transferred.
[99.31(a)(2), 99.34]
3. Disclosure to authorized representatives
of the Comptroller General of the United States, the U.S. Secretary of
Education, or State educational authorities in connection with the audit and
evaluation of federal or State-supported education programs or in connection
with enforcement of or compliance with federal legal requirements relating to
such programs. (Note. Unless the collection of personally
identifiable information is specifically authorized by federal law, the
recipients of the personally identifiable information under this section must
handle it in such a way that students and their parents cannot be identified
therefrom by individuals outside the recipients' organizations, and personally
identifiable data must be destroyed when it is no longer needed.) [99.31(a)(3), 99.35]
4. Disclosure in connection with
financial aid for which a student has applied or which he or she has
received. Information may be disclosed
under this provision only to determine a student's eligibility for financial aid,
to determine the amount of the aid, to determine the conditions which will be
imposed regarding the aid, or to enforce the terms or conditions of the
financial aid. [99.31(a)(4)]
5. Disclosure to State and local
officials or authorities to whom information is specifically allowed to be
disclosed pursuant to State statute adopted:
(a) before November 19, 1974, if the
allowed reporting or disclosure concerns the juvenile justice system and that
system's ability to serve effectively the student whose records are released;
or
(b) after November 19, 1974, if the
allowed reporting or disclosure concerns the juvenile justice system and that
system's ability to serve effectively, prior to adjudication, the student whose
records are released, and if the officials to whom the information is disclosed
certify in writing to General Administration that the information will not be
disclosed to any other party without the student's consent, except as provided
under State law. [99.31(a)(5)]
6. Disclosure to organizations
conducting studies for, or on behalf of, General Administration, or an
institution or agency of the University, for the purpose of (a) developing
validating, or administering predictive tests; (b) administering student aid
programs; or (c) improving instruction.
The recipients of personally identifiable information under this section
must handle it in such a way that students and their parents cannot be
identified therefrom by individuals outside the recipients' organizations, and
personally identifiable data must be destroyed when it is no longer needed for
the purposes of the study. [99.31(a)(6)]
7. Disclosure to accrediting
organizations in order to carry out their accrediting functions. [99.31(a)(7)]
8. Disclosure to a student's parents,
if the student is their dependent for federal income tax purposes. [99.31(a)(8)]
9. Disclosure pursuant to a judicial
order or lawfully issued subpoena. In
some situations prior notification may not be possible; but General
Administration will make a reasonable effort to notify the student of the order
or subpoena before complying with it.
However, in the case of a federal grand jury subpoena or any other
subpoena issued for law enforcement purposes, General Administration will
comply with any court or issuing agency order not to disclose to the student or
anyone else the existence of or contents of the subpoena or any information
furnished in response to the subpoena.
[Note. General Administration will deem the filing by a student of a
petition for judicial review a full and sufficient consent by the student to
General Administration to release to the court any and all education records of
the student responsive to the petition.]
[99.31(a)(9), 99.31(b)]
10. Disclosure to appropriate parties in a
health or safety emergency if the information is necessary to protect the
health or safety of the student or others.
[99.31(a)(10), 99.36]
11. Disclosure of "directory
information" of a University constituent institution in the possession of
General Administration that has been defined, authorized, and compiled, to the
best knowledge of General Administration, in a manner consistent with
FERPA. [99.3, 99.31(a)(11)]
12. Disclosure to the parents of a student of
the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics or of the High School
Division of the North Carolina School of the Arts who has not reached age 18
nor subsequently enrolled in an institution of post-secondary education. [99.3, 99.31(a)(12)]
13. Disclosure of the results of certain
disciplinary proceedings for alleged violations of institutional codes of
student conduct upon which appeals therefrom have been taken pursuant to The
Code and Policies of the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina
(the "Code and Policies").[1]
If the alleged violation:
(a) involved the use, attempted use, or
threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another; or,
(b) is a felony that, by its nature
involves a substantial risk that physical force may be used against the person
or property of another in the course of committing the offense.
General Administration may
disclose the results of the disciplinary proceeding and its subsequent review
upon appeal to the Board of Governors, to the alleged victim of the
offense. [99.31(a)(13)] [Note. By reason of federal law external to
FERPA, that is, the Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act, in tandem
with the Higher Education Amendments of 1992, alleged victims of sexual assault
must be permitted access to the results of related disciplinary proceedings and
administrative review.]
14. If the University Board of Governors
affirms a constituent institution's disciplinary action against a student for
conduct that posed a significant risk to the safety or well-being of that
student, other students, or other members of the University community, General
Administration may disclose information about that disciplinary action to
teachers and school officials in other schools who have legitimate educational
interests in the student’s behavior. [99.31(a)(13)(b)]
15. While the foregoing provisions of this
section III.D. permit certain disclosures without the subject student's prior
consent, under FERPA such disclosures are permissive and can be further
conditioned or even prohibited by the custodial institution or agency. Where, then, the education records considered
for disclosure are the same as or derivative of education records first created
at a constituent institution of the University, General Administration will
seek to preserve and follow any relevant restriction to permissive
disclosure. To accomplish this policy,
General Administration directs that each University constituent institution
maintain on file with general administration a copy of the institution's
current FERPA policy. [99.31(b)]
E. When personally identifiable
information from education records is disclosed to another party, that party
may not further disclose the information without the student's prior written
consent, unless:
1. The initial disclosure is made with
the understanding that the party receiving the information may redisclose it to
specified individuals or organizations who meet the requirements of section
III.D., above; and,
2. The record of disclosures (as
required in section III.F., below) includes the names of the additional parties
to whom the information may be disclosed and the legitimate interests that each
additional party has in obtaining the information. [99.31, 99.32, 99.33]
If a party to whom such
information is released permits access to the information in violation of this
section III.E., that party will not be allowed access to information from
General Administration education records for five years. This denial of access, however, shall not be
enforced against State and local educational authorities accessing education
records pursuant to section III. D. 3., above, nor against the alleged victim
of an offense under an institutional code of conduct, accessing education
records pursuant to section III.D.13., above.
F. Custodians of education records will
maintain a record of disclosures of personally identifiable information from
each education record. The record of
disclosures will be kept with the student's education records and will include
names of parties who have requested or obtained personally identifiable
information therefrom and the legitimate interest those parties had in
obtaining the information. [99.32]
The record of disclosures will
not include disclosures to the student, disclosures to school officials with
legitimate educational interests, disclosures pursuant to the student's written
consent, or disclosures of "directory information" as defined above.
[99.32]
The record of disclosures may be
inspected only by the student, the records custodian and his or her assistants,
and school or federal officials charged with auditing the record-keeping
procedures of General Administration.
[99.32]
IV. Limit to FERPA Protection of Education
Records
FERPA's protection of personally
identifiable information in a student's education records ends at the time of a
student's death. Unless General Administration has
information to the contrary, General Administration will presume that a student
is deceased 75 years after the student's education records were created. Thereafter the student's education records
will be open. [99.60(b)(2)]
Neither the foregoing policy
concerning the duration of FERPA protection to education records that are in
existence nor any other part of these policies and procedures places any
obligation on General Administration to maintain specific education records for
which there is no pending student request to inspect or to amend.
V. Complaints to the U.S. Department of
Education.
Complaints alleging violations by
General Administration of the provisions of FERPA or the regulations
promulgated thereunder may be submitted in writing to Family Policy Compliance
Office, U.S. Department of Education, 600 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington,
D.C. 20202-4605, within 180 days of the date of the alleged violation or the
date the complainant knew or reasonably should have known of the alleged
violation. The office may extend the
time period if the complainant has a good reason for having missed the
deadline. [99.63, 99.64]
Students’ Education Records
at the University of North Carolina General Administration
Annual Notification of Rights
Certain personally identifiable
information about students ("education records") may be maintained at
the University of North Carolina General Administration, which serves the Board
of Governors of the University system.
This student information may be the same as, or derivative of,
information maintained by a constituent institution of the University; or it
may be additional information. Whatever their origins, education records
maintained at General Administration are subject to the federal Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA).
FERPA provides that a student may
inspect his or her education records. If the student finds the records to be
inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student's privacy
rights, the student may request amendment to the record. FERPA also provides that a student's
personally identifiable information may not be released to someone else unless
(1) the student has given a proper consent for disclosure or (2) provisions of
FERPA or federal regulations issued pursuant to FERPA permit the information to
be released without the student's consent.
A student may file with the U.S.
Department of Education a complaint concerning failure of General
Administration or an institution to comply with FERPA.
The policies of the University of
North Carolina General Administration concerning FERPA may be inspected in the
office at each constituent institution designated to maintain the FERPA
policies of the institution. Policies of General Administration may also be
accessed in the office of the secretary of the University of North Carolina,
General Administration, 910 Raleigh Road, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Further details about FERPA and
FERPA procedures at General Administration are to be found in the referenced
policies. Questions about the policies
may be directed to the Division of Legal Affairs, The University of North Carolina
General Administration, Annex Building, 910 Raleigh Road, Chapel Hill, North
Carolina (mailing address Post Office Box 2688, Chapel Hill, NC 27515-2688;
telephone: 919-962-4588).
Edition
5/95
[This
is a rewrite of Administrative Memorandum #357.]
[1]Disciplinary
records from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics may not be
disclosed under this section without appropriate consent. [99.31(a)(13)].