Privacy & Education Rights

Privacy

Wofford College complies with the amended Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (commonly referred to as the “Buckley Amendment or ‘FERPA’”). FERPA is designed to protect the confidentiality of records that educational institutions maintain on their students and to give students the right to access those records to assure the accuracy of their contents. Generally, FERPA requires that written consent of the student be received before personally identifiable information about the student is released. Institutions may release, without written consent, those items specified as public or directory information. Directory information at Wofford College is currently defined as:

• Student’s full name
• Local and permanent address
• Local and permanent telephone number
• Email address
• Date and place of birth
• Dates of attendance
• Major and minor fields of study
• Enrollment status
• Class standing (e.g. junior)
• Previous educational institutions attended
• Participation in officially recognized sports and activities
• Height and weight of student athletes
• Awards and honors (e.g. Dean’s List)
• Degree(s) conferred
• Photographic or videotaped images of the student

Education Rights

The following is a brief summary of your rights, as student, under the Family Education Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA). A student is defined as an individual who previously attended or is currently enrolled at Wofford College. (Individuals that applied and/or registered, but never attended class are not considered students).

1. The right to inspect and review your education record within 45 days of the day the College receives a request for access. Students should submit to the Registrar, Dean, or Department Chair, a written request that identifies the record(s) they wish to inspect. (If the records are not maintained by the individual who received the request, that person will advise the student of the correct official to contact). The College official will make arrangements for access and notify the student of the time and place where the records may be inspected.
2. The right to request an amendment of your education record if you believe it is inaccurate or misleading. If you feel there is an error on your record, you should submit a statement to the College official responsible for the record, clearly identifying the part of the record you want changed and why you believe it is inaccurate or misleading. That official will notify you of their decision and advise you regarding appropriate steps if you do not agree with the decision.
3. The right to consent to the disclosure of personally identifiable information contained in your education record, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent. Examples of exceptions to consent of disclosure include:
   
   1. Access of education records by Wofford College officials and agents having a legitimate educational interest in the records. A school official is defined as a person employed by the College in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position; a person or company with whom the College has contracted as its agent to provide a service instead of using College employees or officials; a person serving on the Board of Trustees; or a student serving on an official committee or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks. A school official 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 College.
   2. Parents who establish the student’s dependency for federal income tax purposes.
   3. Upon request, Wofford will disclose education records without consent to officials of another college or university to which the student seeks or intends to enroll.
    
4. The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the College to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the office that administers FERPA is:

                    Family Policy and Compliance Office
                    U.S. Department of Education
                    400 Maryland Avenue, SW
                    Washington, DC 20202-4605

Additional information about FERPA can be found at the on the U.D. Department of Education’s website at: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/index.html.

Withholding Directory Information

FERPA designates certain information related to a student’s education record as directory information and gives Wofford the right to disclose such information to anyone inquiring without having to ask for permission, unless you, the student, specifically request in writing that all such information remain confidential.

The decision to withhold directory information and enforce your rights of confidentiality should be made carefully. There are significant repercussions in that any future requests for such information from non-institutional persons or organizations will be refused. This would mean the College could not release or even verify your status as student to a third party without your prior and express written permission for each instance. Third parties would include other institutions of higher education, scholarship foundations, potential employers, news/media outlets, etc. Wofford College will honor your request to withhold all information, but cannot assume responsibility for the consequences that result when honoring your instructions in maintaining the confidentiality of that information.

A Special Note Regarding Grades, Parents and Students

Grades and all other student education records are protected by FERPA. In compliance with the law, this ‘non-directory’ information requires the student’s written consent prior to its release by a school official to any source outside the College (including parents). Students are encouraged to provide to their parents a copy of each semester’s final grades available on myWofford or their degree audit available through DegreeWorks. As an alternative, students may request a transcript be sent to their parents, but this request must be submitted each semester.

Although FERPA allows post-secondary schools the discretion to release education record information to parents of tax dependent students upon presentation of tax returns to confirm dependency, the general practice at Wofford College, is to require written consent of the student, except where the release of education record information is otherwise authorized by law.