The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords to students certain rights with respect to their education records. These rights are as follows:
- The right to inspect and review the student’s education records within 45 days of the day the college receives a request for access.
Students should submit a written request to the Registrar identifying the record(s) they wish to inspect. The Registrar or, at the direction of the Registrar, another appropriate college staff member, will make arrangements for access and notify the student of the time and place where the records may be inspected. Applicants for admission who wish to review or to release to a third party their application documents (excepting letters of recommendation) should submit a written request to the Office of Admission identifying the records they wish to inspect (or have released to a designated third party).
- The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records that the student believes are inaccurate or misleading. Students may ask the college to amend a record, for instance, the Registrar in the case of academic information, that they believe is inaccurate or misleading. They should write the college official responsible for the record, clearly identify the part of the record they want changed, and specify why it is inaccurate or misleading. If the college decides not to amend the record as requested by the student, the college will notify the student of the decision and advise the student of his or her right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Hearings will be conducted by the appropriate college hearing body (for example, the Scholarly Standing Committee for grade disputes).
- The right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student’s education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent. One exception, which permits disclosure without consent, is disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is defined as a person employed by the college, one of the other Claremont Colleges, or the Claremont University Consortium in an administrative, supervisory, academic (including faculty), or support staff position (including Campus Safety and Student Health Center staff); a person or company with whom the college has contracted (such as an attorney, auditor or collection agent); a person serving on the board of trustees; or a person 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 responsibility.
Upon request, the college discloses education records without consent to officials of another school at which a student has informed the college that she or he seeks or intends to enroll. Some scholarship donors will require that students authorize disclosure to them of information pertaining to the student’s academic progress. Acceptance of these scholarship funds from such donors will be considered as granting consent to the college to make these disclosures.
- 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 Compliance Office, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20202-4605
- The right to request that the college not disclose directory information.
At its discretion, Harvey Mudd College may confirm or disclose “directory information” to the general public. The college defines “directory information” in accordance with FERPA as name, campus mailing address, major field of study, dates of attendance and classification, degrees and/or awards received, previous academic institutions attended, date of birth and campus e-mail address.
Under certain circumstances, home and campus telephone numbers may be released. The CMS Athletic Department may also release information about a student in compliance with normal practices for “team rosters,” including height, weight and hometown.
New students will be informed about FERPA rights during their orientation before the semester. Students may request non-disclosure by signing a form at the Registrar’s Office no later than the tenth day of classes. All written requests for non-disclosure of directory information by current students will be honored until such time that the student amends them. Alumni may request non-disclosure of directory information at any time; such requests will be honored until otherwise notified. Harvey Mudd College assumes that failure on the part of any student to specifically request the withholding of directory information indicates individual approval for disclosure.
National Security Letter Requests for Information
Harvey Mudd College might receive a National Security Letter requesting access to information regarding faculty, staff and/or students. By law, the college is prohibited from disclosing to any person that information has been sought or obtained. In these matters, the President has determined that the Vice President of Admission and Financial Aid and the Registrar are the only persons authorized to respond to requests for electronically stored student data.
Requests for Information from Military Recruiters
The Solomon Amendment, a federal law, mandates that educational institutions receiving federal funding (financial aid, research grants, etc.) must fulfill military recruitment requests for access to campus and for lists containing student recruiting information. This law allows personally identifiable student information to be released to recruiters that would have been denied them under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) (page 25). Information available for release under this law is limited to name, address, telephone listing, date and place of birth, level of education, academic major, and degree received.