Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA)

Parental notification

The Legal Context

The 19794 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) etablishes that students have primary ownership of their own educational records. Under FERPA, parents have no generally accepted right to access their student's records without the student's consent. The law does, however, permit the College to share information with parents if the student is claimed by the parent as a tax-dependent, but it does not require the school to do so.

What Parents Can Expect

Philosophically, we are committed to helping students become effective agents for lifelong learning and enhancing their capacities for self-reflection, self-reliance and self-direction. We expect students to make decisions for themselves and, as our Honor Code makes clear, to take responsibility for their successes and failures. In support of this philosophy, our policy is generally to communicate directly with students about their academic accomplishments and social and co-curricular standing. We encourage them to communicate routinely about these topics with their parents.

At the same time, we recognize that parents and guardians have a legitimate and abiding interest in their student's progress, especially in understanding when he or she may be failing to meet the College's academic and social expectations. We seek to balance this consideration not only against our legal obligations under FERPA but also with our educational philosophy. Parents may expect to be informed in the case of social violations of the Honor Code if their student is placed on disciplinary probation, residential suspension, suspension or expulsion. With respect to academic progress, parents will be informed if their student is placed on very serious academic warning, suspension or dismissal.

For summaries of FERPA provisions as they relate to colleges and universities, see the US Department of Education Web site: http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.htmlor the Association for Student Judicial Affairs' Web site: http://asja.tamu.edu/).

Last Modified: Friday, June 27, 2008 11:38