FERPA Information
The faculty, staff and administrators of Adams State University keep a number of education records in order to facilitate the educational success of students.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), also known as the Buckley Amendment, is a federal law regarding the privacy of these student education records. This website is designed to assist students, faculty, staff and administrators in understanding FERPA rights and the need for compliance.
What is the purpose of FERPA?
FERPA is meant to protect personally identifiable information contained in educational records. It also provides the rights for students to access the information, seek to correct it when needed, and to consent to its disclosure. Please see the Privacy Glossary for a detailed description of what is and is not considered an education record.
Who is Protected Under FERPA?
The rights under FERPA apply to eligible students. An eligible student is an individual who is, or has been, in attendance at Adams State University. This includes all degree-seeking as well as non-degree-seeking students. Student educational records are protected under FERPA beginning with day one of classes until an eligible student’s
death.
Do Parents Have Rights
While their student is in elementary, middle, and high school FERPA rights belong to the parents; however, the rights transfer to the student when they turn 18 or when they attend a postsecondary institution, whichever comes first. Information protected by FERPA will not be released to parents unless Adams State has written permission to release such information to them.
Disclosure of Education Records
Under FERPA, a school may not generally disclose personally identifiable information from a student’s education record to a third party unless the student has provided written consent. However, there are a number exceptions. One exception is to the release of information that has been appropriately designated as directory information. For other exceptions please see the Disclosure of Student Records section of this website.
FERPA Training
New employees will be assigned online FERPA training at the time that they begin their employment with Adams State.
All other university employees will be assigned online FERPA training on a yearly basis. The campus also benefits from periodic FERPA training delivered via email (A FERPA Moment, weekly), bookmarks with important dates and FERPA tidbits (beginning of fall semester), FERPA Annual Notification (sent via email to all students) and departmental training upon request.
