Student privacy made simple: New resources from the Office of the Registrar
Several new and improved resources from the Office of the Registrar (RO) have been implemented to help the University of Wisconsin–Madison community better understand the federal law governing student record privacy.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as amended – commonly known as FERPA – governs the privacy of student education records, access to those records, and disclosure of information from them.
The law gives students a number of rights, but understanding how it applies in a variety of situations can be challenging. With that in mind, the RO set out to more clearly explain those rights to students while also giving university employees additional guidance on how to protect the privacy of students’ education records.
Webpage updates
The most significant change is an update to the FERPA section of the RO’s website.
A refreshed FERPA (Student Record Privacy) Overview webpage explains the key terms and components of the law, while new pages broken down by audience explain FERPA rights and responsibilities for:
Other resources
In addition to the new webpages, the RO created a decision tree that helps university employees determine whether they can share student information while complying with FERPA.
The RO also recently refreshed the FERPA release form, which students can use to grant one-time permission to share specified education records with third parties.
The Big Picture
This project, spearheaded by RO Communications Specialist Logan Reigstad, is the latest in a series of efforts the RO is undertaking to highlight how student records are shared and protected.
In late spring, the team refreshed the Personal Information in UW Records webpage to better explain to students what information is centrally stored and it can be updated or restricted from release.
RO team members are also in the process of updating the Pre-Enrollment Checklist to clarify students’ rights and responsibilities.
“As the office responsible for student records and FERPA compliance, we know how important it is for students to understand how their information is used at the university,” said Interim University Registrar Beth Warner. “These tools give students the ability to make informed choices about whether and when to limit the release of their personal information, while also helping our employees do their part to keep that information safe.”
Support
The RO is happy to consult with students, employees, and parents/guardians about their rights and responsibilities under FERPA.
We offer FERPA training via Canvas for all university users with a NetID and can host tailored sessions for groups upon request.