Student Privacy (FERPA)

• FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 [U.S. Public Law 93-579]) guarantee individuals’ rights to the access of their academic record. This federal law also provides guidelines as to third party access and the appropriate security of the education record. FERPA stipulates that students have the right to
• inspect and review their academic record;
  • The right to inspect and review the student's education records within 45 days of the day the university receives a request for access. Students must submit written requests to our office that identify the record(s) they wish to inspect. The university official will make arrangements for access and notify the student of the time and place where the records may be inspected. If the records are not maintained by the university official to whom the request was submitted, that official shall advise the student of the correct official to whom the request should be addressed.
• right to control disclosure (designate confidentiality), and;
  • 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. Exceptions which permit disclosure without consent is disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests, concerns of health and safety, judicial court order(s), and accrediting agencies carrying out their accreditation function. A school official is a person employed by the university in an administrative, supervisor, academic or research, or support staff position (such as health staff); a person or company with whom the university has contracted (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent); a person serving on the Board of Visitors; or a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance 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 responsibility.
• request amendment to the educational record if an error is recorded.
  • The right to request the amendment of the student's education records that the student believes are inaccurate or misleading. Students may ask the university to amend a record that they believe is inaccurate or misleading. They should write the university official responsible for the record, clearly identify the part of the record they want changed, and specify what it is inaccurate or misleading. If the university decides not to amend the record as requested by the student, the university will notify the student of the decision and advise the student of his or her right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the student when notified of the right to a hearing.

• Directory Information: FERPA allows for the designation of certain academic record information as "directory" [academic record information not requiring prior written permission to release]. Virginia Tech defines directory information as follows:
  • Student's name
  • Local and Permanent Address (student must opt-in for third party release)
    
  • Telephone Number (student must opt-in for third party release)
    
  • VT Email Address (student must opt-in for third party release)
  • Major field of study (including second majors, minors, etc.)
  • Whether a student is currently enrolled
  • Enrollment status (full-time, half-time, etc.)
  • Class (freshman, sophomore, etc.)
  • Academic level (associate, undergraduate, graduate, professional)
  • Anticipated graduation date
  • Certification of application for degree
  • Dates of enrollment
  • Degree(s) earned, including date, honors and level of distinction
  • Participation in officially recognized activities and sports
  • Weight and height of members of athletic teams
  • Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD)
• Directory information will be withheld if requested by the student. To withhold directory information, the student should go to https://accounts.it.vt.edu/myprofile/profile, and slide the slider from "Public" to Hidden" on any data that you wish to be withheld. Students may choose public for portions of directory information without marking the entire student record hidden. PLEASE NOTE: By default, all students' contact information is set to ‘Hidden’. If you wish it to be made public you will need to make that change. If you wish for it to remain hidden, no action is required. To mark your entire record confidential please use the ‘gear’ icon at the top right of the screen. Confidentiality designations remain in effect until you remove or request removal including after graduation or discontinuation of enrollment at Virginia Tech. If applicable, to mark your ETD confidential please reference the Thesis and Dissertation Approval Form.
  
  • Choosing the item "Student Confidentiality" will result in the suppression of all student record information, including:
  • Student name/address will be excluded from future VT web and printed material (including Deans List, Commencement program, alumni mailings, etc.). Please choose this option with care.
  • Student name and address will not appear in PEOPLE FINDER.
    
  • Verification of enrollment, graduation and degree awarded inquiries from third parties, including potential employers, will not be provided without signed release.  
  • Students may choose any portion of their address(es) and/or phone number(s) to be suppressed. Only active addresses and phone numbers will display as an option. Selected items will not appear on online directories or disclosed to third parties. After checking the boxes beside the items to be suppressed, click the "Submit Changes" button to save the request.
  • To remove the flag, the user simply unchecks the box(es) and clicks the "Submit Changes" button to save the request. PEOPLE FINDER will not update for 24 hours after the selection.

Virginia Tech uses a generated nine-digit number as the student identifier. However, in some instances, students may be requested to disclose their social security numbers (e.g., recipients of Financial Aid and employees of the University). The policy on disclosure of Social Security Numbers is available here.

The Privacy Act of 1974 (U.S. Public Law 93-579, Sect. 7) requires that the university notify students that disclosure of a Social Security number is voluntary.

Pursuant to the 2003 State Code of the Commonwealth of Virginia, no student identification card may display the social security number as an identifier.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) requires that you authorize the university prior to release of any academic record information to a third party. Creation of a FERPA pass code in Hokie SPA allows you to approve disclosure of your academic record information to parent(s) and/or guardian(s). A pass code will remain valid until you remove the authorization.

A pass code is required for full authorization of a third party. Third parties without the pass code will be unable to receive educational record information. If no FERPA pass code is on file, the state law allows parents to request the information if they provide the university with proof of tax dependency. The university will notify the student if such a request is received. 

In the event a student seeks or intends to enroll in another institution, Virginia Tech may disclose your educational record to the future institution without prior written consent. This is in accordance with the disclourse of educational records of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA).

Tax Dependent? The Commonwealth of Virginia requires tax dependent students attending Virginia's colleges and universities to release educational record information to their parents. This requirement is allowable within the guidelines of FERPA. If you are a tax dependent of your parent or guardian, please denote that information by checking "YES" in the question column, "Are you a Tax Dependent?" on the online FERPA disclosure form (Hokie SPA).

Virginia Tech policy requires annually the collection of specific demographic data for each student: local mailing address, emergency contact entry or emergency contact confirmation, VT Alerts Opt In or Opt Out action and review of the Virginia Tech Student Conduct Policy. Students will be prohibited from registration until the information is provided.

Student(s) may denote a specific third party as emergency contact as primary in cases of missing person(s). Visit Hokie SPA, choose the Hokie Plus menu, choose ‘Update Emergency Contacts’; add 'new contact'. In the pull down selection for relationships, choose "Missing Persons Contact". In case of such an emergency, the university will first contact the missing person designee before any alternate emergency contact(s).

Student employees may have inquiry access to student records if required for job responsibilities.

Employers must inform students of their FERPA responsibilities via employment contract or the Student Employee Confidentiality Agreement.

Violation of FERPA (accessing data for personal reasons; disclosures) is a dismissible offense.

Employers may download a copy of the Student Employee Confidentiality Agreement to discuss with the student employee. The agreement should be maintained with the hiring department for two years after the student employees' last day of employment with the department.

Contact the University Registrar if you have questions relative to compliance with these guidelines.

University communication of issues related to student efforts (academic, conduct, and/or employment) may necessitate utilization of electronic communication such as email(s). However, misdirected email(s) may result in exposure of student personally identifiable information to those without a legitimate educational interest in the information. Federal regulations require we establish “reasonable methods” to ensure that school officials only obtain records in which they have a legitimate educational interest. To obviate the potential FERPA violation caused by a misdirected email, the university guidelines as follows are established:

• Do not include personally identifiable FERPA data in totality in an email: no full name and full generated student ID.
• Do not list name and ID in the subject line
• Communicate using either the student ID with the full initials of the student [999999999 (ANW)] or use the full name with the last four of the ID [Alice N. Wonderland (1234)].
• Do not attach spreadsheets or scanned documents with full identifiers or non-directory information via email.  Communicate spreadsheets or scanned documents via an approved university platform or shared electronic files requiring a log in.
• Do not store FERPA data on a flash drive.

Posting Grades

The Federal Department of Education stipulates that posting of grades, using even a portion of the student identification number, is considered a violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). FERPA protects the confidentiality of educational records and prohibits distribution of that record unless with the student's written consent.

Do not post grades as a class listing using any portion of the student identification number, either via paper or electronically.

Questions related to this federal guideline: Rick A. Sparks Jr, University Registrar

Options to communicate grades:

1. Canvas: Requires students to enter their PID/password combination to view grades in a secure environment.
   
2. Waiver forms: Professors may construct a waiver that students may sign (must not be mandatory). Waiver should state: "(Name of Student) grants permission to Professor XYZ in Subject Number to list my graded material in a listing format using the last four digits of my student identification number." It must be signed, dated, and retained for one academic year.
3. Unique Identifiers: Professors may assign a class number to each student, known only to the student and the professor (or TA); the grades can then be listed by that number; the number cannot be any portion of the student identification number.

Lecture Recording

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) prohibits the release of personally identifiable information of a student.  Lecture recordings can be tricky because faculty members must ensure that a student(s) personally identifiable information isn't released outside of what FERPA allows.  To heIp ensure adherence to FERPA requirements when using lecture recording:

• Faculty should not upload recordings of a class session where the students are the focus in anyway in the recording, either by name or by image, to a public site.
• Faculty who wish to record lectures for use in later semesters may do so by recording the course in such a way that the students' identity in the course is never revealed.
• Faculty may use recorded lectures that identify a student(s), such as names viewable in a zoom session or student's presenting for a portion of the course, only if they are shared through Canvas ONLY with that course section.  

If forwarding items with personally identifiable FERPA data, use a cover sheet directing the recipient to contact you if it is misdirected. For example, the cover sheet may state:

• Academic Record Disclosure: You are receiving this information as determined by the educational right to know disclosure guidelines of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). If you are not the intended recipient, please do not disclose, copy or distribute this information.
• Please notify the sender immediately by return electronic e-mail or by telephone at [insert phone number]. Thank you.

Contact the University Registrar if you have questions relative to compliance with these guidelines.

FERPA training is required of every Virginia Tech faculty, staff, wage, and student employee who has access to student data and must be renewed every two years. Online on-demand training is available through the PageUp Learning Management System. This training is available to everyone but is required of employees with access to student data.

If you experience problems please contact David Green.

All students may authorize third parties to view their financial aid and academic record information (grades and transcripts) via the GUEST ACCESS SPA. You control the disclosure and may at any time void the access. The Guest Access menu is viewable via the main menu of HokieSpa. Awarding guest access to a third party does NOT grant FERPA disclosure. The university will be unable to discuss your record with a third party without your written consent or a completed FERPA WEB disclosure.

If you wish to report a concern regarding exposure of your personally identifiable information without your permission, please contact the University Registrar, Student Services Building, Suite 250, Virginia Tech, 800 Washington St., SW, Blacksburg, VA 24061; email registrar@vt.edu; phone (540) 231-6252. You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education:

Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington DC 20202-5901