FERPA (the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) is a federal law designed to protect the privacy of students' education records. Education records include any information or documentation that is recorded in any way, including records produced by handwriting, computer, e-mail, audio, and video, among others. Educational records contain information directly related to a student, and are maintained by Ohio State or any party acting on its behalf.

FERPA protects the privacy of students' education records by setting forth strict instructions and limitations governing the release of information about students. Although FERPA contains exceptions for the release of "directory information" without a student's prior written consent, students have the right to request that even such directory information be withheld from disclosure to third parties.

Given the restrictions of FERPA, you should assume that all of your students must provide written consent that follows the format specified in FERPA before any education records may be released to anyone other than the student. Information cannot be released to any third party, including the students' parents, relatives, and friends. Particularly sensitive information includes students' social security numbers, race or ethnicity, gender, nationality, academic performance, disciplinary records, and grades.

The only acceptable method to post grades publicly is to assign students in your class unique, confidential numbers or codes for the purpose of posting grades, and further, to ensure that such codes and posting are not alphabetic. Publicly posting grades using names, social security numbers, or OSU identification numbers are all violations of FERPA. Mailing grades to students is only acceptable if the information is enclosed in a sealed envelope. Mailing grades via postcards violates a student's right to privacy.

A student's academic performance is part of his/her education record, and discussing the student's performance with anyone other than the student (or another school official with a "legitimate educational interest") is a violation of FERPA. Please refrain from discussing the academic performance, grades, or other parts of a student's education record with anyone other than the student.

Although parents often are paying for their child's education, unless the student is a dependent student as defined under the Internal Revenue Code, parents are not entitled to review the student's records without the student's permission. Therefore, faculty who give parents updates about their child's academic performance without express written permission of the student/child may be in violation of FERPA.

If parents do request such information, you should assume that the student is not a dependent student and explain that you cannot discuss the student's academic performance without written permission of the student. Grades, classroom performance, quiz and test scores, and exams are all part of the student's education record and require written permission to divulge to parents. Student authorization must detail exactly what information can be released to the parents and should be in writing signed by the student.

Recommendation letters on behalf of a student that contain specific information from the student's educational record, such as grades or a student's grade point average, are in violation of FERPA unless the faculty member has received prior written permission from the student to disclose that information. When you receive requests for letters of recommendation from the student, you should have the student sign a written authorization enabling you to disclose such relevant information in the letter. In the alternative, the content of the letter should not contain information from the student's education record as described above.

It is a violation of FERPA to leave any graded assignments, papers, or exams unattended for students to pick up where students could view the work of other students. Such work can be returned to students in such a manner if it is in sealed envelopes with the student's name on the envelope. Further, it is appropriate for a staff member to keep such student work and return it to the students upon verification of the student's identity. Please ensure that any staff member who is responsible for keeping graded assignments for return to the students is apprised fully of his/her obligations under FERPA to prevent the unauthorized release of that work to someone other than the student.

Faculty members should not have access to student's education records absent a "legitimate educational interest." As school officials, faculty members have legitimate educational interests when they are advising the student, working on student attrition, or other similar educational interests. Casual conversations among faculty members discussing students' grades, performance, or other aspects of their education records violate FERPA absent a legitimate educational interest.

Remember, one of the main purposes of FERPA is to protect a student's privacy. Therefore, you shouldn't disclose any information if it could be an invasion of the student's privacy. If you are in doubt at any point about what can and cannot be released under the provisions of FERPA or the proper way to handle a specific situation, it is imperative that you consult the Office of Legal Affairs at 292- 0611 before taking any action. If you are in doubt, DO NOT disclose the information.