TO:             UTC Campus

FROM:           John E. Trimpey
                 Acting Provost and Vice Chancellor
                 for Academic Affairs

DATE:           April 30, 2002

SUBJECT:        FERPA Guidelines

This memo should serve as a reminder about our responsibility to keep
student information confidential.  The Family Educational Rights and
Privacy Act (FERPA), enacted by Congress in 1974, describes the
requirements regarding the privacy of student records.  FERPA guidelines
govern the release of educational records and access to those
records.  Personally identifiable information in an education record may
not be released without prior written consent from the student.

Faculty and staff are provided access to student records only through an
exception to the law that allows personnel that have a legitimate
educational interest access to the educational records.  Faculty are
generally determined to have legitimate educational interest and are thus
provided access to student records through ASIS under the condition that
they do not share the information with third parties without the student's
consent.  Faculty and staff that violate any of these conditions will lose
their access to student information.

All this is to say that FERPA guidelines do not allow faculty to publicly
post lists of student grades identifiable by social security number or
other identifiable student information (name, student UTCID, etc.).  It
also means that faculty and staff may not post class rolls on
publicly-accessed web sites, especially if student social security numbers
or UTCID numbers are included without the student's permission.  Even with
names obscured, student ID numbers (UTCID and social security numbers) are
considered personally identifiable information.  If you wish to notify
students of grades, you may obtain code words or randomly assigned numbers
that only the instructor and the student know.  The order of posting should
not be alphabetic.  Notification of grades via postcards is also a
violation of the student's privacy.  Instructors may use student-provided
self-addressed, stamped envelopes to inform students of final grades.

Protection of student educational records is an important duty of all UTC
personnel.  Just as we would not want our personal information available in
a public manner, we must take action to protect our students' privacy as
well.  On the UTC campus, the Records Office is charged with determining
who gains access to student educational records.  If you have additional
questions about the protection of student educational records, please
contact that office.

JET/bv


Acting Provost and Vice Chancellor
for Academic Affairs
UT-Chattanooga
102 Founders Hall
Dept. 5555
Chattanooga, TN  37403
(423) 425-4633
FAX (423) 756-5559