Article 3—Academic Policies and Regulations

Part 6. Student Records—Guidelines and Regulations Governing Access and Release

§ 3-603 Access to Student Records

(a) Students: A student’s record shall be made accessible to the student requesting access to his or her record within a reasonable time, but in no case more than forty-five days after the request for access has been made.

(b) Parents (including legal guardians): Copies of student records will, in general, be released to parents only with the student’s prior written consent; however, parents of a dependent student, as defined in section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, may be granted access to the student’s record without such consent under the following procedures:

(1) Any parent who documents that he or she is the parent of a student who was claimed as an exemption at the time of the filing of the last federal income tax statement may be sent a copy of the student’s transcript upon payment of the regular fee.

(2) Any parent who documents that he or she is the parent of a dependent student (as defined in (1) above) may be given the same access to that student's records as is available to the student.

(3) The University may initiate the release to the parents of a student those portions of the student’s records regarding the violation of any Federal, State, or local law, or any rule or policy of the institution, governing the use of alcohol or a controlled substance when the student’s behavior demonstrates a significant health or safety risk to him or herself, or to other members of the University community. The purpose of parental involvement in these cases is to reduce the future risk to the health or safety of the student or others, and is intended to be helpful and supportive rather than punitive.

(4) Conditions for initiating parental involvement:

(A) The student must be under the age of twenty-one;

(B) The student must have been found to have committed a violation of the University Code of Conduct relating to alcohol or controlled substances by an appropriate University body or by an individual designated to make such a determination; and

(C) The student exhibits behavior that is a significant danger to self or others, as identified below:

(i) alcohol/drug related behavior resulting in physical injury to self or injury or assault upon another person;

(ii) alcohol/drug related behavior posing a potentially life-threatening situation to self or others;

(iii) alcohol/drug related behavior that demonstrates severe emotional health problems;

(iv) a failure to complete required educational/rehabilitative/counseling actions related to alcohol or substance abuse;

(v) a failure to complete an assessment mandated because of alcohol or controlled substance incapacitation;

(vi) a repeated pattern of alcohol- or drug-related code violations; or

(vii) sale or distribution of a controlled substance.

(D) Conditions (A), (B), and (C) must exist for parental involvement to be initiated in these cases. The process is not triggered solely by code violations resulting from “simple” violations of city ordinances related to purchase or possession of alcohol, or to personal possession of alcohol on University property.

(5) Upon a finding of violation of the University code relating to alcohol or controlled substances, other than simple violations of city ordinances, the adjudicating authority will inform the Dean of Students of the violation. After review, the Dean, or the Dean’s designee, will determine if parental contact may be warranted. If so, the Dean will contact the student and advise him or her of the potential for this action. The student will be invited to provide any information that may militate against such contact, including but not limited to independence, marriage, resident status, or family relationships. The Dean may also choose to consult or seek the recommendations of individuals or committees that have knowledge of the student’s behavior. If a determination is made that parental contact will be initiated, the student will be invited to contact his or her parents from the Dean’s office, in the Dean’s presence, to inform them him or herself. A formal letter from the Dean advising the parents of the violation will follow such contact. If the student chooses not to contact his or her parents, the Dean may make the contact by telephone or by mail.

(c) Others

(1) A student’s record may be released to others:

(A) with the prior written consent of the student, specifying the records to be released, the reasons for such release, and to whom, with a copy of the records to be released to the student if desired;

(B) in compliance with judicial order, or pursuant to any lawfully issued subpoena, provided the student is notified of all such orders or subpoenas in advance of compliance therewith; or

(C) by the Dean of Students or the emergency dean on duty, designated to act in an emergency to protect the health or safety of the student or other persons.

(2) Otherwise, personally identifiable records of students may be released without the student’s consent only:

(A) to other University officials, including faculty who have legitimate educational interests;

(B) to officials of other schools or school systems in which the student intends to enroll, upon condition that the student is notified of the transfer, receives a copy of the record if desired, and has an opportunity for a hearing to challenge the content of the record;

(C) to those representatives of the federal government and the state who are identified in the Act, provided that any data so released are not to include information (including social security numbers) that would permit the personal identification of the students unless otherwise specifically provided by federal law;

(D) in connection with the student’s application for, or receipt of, financial aid;

(E) to state and local officials or authorities to which such information is specifically required to be reported or disclosed pursuant to state statute adopted prior to November 19, 1974;

(F) to organizations conducting studies for, or on behalf of, educational agencies or institutions for the purpose of developing, validating, or administering predictive tests, administering student aid programs, and improving instruction, if such studies are conducted in such a manner as will not permit the personal identification of students and their parents by persons other than representatives of such organizations and such information will be destroyed when no longer required for the purpose for which it is conducted;

(G) to accrediting organizations in order to carry out their accrediting functions;

(H) to the alleged victim of a crime of violence as defined in the U.S. Code, the results of any disciplinary proceedings conducted by the University against the alleged perpetrator;

(I) to law enforcement officers employed by the University, in order to protect the health or safety of the student or other persons; or

(J) to officials of other schools who have a legitimate educational interest in the behavior of the student, the results of any disciplinary proceedings conducted by the University against the student.

(3) Records may be released, with or without the student’s consent, to a third party only on the condition that the recipient will not permit others to have access to the personal information without the written consent of the student. With the exception of institutional officials described under subsection (2)(A) above, persons desiring access to a student’s record must sign a written form, available for inspection by the student and the official responsible for the record maintenance, indicating specifically thereon the legitimate educational or other interest for which the information is sought.

(4) Custodians of records and other record-maintenance personnel shall have access to student records while performing the record-keeping function, without the necessity of executing access forms.

(5) In the interests of public safety, the name, code violations, and sanction of a student found (after all appeals through the disciplinary system) to be in violation of those provisions of § 1-302 applying to violent offenses and nonforcible sex offenses may be released to the public. This release of information is permitted under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) Section 951.