Access to Education Records
Faculty
Legitimate Educational Interest
Faculty may only view a student's education record in order to fulfill their professional responsibilities for the university. This is referred to as a school official's "legitimate educational interest". Faculty are not permitted to view a student's education record without legitimate educational interest. Curiosity is never legitimate educational interest!
Examples of legitimate educational interest:
- Grading your course
- Reviewing your course roster
- Evaluating your advisee's upcoming schedule with that advisee
Legitimate educational interest does not include:
- Checking other faculty members' rosters
- Viewing a student's previous courses and schools without an approved reason
- Researching a student's GPA without an approved reason
- Sharing a student's academic history with a search committee
- Looking up a student's schedule without an approved reason
- Reviewing admissions files for students admitted into your program
Families
Families are considered a "third party" and do not have a right to access a student's information and education records, regardless of the student's age. Faculty may not discuss attendance, class participation, grades, or any other specific aspect of a student's education record with families. Contact ferpa@wm.edu or the Office of the University Registrar at (757) 221-2800 before interacting with families.
PHSC Research
Under federal regulations, prior approval is required to conduct research that includes living human subjects, even if the research is survey or questionnaire-based, or is simply the result of academic curiosity.
Case Studies
Click the case studies to learn more about faculty accessing education records.
Case Study 1Instructor Smith wants to make her online course management (i.e. Blackboard) pages publicly accessible to anyone. Are there FERPA implications for making this information available to individuals beyond the course? Yes. Specific course registration and personally identifiable class materials from students are not directory information. Therefore, they should not be publicly accessible. Additionally, there may be students in the course who have chosen “no release” for their directory information; displaying their information effectively disregards this request. The instructor can offer a voluntary “public” version of her course but cannot compel students to participate. |
Case Study 2A student in one of your online programs asked you if her educational record was covered by FERPA in the same manner as students enrolled in traditional on-campus, residential programs. What do you tell her? The 2009 regulations clarify that education records on students in non-physical presence circumstances are subject to FERPA. |
Case Study 3Fred faculty member wants to review the admissions files, including transcripts for students currently in his program. Is this permissible? In general, faculty members do not have a legitimate need-to-know to access admissions files once an admissions decision has been made. An analysis of factors that correlate with success and the program should be done in a way that masks the identity of individual students. |
Case Study 4Felicia faculty member emailed the Registrar’s Office requesting the names of all of the graduates in her program since its beginning in the 1970s. Can she receive this information? Felicia must provide a valid reason (legitimate educational interest) before obtaining the information. Curiosity is not a legitimate educational interest. |
True/FalseFaculty have a right to inspect education records of any William & Mary student. False. Faculty may view education records to service their advisees and students enrolled in their courses. Otherwise, faculty must provide a valid reason (legitimate educational interest) before viewing a student's education record. |
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