Confidentiality of Student Records

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (also known as the Buckley Amendment) affords students certain rights with respect to their education records.

Shown below are four specific rights granted to students by the Buckley Amendment. Each right is followed by pertinent information and/or the action(s) the student should take if he or she wishes to exercise his/her rights.

The right to inspect and review the student’s education records within 45 days of the day that BCC (herein after referred to as the College) receives a request for access.
Students should submit to the Registrar written requests that identify the record(s) they wish to inspect. The Registrar 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 Registrar, the Registrar shall advise the student of the correct official to whom the request should be addressed.

The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records that the student believes are inaccurate or misleading.
Students may ask the College to amend a record that they believe is inaccurate or misleading. They should write the Registrar, clearly identify the part of the record they want changed, and specify why it is inaccurate or misleading. If the College decides not to amend the record as requested, the College will notify the student of the decision and advise the student of his/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.

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.

One exception which permits disclosure without consent is disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interest. A school official is a person employed by the College in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position (including health staff); a person or company with whom the College has contracted (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent); a person serving on the Board of Trustees; or a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing his/her tasks. A school official has legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility. Furthermore, upon request, the College discloses education records without consent to officials of another school in which a student seeks or intends to enroll.

The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the college to comply with the requirements of FERPA*.
Such complaints may be filed with:

Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20202-5920

Directory Information*

The College identifies the following as “Directory Information”: student’s name, town of residence, address, telephone listing, electronic mail address, major field of study, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, status as a student employee, dates of attendance, degrees, awards and honors received, and most recent educational institution attended (revised 1/16).

Directory information may be released by the College to a third-party requesting such student information without first obtaining the eligible student’s consent. An eligible student has the right to refuse to permit the College from identifying some or all of those types of information about the student as directory information. An eligible student must notify the College’s registrar within two weeks of the beginning of each academic semester if the eligible student does not want any or all of those types of information about her/himself designated as directory information. Notwithstanding the College’s definition of directory information, the Department of Defense, pursuant to the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act of 1997 (Solomon Amendment), identifies the following student information as student recruiting information: a student’s name(s), address (es) and telephone listing(s); and if known, a student’s age, level(s) of education and major(s).

*If an eligible student chooses not to exercise his/her aforementioned right to refuse to permit the College to designate some or all of those types of information about the student as directory information, the College will release to the Department of Defense, or an agency thereof, that student information which the Department of Defense has designated as student recruiting information. This may result in the non- consensual disclosure of personally identifiable information. When student information is released pursuant to a Department of Defense request, notice of the request and the release of student information in accordance therewith will be posted in a conspicuous location in the College’s Registrar’s Office for the period of one academic year.The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 (also known as the Buckley Amendment) affords certain rights with respect to education records. These rights and other information may be found on Confidentiality of Student Records.