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FERPA

Section 4.O – FERPA

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) provides safeguards regarding confidentiality of, and access to, student records. Vance-Granville Community College, in compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, releases no personal, identifiable information about students without the written approval from the student. Exceptions to this practice are those types of information defined by law as “directory information.”

Directory information includes name, hometown (including city and state), program of study, dates of enrollment, anticipated graduation date, degrees and award received, e-mail addresses and participation in sanctioned campus activities or athletics. Students may give permission to their parents or legal guardians to have access to their educational information by completing a Student Release of Information (FERPA) form.

The directory information may be published or made available without the consent of the student. However, any student not wishing any of these types of information released may request in writing to the Registrar’s Office that it not be released.

By Federal law, the Solomon Amendment requires that the College release a student’s date of birth, address and telephone number, in addition to directory information, to military recruiters when requested.

FERPA defines “student record” to include all records maintained by the College that directly relate to a current or former student. There are a few exceptions which are not considered student records applicable to FERPA including:

  • An administrator’s or faculty member’s own notes that are used only by that individual and are not shared with anyone else;
  • Records that relate to the student as an employee;
  • Medical, psychiatric or psychological records not shared with the institution; employee;
  • Records containing only information about a student after graduation, such as development or alumni records maintained by the institution’s law enforcement unit that were created by that unit for the purpose of law enforcement records.

The College will not sell mailing address lists of any current students, previous students, or graduates. Students may file a written complaint with the Family Policy Compliance Office regarding an alleged violation by the College to comply with requirements of FERPA.

(approved July 16, 2018)

Release of Information Procedure

Written approval of the student is required before a transcript or any information from his/her official record may be released. Exceptions to the above include:

  1. The Admissions/Records Office may release information from official records to faculty and staff members of Vance-Granville Community College whose responsibilities require this information.
  2. The Admissions/Records Office may honor appropriate requests for directory-type information from student records. VGCC defines the following as directory:
    • Name
    • Program of Study
    • Degrees and awards received.
    • Dates of Enrollment
    • College issued E-mail address
    • Participation in sanctioned campus activities or athletics
  3. The Solomon Amendment requires by federal law that the college release the following information, in addition to directory information, to military recruiters when requested:
    • Address
    • Date of Birth
    • Phone Number

Each student has the right to inspect or review the educational records maintained by the College that are directly related to that student. Educational records include admission documents, registration documents, grades, and other supporting documents maintained by the College. Educational records also include tests, assignments, and grade calculations maintained by faculty

All requests to inspect and review educational records shall be made by the student in writing to the Registrar with the exception of requests for tests, assignments, and grade calculations for specific courses. Those requests shall be made to the appropriate academic or campus dean. The College will comply within a reasonable time period not to exceed forty-five days after the request is made. Records such as tests, assignments, and grade calculations maintained by the faculty are only kept for a limited time and are not maintained permanently. Students may also request in writing to the Registrar to amend their educational record if they feel the record is in error. Such requests will be reviewed by the Registrar and the Human Resources Director, who will render a decision.