Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords students certain rights with respect to their education records. FERPA rights are afforded to students at the time of admission. These rights include:

1. The right to inspect and review the student’s education records within 45 days of the day Community College of Denver receiving a request for access. A student should submit a written request that identifies the record(s) the student wishes to inspect to the Admissions, Registration and Records Office. 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 will make arrangements to obtain those records.



2. The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records that the student believes are inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student’s privacy rights. A student who wishes to ask Community College of Denver to amend a record should write the Registrar who will notify the college official responsible for the record, clearly identify the part of the record the student wants changed, and specify why it should be changed. If the College decides not to amend the record as requested, the College will notify the student in writing of the decision and the student’s 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.



3. The right to provide written consent before Community College of Denver discloses personally identifiable information from 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 College officials with legitimate educational interests. A College official is a person employed by the College in an administrative, supervisory, academic, research, or support staff position (including law enforcement unit personnel and health staff); a person or company with whom the College has contracted as its agent to provide a service instead of using college employees or officials (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent); a person serving on the College Board; or state and federal agencies, such as the veteran’s administration, or a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks. CCD has designated the National Student Clearinghouse, the Auraria Police Department, and the Auraria Health Center as a college official. CCD has also designated Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU-Denver) and the University of Colorado at Denver (UC-Denver) as college officials for students taking developmental courses through these institutions, inter-institutional registration, and physical education courses. A college official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibilities for the college. Upon request, the college discloses education records, without a student’s consent, to officials of another school, in which a student seeks or intends to enroll or after enrollment.

The college may share educational records with parents in the following circumstances: for a student who is dependent under I.R.S. tax code; a student under 21 years old who has violated a law or the school’s rules or policies governing alcohol or substance abuse; and when the information is needed to protect the health or safety of the student or other individuals in an emergency. Requests from parents to access student information under the tax code should be directed to the Admissions, Registration and Records Office.

The Colorado Community College System considers the following to be directory information and the Community College of Denver staff may disclose this information, without prior consent, to anyone inquiring in person, by phone, or in writing:

• Student name;
• Birth year;
• Major field of study;
• Participation in officially recognized activities and sports;
• Dates of student attendance;
• Part-time or full-time enrollment status;
• Degrees/certificates and awards student has earned;
• Most recent educational institution attended by the student;
• College issued student e-mail account;
• Additionally, address, phone number and e-mail addresses of students may be released to military recruiters upon request in accordance with the Solomon Amendment.

Upon request, the college discloses education records, without a student’s consent, to officials of another school, in which a student seeks or intends to enroll.

All other information contained in student records is considered private and not open to the public without the student’s written consent. Students who do not want their directory/public information released to third parties should complete a form to suppress directory information. The form is available online or at the Admissions, Registration and Records office and must be received by the first day of the semester.

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. The name and address of the Office that administers FERPA is:
 

Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202-5901