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Retired and Former AACRAO Members

Connect to the world of higher education

With AACRAO membership you'll be connected to more than 11,000 members from institutions around the world. Facilitate your professional development by attending discounted meetings, gaining complimentary subscriptions to our College & University journal and more.

Why should you join? Development never ends, retired or not. Keep current on trends in the field by collaborating with our members and lending your voice to discussions about practices in the field. 

Annual Membership Price: $151

Requirements: YOU BE A RETIRED MEMBER OR A MEMBER WHO LOST EMPLOYMENT AND IS NO LONGER ELIGIBLE FOR INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP.  

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From free webinars to self-paced on-demand learning, AACRAO's online learning covers a variety of subjects—technology, strategic enrollment management, admissions, FERPA, transfer, credential evaluation, and international education—and allow you to engage with the presenters and instructors.

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Maybe you want to reenter the workforce or change the trajectory of your career--AACRAO's Career Navigator is a wealth of job postings and resources for you. 

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AACRAO's professional journals College & University and SEM Quarterly are always accepting articles and have a wide circulation base.

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Leverage the expertise of our over 11,000 members and contribute to one of the premier sources of practice related research within the global higher education community. 

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AACRAO's bi-weekly professional development e-newsletter

Ask the FERPA Professor

Nov 29, 2020, 17:11 PM
legacy id :
Summary : Are faculty virtual open office hours a violation of FERPA?
Url :
Hello FERPA Professor,
 
I received a FERPA-related question from a faculty member, and I wanted to run it by you before providing an answer.  This faculty member is looking to hold virtual office hours and invite students from all her courses to attend. The sessions would be held via Zoom and would not be recorded nor displayed in any way in the courses. 
 
One concern is that students use office hours to discuss personal matters (grade, performance in an assignment, etc.), which wouldn't be able to take place in this particular format.  The professor suggested if there is a privacy concern, she could add a statement to the syllabus specifying that the "public" Zoom office hours are open to people outside of the course, and so they should contact her for a private Zoom session if they have privacy concerns.
 
What is your take on this situation from a FERPA perspective?
 
Thank you!
 

Han Duo

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Han,

If the session is not being recorded, participation is voluntary, and if information contained in students' education records (i.e., grades, performance in classwork, etc,) is not discussed, then this would seem to be permissible under FERPA. 

Adding a disclaimer to the syllabus would not replace the §99.30 signed consent requirement in FERPA, however, if any information from the students' education records is disclosed or discussed by the faculty member.

You can find the above cited regulation on page 159 of the 2012 AACRAO FERPA Guide and the §99.3 "Disclosure" definition on page 153.

I hope this is helpful in answering your questions.

Sincerely,

The FERPA Professor

 

 

Categories :
  • Academic Policy
  • FERPA
  • Records and Academic Services
Tags :
  • FERPA Professor
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