Dear FERPA Professor,
We had a question arise on campus regarding directory information, and I would really appreciate your thoughts.
If we officially consider an item as directory information, are we then obligated to provide that information to any party who requests, or is that release still at our discretion? Specifically, we are considering making institutional email a directory information item, as we would like to be able to provide this information to our institutional partners for students who are close to graduation or to university transfer.
However, we would also like to keep this at our discretion on a case-by-case basis, as there may be parties (such as businesses) who could request as well. From an enrollment management perspective, we also want to limit the email release to students who are close to completion.
Any guidance you can provide would be helpful.
Regards,
Sue Doku
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Sue,
Under FERPA, the disclosure of any items listed as ‘directory information’ by the school would be an institutional decision. However, you would want to check your state open records law to see if it requires the disclosure of any designated items. While you could not comply with a state law requiring disclosures which FERPA prohibits, a state law can require disclosures that FERPA permits.
Another directory information option was added in the 2012 FERPA regulations. This option, 99.37(d), permits an institution, in its notice to students, to limit directory information disclosures ‘”to specific parties, for specific purposes, or both.” The institution must, however, limit any disclosures to those parties specified in its public notice. You can find the language on page 167 of the 2012 AACRAO FERPA Guide.
I hope this is helpful in answering your question.
The FERPA Professor
Join the Professor (LeRoy Rooker) and Dr. K. Celeste Taber for the live, free webinar "Applying FERPA in Real Life Settings," tomorrow--June 15, 2016--from 2:00-3:00 pm ET.