Dear FERPA Professor,
I have a question about who at a school can access a student educational record - obviously the registrar’s office and the admissions office, but can anyone else? Like say, the Dean of Academic Affairs or the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs?
Thanks,
Ted E. Baer
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Teddy,
An institution is permitted to give school officials who have a legitimate educational interest in a student's education records access to those records so long as the other conditions of §99.31(a)(1) are met. This exception to signed consent requires that the institution include a definition of the terms "school official" and "legitimate educational interest" in its annual FERPA notice (see §99.7 of the FERPA regulations) provided to students in attendance at the institution. The school official’s job description would generally be used in determining whether or not the official has such a need to know. The positions you list below appear to be ones where access to any student's education records could be appropriate.
You can reference the two cites noted above on pages 159 and 155 of the 2012 AACRAO FERPA Guide.
Sincerely,
The FERPA Professor
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