Dear FERPA Professor,
I have a situation that falls into a sort of ‘gray’ area. I’m hoping you can assist me.
A student recently visited our office and requested a copy of one of her letters of recommendation. Upon review of her file I noted that she had waived her right to view her letters of recommendation. It is also not our practice to reissue documents used during the admissions process that did not originate within our institution.
I explained to the student that we could not give her the letter she needs. However, she is rather persistent. My understanding is that’s she’s applying for a fellowship and needs this particular letter to highlight previous work done in the field. Unfortunately the individual who wrote the letter has since left her position and the student has been unable to locate her.
The student is now wondering if her faculty advisor can request to see her file and write a letter of support based on the contents of the letter of recommendation in question. Is this permissible under FERPA? Thank you, as always, for your guidance.
Thanks,
Doc Holliday
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Doc,
There are two FERPA issues raised in your inquiry. The issue concerning student access to a letter of recommendation is addressed in §99.12(b)(3). Specifically, if the student has waived her right to inspect the letter, then the institution is not required to provide access. Note, however, that FERPA does not prohibit the institution from providing the requested access, regardless of the origination of the letter, it is simply not required to do so.
As far as giving access to the faculty advisor who has been requested to write a new letter of recommendation, this would fall under the §99.31(a)(1) exception to signed consent which speaks to school officials and "legitimate educational interest." It is generally up to the institution to decide if access to such information would meet its definition of a "legitimate educational interest." The term must be defined in your institution's annual notice. See section §99.7(a)(3)(iii). Generally, if a school official needs access in order to do his/her job, then allowing such access could meet the definition.
I hope this is helpful in responding to your inquiry. You can find the above referenced FERPA cites on pages 157, 159, and 156 of the 2012 AACRAO FERPA Guide.
The FERPA Professor
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