Policy Number: EC.11.02.170718
Applies to: Faculty, administration, staff, and students
Date: 06/04/2024
1.0 Policy Statement
Access to students’ educational records is provided in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Washington State University (WSU) policy.
2.0 Definitions
Directory Information
Information contained in a student’s educational record that would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed. WAC 504-21- 050(5) establishes what constitutes directory information at WSU.
Education Records
Any record that is maintained by the institution and contains information that is directly related to a student, including enrollment information, grades, and advising files. This does not include letters of recommendation which the student waived their rights to.
FERPA (20 U.S.C. ƺ 1231g; 34CFR)
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.
3.0 Responsibilities
Office of Student Experience (Student Affairs)
4.0 Procedures
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords students certain rights with respect to their educational records. These rights are listed at WSU FERPA – Rights and Responsibility.
If a faculty and/or administrator has a valid reason to need access to a student record, they must submit an online Information Request Form identifying the record(s) they wish to inspect and purpose. This form is sent to the Office of Student Experience (Student Affairs), and the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs will work with the owners of the educational record to determine if this need is valid. Access is provided via email with a link to a secure file for the applicable documents.
Requests that cannot be filled internally or requests from outside of WSU must be emailed to the WSU Registrar’s Office at recordrequest@list.wsu.edu to complete the applicable forms.
All persons with access to FERPA-protected information must complete FERPA training prior to receiving access.
Release of Information
WSU may release student directory information unless students have restricted their information from being released publicly. Education records or personally identifiable information
Contained in education records will only be released upon the student’s written consent or other applicable FERPA exceptions. Details for releasing student educational records or personally identifiable information is contained in WAC 504-21-050. For more information on FERPA and release of information under FERPA, please see WSU’s FERPA notice or the Department of Education’s website.
5.0 Related Policies
- Federal Law: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. ƺ 1231g; 34CFR Part 99)
- WSU FERPA Policy
- WAC 504-21
- WAC 504-21-050
6.0 Key Search Words
Student records, release of information, directory information, FERPA.
7.0 Revision History
Original Approval: 5/6/2016
Policy Number: EC.11.02, EC.11.02.170516, EC.11.02.170718
Review/Revision: 5/16/2017, 7/18/2017, 4/24/2020, 06/04/2024