Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

Morgan Community College complies fully with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974.

This act was designated to protect the privacy of education records, to establish the right of students to inspect and review their educational records, and to provide guidelines for the correction of inaccurate or misleading data through informal and formal hearings. Students also have the right to file complaints with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) Office concerning alleged failures by the institution to comply with the Act. If you have questions concerning the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), contact the Student Services staff. Copies of the Morgan Community College policy relating to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974, as amended, are available in the Student Services office.

1. Students have the right to access their own scholastic, personal, and college records. All students have the right to examine, in the presence of a professional staff member, their own college records.
2. Other than for collection of such data for statistical reporting purposes as required by proper State or Federal authorities, no record shall be made in relation to any of the following matters except upon express written consent of the student or in accordance with existing State or Federal Statutes:
   1. Race
   2. Religion
   3. Political or social views
   4. Disability status
3. Records that document student disabilities or special population classification for the purpose of qualifying them to receive academic accommodations will be held by the ADA Coordinator. The ADA Coordinator will only share relevant records with other College authorities if it is deemed necessary to do so in order to further student disability or special population-related support. Information will only be shared with off-campus entities according to College policy or if the students themselves initiate such actions through a signed written request.
4. The following items will be designated as "directory information." Colleges may disclose any of this information without prior written consent, unless notified by the student in writing to the contrary by the first official class meeting date of each semester. Directory information is limited to the current academic year only.
• Student Name
• Major field of study
• Dates of attendance
• Participation in officially recognized activities and sports
• Degrees and awards received
• Most recent educational institution attended
• Enrollment status (i.e. full-time, three-quarter-time, half-time, less than half-time, withdrawn, graduated or deceased)

MCC discloses education records without a student’s prior written consent under the FERPA exception for disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. The following individuals have access to student records because of their official functions: MCC officials, officials at other schools and colleges to which the student applies, state or federal education authorities, officials evaluating the application for financial aid, state and local officials requesting reporting data, organizations conducting studies for educational institutions or agencies, BOCES, accrediting organizations, parents of dependent students (proof of dependency is required – MCC will attempt to notify the student before releasing information), and the Veterans Administration.

In addition, MCC may also provide information without consent to comply with Judicial orders, in emergencies where the information in the student file is needed to protect the health, safety, or welfare of the student or that of other persons, to institutions with whom MCC has transfer agreements and students have declared an intent to transfer to that institution, and in response to requests made by military recruiters who are granted access to students in higher education by the Solomon Amendment.

Additionally, student names may be released for graduation listings and lists of special awards, honors and events released to the news media. All other information contained in your records is considered private and not open to the public without your written consent.

5. Students have the right to provide written consent before MCC discloses personally identifiable information from the student’s education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent. One exception which permits disclosure without consent is disclosure to College officials with legitimate educational interests.

A College official is a person employed by the College in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research or support staff position (including law enforcement unit personnel and health staff); a person or company with whom the College has contracted as its agent to provide a service instead of using college employees or officials (such as an attorney, book vendor, electronic transcript services, verification services, auditor, or collection agent);a person serving on the College Board; or a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks. MCC has designated the National Student Clearinghouse as a College official. A College official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibilities for the College. Upon request, the College discloses education records, without a student’s consent, to officials of another school, in which a student seeks or intends to enroll, or after enrollment.

Also see Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA)