Waseem Daher6.805 Final PaperStudent RecordsPolicy and Practice in Student RecordsMIT is an institution renowned for being forward-thinking and ahead of the curve in many fields. In this paper, I propose a way in which MIT can apply this attitude towards its treatment of student records. I begin with a discussion of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, or FERPA, and its implementations at Stanford, UC-Berkeley, Harvard, and MIT. I then discuss what I learn in requesting as many of my records as I can, in hopes of seeing how well these policy works in practice, and what can be done to improve the system. Finally, I conclude with a recommendation: MIT should strive for greater transparency in student records, by which I mean, it should be straightforward and simple for students to access their records and understand how they are being used. This can be accomplished with three steps: First, MIT should make a stronger effort to educate the student body as a whole. Second, the different offices at MIT should contribute to a centralized list of records, updated on a regular basis. Third, the Ombuds office, along with the Committee on Student Information Policy, should be charged with helping students with complaints or inquiries about their records.Background on FERPAAny discussion of transparency in student records would be incomplete without addressing FERPA. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. s. 1232g) was promulgated in 1974, and has an associated set of federal regulations (34 C.F.R. Part Page 1 of 23Waseem Daher6.805 Final PaperStudent Records99). Known also as the Buckley Amendment, after its principal sponsor, Senator James Buckley (R-NY), FERPA was decidedly the product of a post-Watergate push towards greater accountability and transparency in government and large institutions1. FERPA essentially allows students and parents to view education records that a given university has on them, conditioning federal funding for an institution on compliance with these rules. Furthermore, FERPA also generally requires that schools get written permission from students before releasing information from their records, with certain exceptions. Nothing forces all universities to comply with FERPA; only institutions that receive funding from the Department of Education are subject to its provisions. As a practical matter, though, this covers nearly every educational institution.One important element of FERPA is that students have the right to review their own education records and ask for corrections if they discover inaccuracies. If a school declines to make the correction, the student is entitled to a formal hearing with the school. After the hearing, if a correction is still not made, the student is allowed to supplement the record with a statement elaborating his or her position on why a correction is in order.Another important aspect of FERPA is its protection against the release and dissemination of education records. By and large, a school must obtain written permission from a student before releasing his or her records, except for2:• School officials with legitimate educational interest;1 Shiley, Courtney. “Putting the Rights into the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.” June 2003. Accessed 14 Dec. 2005. <http://stuff.mit.edu/people/cshiley/Thesis/DANCE-DANCE-FERPA.pdf>2 Department of Education. “Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.” Accessed 14 Dec. 2005. <http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html>Page 2 of 23Waseem Daher6.805 Final PaperStudent Records• Other schools to which a student is transferring;• Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes;• Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student;• Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the school;• Accrediting organizations;• To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena; • Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies; and• State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific State law.Before we go on, there is a term we must define: “education records.” Under FERPA, education records are defined to be any records that are directly related to a student and maintained by the school. However, education records do not include private records made by administrators for their own personal use, so long as they are not shared with anyone else. The term also does not include law enforcement records, and records made about a student in his or her capacity as an employee.3However, there are certain records that do not fit into this class of “education records” -- these are known as “directory information,” and may be disclosed without a priori student consent. The criterion for directory information is that it is “information contained in an education record of a student which would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed.” The term can include, but is not limited to, name, address, phone number, date and place of birth, major, and weight and height if on an athletic team. Students do have recourse, though – they can request that the school not disclose their directory information, and they must be reminded annually of their right to do this.4FERPA Implementation - Stanford3 34 C.F.R. 994 Id.Page 3 of 23Waseem Daher6.805 Final PaperStudent RecordsNow that we've reviewed the main provisions of FERPA, let's examine its actual implementation at a few universities, beginning with Stanford. Stanford's academic policies and statements merely reiterate the rights accorded to students under FERPA, but do not provide any additional ones5. However, Stanford does invoke a broader interpretation of directory information; noteworthy inclusions that do not appear in FERPA's example set of directory information are the permanent address, high school, and ID card photographs (with the caveat that the photographs are only directory information with the caveat that they are for classroom use). What's more, the policy goes on to note that “Registration as a student and attendance at or participation in classes and other campus and University activities constitutes an agreement by the student to the University’s use and distribution (both now and in the future) of the student’s image or voice in photographs, videotapes, electronic reproductions, or audiotapes of such classes and other campus and