Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords students certain rights with respect to their educational records. They are as follows:

• The right to inspect and review the student’s education records within 45 days of the day SFAI receives a request for access. Students should submit written requests that identify the record(s) they wish to inspect to the Registrar’s Office or to the Chief Academic Officer. The Registrar will make arrangements for access and notify the student of the time and place where records may be inspected. If the records are not maintained by the SFAI administrator to whom the request was submitted, that administrator shall advise the student of the correct administrator to whom the request should be addressed.
• The right to request the amendment of those student education records which the student believes to be inaccurate or misleading. The student should write to the SFAI official responsible for the record, clearly identify the part of the record they want changed, and specify why it is inaccurate or misleading.
• If SFAI decides not to amend the record as requested by the student, SFAI will notify the student of the decision and advise the student of their right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the student when notified of the right to a hearing.
• The right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student’s education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.*
• The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by SFAI to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the office that administers FERPA is:

Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
600 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202-4605

* An example of an exception that permits disclosure without consent is disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is a person employed by SFAI in an administrative, supervisory, academic, research, or support staff position; a person or company with whom SFAI has contracted (such as an attorney, auditor, authorized representative, or collection agent); a person serving on the Board of Trustees; or a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing their tasks. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill their professional responsibility. Upon request, SFAI can also disclose education records without consent to officials of another school in which a student seeks or intends to enroll.

Whereas SFAI, like every postsecondary school, has the right to designate certain information public directory information, all current students likewise have the right and are afforded the opportunity to give or withhold their consent, in writing, to SFAI’s releasing their public directory information. (Such consent, or the withholding of it, remains in effect until the student formally revokes it by notifying the Registrar’s Office in writing.)

SFAI has designated the following as public directory information:

(1) student name, (2) local residence and phone number, (3) personal and SFAI email address, (4) major field of study, (5) dates attended, (6) degree(s) conferred,(7) personal photos, (8) excerpts from written work submitted at SFAI, and (9) images of artwork exhibited or displayed at SFAI or at an SFAI-sponsored event. Though SFAI does not sell public directory information, SFAI may, and frequently does, use items 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 above for advertising, marketing, and public relations purposes.

Enrolled students may complete a FERPA Release Form, which gives permission to SFAI faculty and staff to discuss with specified persons (e.g., parents or guardians) information regarding the student’s record. FERPA Release Forms are available at the Registrar’s Office. Such permission remains in effect until the student formally revokes it by notifying the Registrar’s Office in writing.