The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords students certain rights with respect to their education records. These rights are:
1. The right to inspect and review the student’s education records within 45 days of the day the University receives a request for access. Students should submit to Enrollment Services/Office of the Registrar written requests that identify the record(s) they wish to inspect. The University Registrar will make arrangements for access and notify the student of the time and place where the records may be inspected. If the records are not maintained by the Enrollment Services/Office of the Registrar, where the request was submitted, the University Registrar shall advise the student of the correct official to whom the request should be addressed.
2. The right to request the amendment of any of the student’s education records that the student believes are inaccurate or misleading. Students may ask the University to amend a record that they believe is inaccurate or misleading. They should write the University official responsible for the record, clearly identify the part of the record they want changed, and specify why it is inaccurate or misleading. If the University decides not to amend the record as requested by the student, the University will notify the student of the decision and advise the student of his or her 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.
3. 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 to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is defined as a person employed by the University in an administrative, supervisory, academic, or support staff position (including the law enforcement unit and health staff); a person or company with whom the University has contracted (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent); a person serving on the Board of Trustees; or a person assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility.
4. The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the University 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
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202-4605
At Lawrence Technological University the following information is considered Directory Information about a student: dates of attendance, major field of study, class level, degrees and awards received, anticipated degree date, and confirmation that the student is enrolled (enrollment status).
In accordance with the provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), this Directory Information can be released to the general public and may be listed in the campus directory, if one is published. Students may withhold this information from being released by completing the Student Request for Non-Disclosure Form. By completing this form, students are requesting that information NOT be released to non-university personnel nor listed in the campus directory, if one is published, for one year. This request remains in effect until removed by the student. Please note that in compliance with federal regulations there are situations in which particular information may be released, upon presentation of official documents, to designated state, local, or government agencies.
Students should consider carefully the impact of their decision to request confidential status. This means that after submission of the form, requests for this information from non-university persons or organizations will be refused. Friends or relatives trying to reach a student will not be able to do so through the University; the student’s name will not appear in the printed Commencement program; information that the student is enrolled at Lawrence Tech will be suppressed, so if a loan company, prospective employer, family member, etc., inquires about the student, they will be informed that there is no record of the student’s attendance.
Lawrence Tech will honor the student’s request to withhold this information but cannot assume responsibility for contacting the student for subsequent permission to release the Directory Information. Regardless of the effect upon the student, Lawrence Technological University assumes no liability as a result of honoring the student’s instructions that this information be withheld. Once a student has designated a confidential classification, it will be removed after one year. If a student wishes the classification removed prior to then, the student should submit a signed authorization requesting that it be removed. This authorization form is available in Enrollment Services/Office of the Registrar.