Notification to Students of FERPA Rights

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), summarized below, governs the release of and access to your education record. These rights include:

• The right to inspect and review your education record within 45 days after the university receives a request for access. If you want to review your record, contact the university office that maintains that record to make appropriate arrangements.
• The right to request an amendment to your education record if you believe it is inaccurate or misleading. If you feel there is an error in your record, you should submit a statement to the university office responsible for the record, clearly identifying the part of the record you want changed and why you believe it is inaccurate or misleading. That office will notify you of its decision and advise you regarding appropriate steps if you do not agree with the decision.
• The right to consent to disclosure of personally identifiable information contained in your education records, except where FERPA authorizes disclosure without your consent.
  One exception permitting disclosure without consent is disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interest. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official has a need to know information from your education record to fulfill his or her official responsibilities. Examples of persons who may have access, depending on their official duties and only within the context of those duties, include: university faculty and staff, agents of the institution, students employed by the institution or who serve on official institutional committees, and representatives of agencies under contract with the university.
• 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.

Release of student record information is generally not permitted at the University of Florida without the express, written consent of the student. There are, however, some important exceptions:

Directory Information. The following information has been designated by the university as directory information: student's name, local/permanent addresses and email address, listed telephone number, class and college, major field of study, dates of attendance at UF, enrollment status (e.g., undergraduate/graduate, full-time/part-time), degrees and awards received at UF, most recent previous educational institution attended, publication titles (dissertations) and nature and place of employement at UF.

Under FERPA, the university may release directory information without your prior consent, unless you (the student) tell the university not to release this information, by placing what is known as a privacy hold. In order to place a privacy hold, you must complete a Request for Nondisclosure of Directory Information, which is available from the Office of the University Registrar in 222 Criser Hall.

Please note two important details regarding placing a privacy hold on your record:

• The university receives many inquiries for directory information from a variety of sources outside the institution, including friends, parents, relatives, prospective employers, the news media and honor societies. A privacy hold will preclude the release of such information, even to those people.
• A privacy hold applies to all elements of directory information in your student record. The Office of the University Registrar does not apply the privacy hold differentially to the various directory information data elements. A request for a privacy hold will result in all data elements being withheld. Changes made by the online student directory will not be reflected on your academic record.

A copy of the FERPA act, more details about your rights and any university policies related to the FERPA are available from the Office of the University Registrar. Please refer any questions concerning FERPA to that office in 222 Criser Hall, 352-392-1374.