Managing FERPA Privacy Control

This chapter provides an overview of managing data privacy to comply with the U.S. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) requirements or other privacy requirements that your institution might have and discusses how to:

• Apply FERPA control.

• Determine releasable information.

Understanding FERPA

Under FERPA regulations, institutions can release directory information about a student, provided that the student has reasonable opportunity to prohibit, in writing, the disclosure of such information.

FERPA regulations define which items qualify as directory information; however, each institution must identify and make known which of those items it plans to publish or share as directory information. PeopleSoft delivers examples of typical directory information in the FERPA_VW control tables. You must configure these examples to reflect your institution's directory information. Even though FERPA is named after a U.S. regulation, the feature is flexible and can be used to define privacy settings for any personal sensitive data.

Note. Not all information defined as potential FERPA directory information is controlled by the delivered FERPA functionality. You may need to expand or modify the delivered records and views if other information about students is subject to FERPA regulations or should be treated as confidential according to your institution's policy. For more information about your institution's or FERPA's definition of directory information, contact your institution's registrar's office. Other resources on FERPA directory information and other regulations include: The Family Policy Compliance Office, U.S. Department of Education, and the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO).

Under FERPA, students can prohibit the release of directory data about themselves. With PeopleSoft FERPA functionality, students can restrict data, but they can also give you permission to release some or all of that restricted data for inclusion in specific internal publications.

Click the FERPA privacy button on a page about that individual to quickly determine the information that is legally releasable to others at your institution or to third-party vendors about that individual. You can also navigate directly to the FERPA Display inquiry pages for each type of information (biographical data, addresses, activities, and so on) to determine the same information.

Prerequisites

Before you can apply and manage FERPA control, you must establish FERPA control fields. Before you can enable students to identify publications for which they release FERPA restrictions, you must set up your institution's publications.

See Also

Setting Up FERPA Privacy Control

Applying FERPA Control

When students exercise rights under FERPA, they identify information that they do not want your institution to release about themselves. You must apply FERPA control to identify this information and prohibit the release of restricted information across your institution. Students have the option of permitting your institution to release any of the restricted information to specific internal publications.

You can use the FERPA page or the FERPA Quick Entry page to apply FERPA control from the administrative side or, if your institution has purchased PeopleSoft Campus Self Service, you can make students responsible for applying their own FERPA control over the internet from the FERPA self-service page.

This section discusses how to:

• Apply or release FERPA restrictions.

• Use the FERPA Quick Entry page.

• Release FERPA data to publications.

Note. If your institution has licensed and implemented PeopleSoft Campus Self Service, students can use the FERPA self-service page to apply their own FERPA restrictions and to identify which restricted information your institution can include in specific internal publications.

See Using Self-Service Addresses, Names, Phones, and Demographic Data.

Pages Used to Apply FERPA Privacy Controls

Applying or Releasing FERPA Restrictions

Access the FERPA page (Campus Community, Personal Information, Biographical, Person FERPA, FERPA) or the FERPA Quick Entry page (Campus Community, Personal Information, Biographical, Person FERPA, FERPA Quick Entry).

FERPA

Select this check box to indicate that the student has, in accordance with FERPA, instructed your institution not to release the information about them, and to display the FERPA Restrictions area at the bottom of the page, where you can select the record and field to restrict.

FERPA Restrictions

Note. Publication categories are used in PeopleSoft Campus Self Service. You can add new categories and add publications to the delivered categories, but do not delete the delivered categories.

See Also

Using Community Directory Search

Using the FERPA Quick Entry

Access the FERPA Quick Entry page (Campus Community, Personal Information, Biographical, Person FERPA, FERPA Quick Entry).

Restrict All Fields	Click this check box to select the Restrict option for all fields in all categories on the entire page.
Release All Restrictions	Click this button to clear the Restrict option for all fields in all categories on the entire page.

Restriction Categories

The fields that appear for each category are based on the controlled fields identified for each FERPA_VW record on the FERPA Control page.

Note. Extracurricular Activities field names do not appear because the PeopleSoft system does not deliver sample control fields on the ACTVTS_FERPA_VW record. To set control fields for activities, use the FERPA Control page.

See Setting Up FERPA Privacy Control.

Releasing FERPA Data to Publications

Access the Release To Publication page (click the Release To Publication link that appears on the FERPA Quick Entry page when an item is selected on the FERPA Quick Entry page).

Publication Categories

Select each publication, from the Publication Categories page, to which the student gives you permission to release this specific, otherwise restricted information. All Community Directories: Indicates that the student gives permission to release the otherwise restricted information for inclusion in all of your institution's internal community directories. Student Community Directories: Indicates that the student gives permission to release the otherwise restricted information for inclusion your institution's internal student directory only.

Note. Publication categories are used in PeopleSoft Campus Self Service. You can add categories, and add publications to the delivered categories, but you should not delete the delivered categories.

See Also

Using Community Directory Search

Determining Releasable Information

This section provides an overview of how to determine releasable information and discusses how to determine releasable biographical data.

Understanding the Determination of Releasable Information

You can determine releasable information about an individual two ways:

• You can click the FERPA (privacy shade) button on a page about an individual to display the Releasable FERPA Directory Information page.

• You can navigate directly to the FERPA Display pages from the Inquiry menu to review all releasable information about an individual.

Note. Field names appear on the Releasable FERPA Directory Information page and on any of the Review FERPA Display pages only if that type of data is releasable. If a field is releasable but no data exists for it, the field name appears but with no field value. For example, if the individual's birth location is releasable but data for it is not in the system, the field name Birth Location appears on the page, but the field value box beside it is empty.

Pages Used to Determine Releasable Information

Determining Releasable Biographical Data

Access the Releasable FERPA Directory Information page (click the FERPA (privacy shade) button from most pages for the individual).

Information displayed on this page is entered on the FERPA page or FERPA Quick Entry page. The Person of Interest or other designation is identified when the individual's record is first created in the database.

Note. When releasable data for the individual exists, the appropriate links (Releasable Name, Releasable Address, Releasable Phone, and so on) are available. If none of the data in a data type is releasable, the link for that data type does not appear.