Take a look around your work area. What information do you have which may need to be handled in a secure way? For example:

• A university telephone directory
• Student registration forms
• Graded papers and advising packets
• Personal information and enrollment records
• Student’s schedule of classes
• Student-related information displayed on a computer screen
• A computer printout in your office
• A class list on your desktop

We now have more access to restricted information than ever before with the Student Information System integrated databases. The consequences of how we handle or mishandle student information are significant. What are the rights of students, what is non-directory information, what is directory information, what information can be disclosed without consent, and what constitutes an education record under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)?

This FERPA Information Guide and tutorial will help you answer these questions.