FERPA for Faculty

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), also known as the Buckley Amendment, provides an OU student with the right to inspect and review his or her educational record and, with certain exceptions, to limit disclosure of information from that record. 

Education records are directly related to a student and maintained by an educational agency or institution or a third-party acting on its behalf. They do not include your private notes that are not accessible by others and not stored in the student records. Only faculty, administrators and staff may have access to these records on a need-to-know basis.

To ensure you are in compliance with FERPA guidelines, please follow these guidelines:

• Obtain written authorization from students when using educational information in letters of recommendation. This includes GPA, class standing or class grade.
• Lock file cabinets and offices where student records are kept.
• Refrain from posting student grades by name, Grizzly ID number or any other personally identifiable number. Instead, instructors may create unique identifiers; however, the posting order must not be alphabetical.
• Do not leave graded papers with student names or Grizzly ID numbers unattended on classroom desks or tables in open view or for students to collect themselves. 
• Discard any records that contain personally identifiable student education information.
• Do not discuss student progress with anyone other than the student, unless the student has given consent (including parents or guardians).
• Do not circulate class lists that include student name, Grizzly ID number or grades as an attendance roster.
  

if you have any questions about FERPA, please contact the Dean of Students office at (248) 370-3352 or [email protected]