FERPA stands for the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. The act came about in 1974 and has been amended periodically since that time. Essentially, FERPA gives rights to students and governs the disclosure of and access to student educational records.
Many records exist across the University that are directly related to students. UVU, in accordance with FERPA, protects student education records and information from unauthorized disclosure.
An education record is any record that is directly related to a student that is maintained by the university or by a party or organization acting on behalf of the university.
Education records may exist in any medium including:
This includes transcripts or other records obtained from a school in which a student was previously enrolled.
It is important to note that there is a distinction in the types of information and records that may or may not be disclosed to others:
This is general information that may be released to anyone without student consent, unless the student has explicitly prohibited its release. These are things that could, for example, show up in the program distributed at the graduation ceremonies. Each institution is allowed some flexibility in determining what is considered directory information at that institution.
At UVU, directory information is:
*Directory information includes the student ID number because this identifier cannot be used to gain access to education records without the student's personal password and multi-factor authentication (MFA).
UVU is not required to release directory information, and as a matter or practice, does not release lists of directory information to third parties.
This information may not be released without the express written consent of the student.
Non-directory information includes, but is not limited to:
Your security phrase is a word, phrase, or number of your choice that UVU staff will use to identify and authenticate you, particularly over the phone. See more details.
Delegates can speak with UVU employees and request changes to your information on your behalf. See more details.
This is a general information release form that can be used for a variety of purposes.
Provide one-time consent for UVU
employees to share information with specified individuals who have joined you while
you meet with a UVU employee. You can use this form, or better yet, add the person as a delegate!
This prevents UVU employees from releasing your directory (non-private) information which would otherwise be releasable without your consent. This is not recommended. See more details.