Faculty & Staff

Find out what you, as a university employee, should do when communicating with students, other faculty and staff members and parents regarding information protected under FERPA. At the highest level, we asked you to follow these three guidelines:

1. Only share information with people outside of UW-Green Bay if you have a signed release to do so.
2. Only talk to other employees about a student if they are in a position or have a scope of responsibilities related to the content (have a demonstrated need to know).
3. When in doubt, contact the Dean of Students Office at 920-465-2152 or the Registrar's Office at 920-465-2657.

See Example Scenarios

What Constitutes an Education Record?

FERPA defines an education record as any record directly related to a student which contains personally identifiable information and is maintained by the university or a party acting on behalf of the university.  It can be difficult to define what is an education record.

• Protected records must be in a shareable format. 
• Sole possession records, such as notes from a conversation, are not an educational record until they are put in a shareable format, such as a Gradebook or Navigate. 

Grades

Final grades are the only grade submitted to the Registrar's Office to be recorded as the official outcome of course for each semester. Students can order an official transcript from the Registrar's at any time. You can communicate grades to students in a variety of ways:

• on assignments directly handed to a student 
• in a grade-book feature in Canvas
• in SIS, where students have the ability to print their unofficial transcripts

Other Academic Records

Much of what makes up a student's record (GPA, enrollment status, total credits, major/minor, transfer credit information, etc.) is protected under FERPA. Refer enrollment/degree verifications to the Registrar's Office for processing or confirmation of this data.

With permission of the student, you can confirm restricted information to a student after making a reasonable effort to verify personally identifiable information about the requester. Only information you have direct knowledge of should be communicated to the requester. 

• If a student calls to asks about results on a quiz or exam in your course, you should: 
  • verify name, birthdate (if known), student ID number, courses currently enrolled in and any other item of information that pertains specifically to that student 
  • confirm only the requested information
• If a student emails you about information in a course or their academic record:
  • respond through email, communicate/confirming only the FERPA protected information you know about the course or their academic records from performing your role
  • all official correspondence should be to the student's UW-Green Bay email account
• If you're asked to confirm cumulative statistics like overall GPA, courses attempted, credits earned or other details beyond your individual courses, refer these questions to the Registrar's Office. 
• If you're providing a professional job reference, and you have seen the student transcript, use a disclaimer statement to show you've been provided knowledge of the student's overall academic performance. Your reference should be based on what you personally know about the student through activities in your classroom/activity. For example:
  • "I worked with John Smith. I was their instructor/advisor/staff representative during their time on campus. As part of my duties, I am able to see individual data about this student. I can unofficially confirm I have noted they have maintained a 3.5 GPA for the past 3 semesters. If official verification is needed, the student needs to provide you with an official transcript."
• If can't confirm the identity of the requester:
  • decline the request and make contact with the student in person or by a trusted means of communication, such as a phone number provided earlier by the student or their UW-Green Bay email account 
  • refer the request to the Registrar's Office
  • research and confirm it is a valid request and provide the information through appropriate means

For further assistance with requests or questions you may have about FERPA, please contact the Dean of Students, 920-465-2152, or Registrar's Office, 920-465-2657, for assistance.

Are emails considered a part of the education record?

In general, emails are not considered a part of an education record. Individual emails may be added to a student's record to provide supporting documentation to an action taken by a university official. Examples may include registration issues, enrollment in a campus event or confirmation of a requested housing assignment.

Communicating with Students

One of the main purposes of FERPA is to allow students access to their records, so employees will communicate with students about their records. The question is just a matter of when it's appropriate, and the proper medium by which to communicate.
Know who you are talking to. Take reasonable steps to verify the student's identity before communicating information that would be classified as a student's education record.

• Recognize the student in-person.
• Ask a question from a recent class in a phone call or email.
• Verify a couple of fields from the student's SIS profile in a phone call or email.

Control the communication. You, the faculty/staff member determine, the method of communication not the student. In the end, a student can formally request a copy of their record and must be granted access to a copy of that record in a timely fashion. Keep in mind:

• All emailed information should only go to the student's official UW-Green Bay email account.
• A student may ask to talk in a busy hallway, but you can directed them to a quieter, more private setting.
• Given the nature of the information, you may prefer to put it in writing, rather than share the record verbally. This is a reasonable restriction by you, the university employee.

What you verify to a student varies by the type of request: 

• If the request is something you normally discuss with students as a part of taking your course or accessing the services you provide, you can release the information, have the discussion, etc.
• If the request is not something you would typically discuss or not something you confirm officially, such as enrollment status or degree completion, refer the student to the Registrar's Office to verify the information requested.
• If you are unsure about a request made and want to discuss it, contact Registrar's office at 920-465-2657 or Dean of Students office at 920-465-2152.

If a student provides ID and/or SSN number, can I release record information to them?

It's not good practice to use only these criteria to determine identity of requester. It can be one item confirmed upon initial interaction with a student. You'll also want to ask details only they could answer. A good example of a series of questions is: 

• Name while at the institution
• Birthdate
• Last four of SSN
• When did you first start attending this institution? 
• Can you identify the address we have on record for you? 
• Can you give me the courses you completed in your last semester of enrollment, if recent? If not recent, when is the last semester you were here? 
• What degree/major/minor did you earn or were you pursuing at the time?

Communicating with Other Employees

FERPA allows for a lot of information from a student's record to be shared with other employees of the university. This is based on the idea that a number of employees need access to student records in order to complete their job functions for the university. This is referred to in FERPA as demonstrated need to know. 

Communicating with Parents

Nowhere in FERPA does it require you to communicate with a parent. FERPA does grant some exceptions under which you may share education records with a parent. Those are:

• If the student signs a release allowing for the sharing of a specific record to a specified parent
• In health and safety emergencies
• If the student is a dependent of the parent for tax purposes (Proof must be submitted.)
• If there is an alcohol or drug policy violation, and the student is under 21 years of age

Outside of these exceptions, no records should be shared with a parent. If you are unsure about a request made and want to discuss it, contact Registrar's office at 920-465-2657 or Dean of Students office at 920-465-2152.

Writing References

Students will often ask faculty and staff to serve as references for jobs, internships and awards. This is another way to support our students to be successful. If you are writing a reference for a student:

• Ask the student what they want you to speak about.
• Be honest with the student about what you would say or not say about them. 
• Have the student sign a Reference Request Form if a portion of your reference includes disclosure of an education record, such as a GPA, or how a student did in a class you taught.
• Keep the Reference Request Form in your records with your reference.