FERPA at UW-Green Bay

What is 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. Students may access their records by submitting a written request to the office or department responsible for the maintenance of the record. An educational record is protected until one of three things occurs:

• The record is destroyed.
• The record no longer exists.
• The student is deceased. (This is confirmed by institution.)

Records retention and destruction schedules determine how long a record is kept and allows for destruction in accordance with the Universities of Wisconsin Records and Retention Policy. Some records are deemed permanent such as grade rosters, student transcripts or college catalogs. Other transactional information is kept for a period of time but destroyed in accordance with a set timeline.

Details on UWGB Records Management

Identifiable Information

UW-Green Bay does release directory information on a regular basis; if you would like to make a request for student information, please submit the Student Directory Request form and pay the $75 fee.

Complete a Student Information Request

Why We May Release Information

FERPA allows the disclosure of education records without the student's consent to school officials with a demonstrated need to know. A school official is a person employed by the University in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research or support staff position (including law enforcement personnel and Wellness Center staff); a person or company with whom the University has contracted; a person serving on the governing or advising boards for the university; or a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee or assisting another school official in performing their tasks. A school official has a demonstrated need to know if the review of an education record is required in order to fulfill their professional responsibility.

Some other exceptions or circumstances when the University may disclose education records include:

• to comply with a judicial order or a lawfully issued subpoena
• to parents in connection with a student health or safety emergency (Examples would be a trip to an emergency room for an unknown problem, detoxification or emergency detention.)
• to parents of an eligible student if the student is a dependent for IRS tax purposes
• to parents of a student regarding the student's violation of any Federal, State or local law, or of any campus policy governing the use or possession of alcohol or a controlled substance if the school determines the student committed a disciplinary violation and the student is under the age of 21 (FERPA does not pertain to records held by the UW-Green Bay University Police Department.)
• to officials of another school, upon request, in which a student seeks or intends to enroll, or is currently enrolled at that school
• in connection with a student's request for receipt of financial aid, as necessary to determine the eligibility, amount or conditions of the financial aid, or to enforce the terms and conditions of the aid
• to certain officials of the U.S. Department of Education, the Comptroller General and state and local educational authorities, in connection with certain state or federally supported education programs
• to accrediting organizations to carry out their functions
• to organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the University
• the results of an institutional disciplinary proceeding against the alleged student of a crime of violence may be released to the alleged student victim of that crime with respect to that crime