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Dagoberto,

Thanks for providing the links and for your thorough posts. Essentially under FERPA, we must provide defined limited access to students’ information while ensuring the privacy of students records.

Definitely! The FAQ about FERPA that Hala provided shows a nice, quick overview for new faculty members or seasoned ones who just need a refresher. Faculty members, generally, need that clarification about how FERPA affects how they do their jobs. As a couple of exampes, faculty must consider students’ privacy when issuing letters of recommendation and that they may use discretion about releasing a student’s directory information. Faculty even need to know the most secure *[b]method[/b]* for releasing non-directory information.

Your points about considering stakeholders perspectives in applying FERPA are well taken. Parents have certain rights under FERPA of which faculty should be aware, as in the example you gave about parents of dual enrollment students who are minors. Additionally, practices in regards to FERPA may be different in certain situations depending on a faculty members role–as an advisor, administrator, researcher, or teacher.

Maybe others have heard or seen some interesting scenarios that uphold or violate FERPA. What are some scenarios–for better or worse–that could influence faculty members’ compliance with FERPA?

Amanda