Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

CSM complies with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).  In compliance with FERPA, any student may personally inspect and review their educational records regarding their college career at CSM. Schools are not required by Federal law to provide copies of information, unless providing a copy is the only way of allowing access for review. Where information regarding a student is commingled with that relating to other students, the student may receive an oral report of their own information only.

Listed below are all of the records presently kept by the University. A student wishing to examine any record should make a request from the appropriate administrator. Requests must be in writing; the record will be made available within 10 days.

* Where a student has declared a major, the student should file a request with their advisor or the Program Director.

** Students may not examine any item revealing financial information about their parents.

The Registrar's academic file for a student contains the latest transcript, academic action letters, test results, credit by exam, change of grade/major/curriculum, academic plan, name change, transfer credit evaluation, any documentation related to FERPA hearings, and any relevant correspondence. These records are scanned and stored permanently off site. The information in the advisor file is usually a duplicate of this file or personal correspondence and does not need to be retained after the student graduates or leaves.

Directory information is information not generally considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed. This information includes, but it is not limited to: name, address, telephone listing, field of study, weight & height of athletes, most recent previous school attended, date and place of birth, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, and dates of attendance, degrees, academic awards and honors. Directory information may be disclosed without prior written consent unless the student has notified the University not to release this information. Written notice must be made to the Registrar’s Office within 10 days following the beginning of each semester. Any student choosing to have this information withheld should note that her name will not be released for President’s Honor Roll or Dean’s List or other honors, nor will it be included in the commencement program.

In order to protect the right to privacy, the University will not make any records not designated as directory information available, without the student’s written consent, to anyone other than College of Saint Mary officials with a legitimate educational interest, officials of other schools to which the student has applied, certain governmental officials, parents who establish student’s dependency status, and certain persons in connection with an application for financial aid.

As of January 3, 2012, the U.S. Department of Education's FERPA regulations expand the circumstances under which a student’s education records and personally identifiable information (PII) contained in such records — including Social Security Number, grades, or other private information — may be accessed without the student’s consent. First, the U.S. Comptroller General, the U.S. Attorney General, the U.S. Secretary of Education, or state and local education authorities ("Federal and State Authorities") may allow access to the student’s records and PII without her consent to any third party designated by a Federal or State Authority to evaluate a federal- or state-supported education program. The evaluation may relate to any program that is "principally engaged in the provision of education," such as early childhood education and job training, as well as any program that is administered by an education agency or institution. Second, Federal and State Authorities may allow access to the student’s education records and PII without her consent to researchers performing certain types of studies, in certain cases even when we object to or do not request such research. Federal and State Authorities must obtain certain use-restriction and data security promises from the entities that they authorize to receive your PII, but the Authorities need not maintain direct control over such entities. In addition, in connection with Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems, State Authorities may collect, compile, permanently retain, and share without the student’s consent PII from her education records, and they may track her participation in education and other programs by linking such PII to other personal information about her that they obtain from other Federal or State data sources, including workforce development, unemployment insurance, child welfare, juvenile justice, military service, and migrant student records systems.

If a student concludes that her record contains inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise inappropriate data, the student may request an informal meeting with the appropriate administrator to see if, through discussion, a satisfactory agreement can be reached concerning correction, explanation, or deletion of material.

If a satisfactory agreement cannot be reached informally, the student may file with the Vice President for Academic Affairs a written request for a hearing before the Academic Appeals Board of the University. Any member of the board having a direct interest in the case may not participate. The board’s decision will be rendered in writing within a reasonable period of time and is final.

The student has a right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by College of Saint Mary to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the Office that administers FERPA is:

Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Ave SW
Washington, DC 20202-8520

Students may request a copy of any such records (except transcripts) in College of Saint Mary’s possession at a cost of 10 cents per page. Anything in a student’s record that the student does not understand will be explained. The records are reviewed and materials expunged periodically.