Rosalind Franklin University is committed to the privacy and security of our students. Rosalind Franklin University Student Records Policy complies with the - sometimes called the Buckley Amendment - which establishes students’ rights and institutions’ responsibilities regarding the privacy of education records. It provides guidelines for maintaining the confidentiality of education records and monitoring the release of information from those records.
As a current or former university student, affords you certain rights regarding your education records. They are:
Education records are those records directly related to a student maintained by the university or by a party acting for the university.
Except as provided in FERPA (see below) or other applicable law, the university will not disclose personally identifiable information from your education records unless you provide a written release containing:
Faculty and staff are responsible for protecting the identity of students and keeping student grades confidential. Grades or evaluations linked to personal identifiers (names, Â鶹ӰÒô ID numbers, or social security numbers) may not be publicly disclosed. Grades or evaluations may be posted only by using randomly generated codes or numbers. The return of graded papers or other assignments must also be accomplished in a manner that protects your identity.
Some records created and maintained by the university, although not covered by FERPA, may be subject to other federal and state laws or regulations regarding disclosure.
The exceptions under FERPA which allow the university to disclose personally identifiable information from your education record are stated in the full text of Rosalind Franklin University Student Records Policy. The most common exceptions to disclosure restrictions are disclosures to university faculty or staff -- "School Officials” -- with a legitimate educational interest, or disclosure of personally identifiable information designated as directory information.
Directory information includes:
Faculty, staff, student employees, or committees (when the members of the committee are appointed or elected to an officially constituted committee) who perform a function or task on behalf of, and at the request of, the university, its faculty, colleges, schools, departments or units are school officials for purposes of this policy. Additionally, agencies, organizations, contractors, consultants, volunteers and other outside service providers officially acting on behalf of the university and subject to the control of the university and that provide services, functions or conducts research the university would otherwise perform itself are considered school officials for the purposes of this policy (e.g., accountants, attorneys, degree or transcript services, testing services, computer security services, etc.).
You may choose to restrict release of your directory information. When the release of directory information is restricted, the fact that you are currently a student, or have ever been enrolled at Rosalind Franklin University, will not be released.
Once you restrict the release of directory information, in order to conduct any business with the university, you will need to go in person to the office involved, with photo ID, or, via mail or fax, provided a written request for release containing the following:
No information will be provided via telephone. No information will be provided to anyone - parents, relatives, friends, other students, or prospective employers - who may wish to contact you or verify your student status at the university, without a written release from you containing the elements listed above.
Restricted directory information is made available only where an emergency is involved, at the direction of a court order, or to Rosalind Franklin University staff and faculty with a legitimate educational need to know.
A Restriction of Directory Information form is available in the Registrar’s Office. Complete the form, including signature and date, and return it in person. Photo identification is required.
Your request to place or remove the restriction is effective no later than two working days after it is received in the Registrar’s Office.
Note: Submission of a Restriction of Directory form does not affect directory information already published or released.
The restriction of information is permanent until you request, in writing, that it be removed. The restriction will remain in place even after you have stopped attending or have graduated.
Students who request letters of reference or recommendation from Rosalind Franklin University faculty or staff members need to do so in writing. Such letters or statements are most effective if they contain specific information about your academic or work performance; this type of information is considered "non-directory" information and cannot be released without the signed written consent of the student, according to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Rosalind Franklin University Student Records Policy.
The Registrar’s Office has composed a FERPA-compliant that may be used when requesting references/recommendations. The completed and signed Student Reference Request Form may be mailed, faxed, or sent as a PDF to the faculty or staff member from whom you are requesting the reference/recommendation.
Your request should contain the following:
Requests that do not contain these four elements are not in compliance with FERPA.
Some graduate programs, scholarships or employer applications require the use of their own prepared packets and may include a form which provides a place for your signature authorizing release of non-directory information. If that completed form or a copy of it accompanies the pages to be completed by Â鶹ӰÒô faculty or staff members, no additional authorization is required.
The Â鶹ӰÒô ID number is a ten-digit number randomly generated and assigned at the time of first admission. Â鶹ӰÒô ID numbers are releasable only to you when you come in person to the Registrar’s Office with some type of photo ID. You may also mail or fax a written request for release to the Registrar’s Office containing the four elements listed in the section of this policy headed Release of Education Records. Over the years, the university has used other methods of creating and assigning ID numbers and for some time used Social Security numbers as ID numbers. Such numbers are no longer used. For this reason, former students who contact the university for information or service may be reassigned a new, randomly generated ID number.
FERPA was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1974 and has since had many amendments. Responsibility for oversight of FERPA compliance rests with the Department of Education's Family Policy Compliance Office.