Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

What is FERPA? 

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, helps protect the privacy of student education records. The Act provides eligible students the right to inspect and review education records, the right to seek to amend those records and to limit disclosure of information from the records. The intent of the legislation is to protect the rights of students and to ensure the privacy and accuracy of education records. The Act applies to all institutions that are the recipients of federal aid administered by the United States Secretary of Education. 

What rights do students have under FERPA? 

  1. The right to inspect and review the student's educational records. 
    Students must submit a written request to the Office of the Registrar and identify the record(s) they wish to inspect. Within forty-five (45) days of the day SENMC receives a request for access, the registrar will plan for access and notify the student of the time and place where the records may be inspected. If the records are not maintained in the Office of the Registrar, the registrar shall contact the appropriate office and arrange for inspection. Students may request copies of their educational records.  
  2. The right to request the amendment of the student's educational records that the student believes are inaccurate, misleading or otherwise in violation of the student's privacy rights under FERPA. 
    A student may ask the registrar to amend a record that the student believes is inaccurate, misleading or otherwise in violation of the student's privacy rights under FERPA. The student should write to the registrar clearly identifying the part of the record the student wants changed and specifying why the student believes the record is inaccurate, misleading or otherwise in violation of the student's privacy rights under FERPA. Upon consultation with SENMC official responsible for the record, or designee, if SENMC decides not to amend the record as requested by the student, the registrar will notify the student of the decision and advise the student of his or her right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the student when notified of the right to a hearing. 
  3. The right to consent to disclosure of personally identifiable information contained in the student's educational records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent. 
    FERPA allows SENMC to disclose personally identifiable information from an educational record without a student's consent in certain circumstances. One circumstance is as follows: FERPA permits disclosure without consent to school officials with a legitimate educational interest. A school official is a person employed by SENMC in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position (including security personnel and health staff); a person or company with whom SENMC has contracted (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent); a person serving on the Board of Trustees; or a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks; or parents/legal guardians of dependent students, as defined in section 152 of Internal Revenue Code of 1986. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an educational record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility. 
     
    Other circumstances pursuant to which SENMC may disclose personally identifiable information from an educational record without a student's consent include, but are not limited to, disclosure to: 
    1. Other educational institutions to which a student seeks or intends to enroll or where the student is already enrolled, so long as the disclosure is for purposes related to the student's enrollment or transfer. 
    2. Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes. 
    3. Appropriate persons in connection with financial aid to a student. 
    4. Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of SENMC. 
    5. Accrediting organizations. 
    6. Appropriate persons in cases of health and safety emergencies, which may include a student's parents, regardless of whether the student is not a dependent for IRS purposes. 
    7. The parent or legal guardian of a student regarding a student's violation of any law or institutional rule or policy governing the use or possession of alcohol or a controlled substance if the student is under 21 and the institution determines that the student has committed a disciplinary violation. 
  4. The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by SENMC 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 Avenue, SW 
    Washington, D.C. 20202-5920 

What are education records? 

Education records are directly related to a student and maintained by an institution or its agent for all enrolled students, including those in high school. Education records may exist in any medium (e.g., electronic or digital files including email, paper documents, fax documents, oral conversations, etc.). Education records include such things as personal identifiers and bio-demographic data (such as SSN, date of birth, ethnicity, gender, relationship information) and academic records such as test scores, GPA, graded papers, exams, transcripts, advising notes, financial aid information, etc.) 

What is directory information? 

The following is considered "Directory Information" at SENMC and may be made available to the general public unless the student notifies the Office of the Registrar, in writing, that the student does not want any or all of the directory information listed below made available to the general public. 

To have Directory Information withheld, a student must complete a Non-Disclosure Form and return the completed Non-Disclosure form to the Office of the Registrar within the first two weeks of the semester. The Non-Disclosure Form can be obtained in the Office of the Registrar, online or through the student portal. A request to withhold Directory Information shall have no effect on previous disclosures, if any, made by SENMC before the receipt of a completed and timely submitted Non-Disclosure Form. 

Consequences of this decision to withhold my "Student Directory Information," as any future requests for such information will be refused. Examples of, but not limited to, potential impacts are: no acknowledgement of my attendance at SENMC to potential employers, no verification of degrees to requestors, no printing of my name in the commencement program and no press releases pertaining to graduation and/or honors. 

SENMC will honor my request to hold "Student Directory Information" but cannot assume responsibility to contact me for subsequent permission to release it. 

Regardless of the effect upon me, SENMC assumes no liability for honoring my instructions to hold "Student Directory Information." 

Directory Information 

  1. Name 
  2. Hometown (City, State, 5 digit zip only) 
  3. SENMC E-mail address 
  4. Dates of attendance 
  5. Admission or enrollment status 
  6. Campus, school, college, division, major 
  7. Class standing (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) 
  8. Degrees and awards 
  9. Activities 
  10. Athletic information 

For More Information :
Southeast New Mexico College 
Registrar’s Office 
1500 University Ave 
Carlsbad, NM 88220 
Phone: 575.234.9416 
Email: registrar@senmc.edu 

SENMC commitment: 

Southeast New Mexico College is committed to the protection and confidentiality of student education records adhering closely to the guidelines established by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. Our Release of Student Information Policy complies with FERPA and governs how we disseminate student educational records here at SENMC.