As amended, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) protects students’ educational records from unauthorized disclosure. It gives students the right to access, review, challenge, and make exceptions to their academic records. Students may request a hearing if the outcome of a challenge is unsatisfactory and may submit explanatory statements for inclusion in their file.
Huntington Junior College accords all the legal rights to declare independent students. No one outside the institution shall have access to nor will the institution disclose any information from students’ educational records without the written consent of students except to personnel within the institution, to officials of other institutions in which students seek to enroll, to persons or organizations providing student financial aid, to accrediting agencies carrying out their accreditation function, to persons in compliance with a judicial order, and to persons in an emergency to protect the health and safety of students or other persons.
All these exceptions are permitted under the law. Huntington Junior College will also disclose relevant education information, such as attendance and academic achievement, to potential employers for students utilizing the placement services of the College. Only administrative staff and academic personnel can access student educational records within Huntington Junior College.
FERPA permits each institution to define a class of information as "directory information." FERPA allows public disclosure of directory information without the student's consent. Information designated by HJC as directory information includes student name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, major field of study, dates of attendance, degrees, and diplomas received, honors and awards received, and the most recent previous education institutions attended by the student. However, the student may opt to keep this information confidential.
Students may withhold directory information by notifying the Executive Director in writing. The institution will honor the request for nondisclosure of directory information or educational records to potential employers. Don't hesitate to contact the Executive Director for a more detailed policy explanation.
An educational institution may release personally identifiable information on an F, J, or M nonimmigrant student to the Department of Homeland Security (formally the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in compliance with the Student Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) Program without violating FERPA.
According to FERPA, an individual's privacy interests expire with that individual’s death. The following policy will be used when dealing with institutional records about a deceased individual.
Within the first year following the death of a student, Huntington Junior College will release the educational records of the individual student under the following condition(s):
- The student previously submitted a signed Release of Educational Records form designating the person(s) eligible to request and/or receive educational records. Authorized person(s) must submit a signed request for records, which can be mailed, faxed, or hand-delivered to Huntington Junior College.
- The person(s) is the Executor/Executrix of the student’s estate and can provide the college with written legal documentation to show this status.
- In response to a legal subpoena.
The College will respond to requests for records on time, but records will not be produced on the same day. The requested documents will be mailed to the requestor.
After one year has elapsed following the death of an individual student, Huntington Junior College may release the educational records of an individual student at its discretion.