SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY

 

Dear SMU Student,

SMU is committed to maintaining the privacy and confidentiality of your education records. With this in mind we wanted to give you a brief summary of your rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the federal law that governs the release of and access to your education records.  These rights include:

1. The right to inspect and review education records within a reasonable time after the university receives a request for access. A list of offices that maintain education records can be found at: http://smu.edu/registrar/ferpa/edu_records.asp.
    
2. The right to request an amendment to your education records if you believe they are inaccu­rate or misleading by submitting a written request to the university office maintaining that record, clearly identifying the part of the record you want changed, and specifying why it is inaccurate or misleading.
    
3. The right to consent to disclosures of personally identi­fiable information contained in your education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent. In general, no personally identifiable information from your education records will be disclosed to any third party without your written consent. Several exceptions exist, including these selected examples:
    

   1. Disclosure to SMU officials with “legitimate educational interests”.  (For the definition of an “SMU Official”, click here).  An SMU official has a legitimate educational interest if they need to review an educa­tion record in order to fulfill their professional responsibilities for the University.
       

   2. Information may be released to a parent or guardian if the student is declared financially dependent upon the parent or guardian as set forth in the Internal Revenue Code. 
       
   3. Information defined by SMU as directory information may be released unless you submit your written request through Access.SMU Self Service to the University Registrar that it be withheld. SMU's definition of directory information includes:

      1. Personal data:  student’s name, address (home & mailing) ,telephone (home & mailing), SMU assigned e-mail address

      2. Enrollment data:  academic program (school of record, degree objectives, majors, minors, expected graduation date), academic level (classification), current enrollment status (full, half, part-time, etc.),  attendance dates,  degrees and awards received,  previous education including all past schools and/or institutions attended

      3. Participation data: participation in university recognized activities and sports, athlete’s weight and height

      More information on directory information and what happens when a student requests to restrict the release of his/her information is available at http://smu.edu/registrar/ferpa/dir_info.asp
       

   4. Disclosure of education records to offi­cials at other schools in which a student seeks or intends to enroll.

    

4. If you have a concern or question you should contact the University Registrar or the Office of Legal Affairs. You also have the right to file a complaint with the U. S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by SMU to comply with the requirements of FERPA.

SMU offers an easy method for you to grant permission to your parents and others to access your on-line and manual education records. Through the Release of Education Records feature in the self-service component of Access.SMU, you can provide your consent for your parents or others to have access to some or all elements of your education records. For more information and instructions visit http://smu.edu/ferpa/students

For more information on FERPA and SMU’s FERPA policy visit the University Registrar’s FERPA website at http://smu.edu/ferpa/.   Questions concerning FERPA should be referred to the University Registrar’s Office, Laura Lee Blanton Building, 6185 Airline Rd., Dallas, TX by Tel: (214)768-2038 or by e-mail at registrar@smu.edu