Release
of Education Records
The
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA)
states that
no
personally identifiable information from a student’s education
record will be disclosed to any third party without written consent
from the student. Several exceptions exist, including these selected
examples: (1) Information defined by SMU as directory information
may be released unless the student sends a written request to the
registrar that it be withheld; (2) Information authorized by a student
through Access.SMU Self-Service; and (3) 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.
For Students
-
SMU understands that many undergraduate students want to allow
their parents access to all or some of their education records.
Students now have the ability to provide their consent for
access to
their records by using the
Release of Education Records
feature in the self-service component of
Access.SMU,
SMU’s student information system.
Once release authorization is granted some records are available
on-line through the parents own confidential access to Access.SMU.
Other records are available by contacting the office holding the
records.
-
Students wishing to grant access to specified third parties like current or potential employers,
other educational institutions, credit card companies,
scholarship committees, insurance companies (health, auto, life,
etc.) and other similar third-parties, will need to submit the
"Student’s Consent
for SMU to Release Information to Student’s Specified Third
Party"
form to the University Registrar's office.
A valid
picture ID is required for identification. A separate release form
must be filled for each individual request.
-
Students
requesting letters of recommendation or professional references,
must provide faculty with written authorization ( see
Sample Permission Letter ),
if personally identifiable information obtained from the students' education records is included in
the letters of recommendation
(grades, GPA, etc.).
-
Instruction for using the Release of Education Records feature of Access.SMU
For Parents
-
SMU understands that many undergraduate students want to allow their
parents access to all or some of their education records. Students
now have the ability to provide their consent for access to their
records by using the
Release of Education Records
feature in the self-service component of
Access.SMU,
SMU’s student information system.
-
Parents are encouraged to discuss this feature with their student to
establish the authorization for them to view and receive information
from the student’s education records. Once release authorization is granted some records are available
on-line through the parents own confidential access to Access.SMU.
Other records are available by contacting the office holding the
records.
-
Instruction for using the Release of Education Records feature of Access.SMU
-
FERPA
also permits, but does not require, SMU to disclose to parents
of a student information contained in the education records of
the student if the student is a dependent as defined in the
Internal Revenue Code. The parent must complete a
Declaration of Student Dependency form along with a written
request for the records. Since a separate
release form must be filled for each individual request, we highly
recommend that parents gain access through Access.SMU to allow
parents repeated
access
to all or parts of a student's education record.
For
Faculty/Staff
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