FERPA -The Privacy Act

In 1974 Congress passed the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. The act, which has been amended several times since 1974, affords students "the right to inspect and review education records, the right to seek to have the records amended, and the right to have some control over the disclosure of information from the records" (Guidelines for Postsecondary Institutions for the Implementation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 as Amended, Richard Rainsberger, AACRAO 1998).

An education record is any record "directly related to a student and maintained by the institution or by a party acting for the institution" (Rainsberger, p.13).

While most information maintained by the University is confidential, some general information about students may be disclosed without the prior consent of the student. This category of information is called Directory Information. Hampton University designated the following items as Directory Information:

• Student name
• Permanent, campus, local (off-campus) and e-mail address
• Campus computer network (IP) address
• Telephone numbers
• Date and place of birth
• Major and/or minor fields of study
• Participation in officially recognized activities and sports
• Weight and height of members of athletic teams
• Dates of attendance
• Degrees and awards received
• Previous schools attended
• Photograph