3361:10-43-11. Records: rights of privacy, general policy and procedure statement

(A) The academic record of a student is confidential. The university of Cincinnati accords all the rights under the law to students and will only disclose personally identifiable information and/or education records in accordance with the "Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974, as amended."

(B) Within the university of Cincinnati community, only those school officials, individually or collectively, who have a "legitimate educational interest" (i.e., a need directly related to the discharge of their assigned professional responsibilities) are allowed access to student education records. These members include personnel in the offices of the registrar, treasurer, financial aid, and admissions, and other administrative/academic personnel within the limitations of their legitimate educational interest.

(C) In accordance with FERPA, at its discretion the institution may provide items identified as "directory information" to third-party requests without the student's prior consent. "Directory information" at the institution shall be defined as: student name, student identifier (non-social security number), address, email address, telephone number, enrollment status, dates of attendance, degrees conferred and dates, honors and awards, college, class, and major field of study. Students may have such directory information withheld by notifying the registrar in writing. The student's request to withhold directory information remains in force until revoked by the student in writing to the registrar. A request for nondisclosure will be honored by the institution.

(D) The law provides students the right to inspect and review information contained in their education records, to challenge the contents of their education records, to have a hearing if the outcome of the challenge is unsatisfactory, and to have explanatory statements included in their files if they find the decisions of the hearing to be unacceptable. The registrar at the university of Cincinnati has been designated by the institution to coordinate the inspection and review procedures for student education records, which include admissions, personal, academic, financial, cooperative education, and placement records or files. Students wishing to review their education records must make written requests, in or to the offices maintaining the records to be reviewed, listing the files and/or items of interest. Records covered by the act will be made available within forty-five days of the request. Students may be provided copies of their records with certain exceptions (e.g., an official transcript for which a financial "hold" exists, or a copy of an original or source document which exists elsewhere). These copies will be made at the students' expense at prevailing rates, which are available on request.

Replaces: 3361:10-43-11

Effective: 6/19/2006
Promulgated Under: 111.15
Statutory Authority: 3361
Rule Amplifies: 3361
Prior Effective Dates: 3/16/1978, 2/17/1998, 3/21/2005