FERPA & Student Privacy
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act gives students control over the records Austin Christian University keeps about them. This page puts ACU's policy in plain language and then prints the official notice in full, exactly as it appears in the signed Undergraduate Academic Catalog.
Student Rights Under FERPA
1. Inspect and review your education records
Ask in writing and ACU will arrange access. The custodian of the record tells you when and where you can read it. Access comes within 10 business days of your request. Federal law gives a school up to 45 days to respond; ACU holds itself to the shorter window. Where a record covers more than one student, you may read the part that relates to you.
Three kinds of record stay closed: your parents' financial statement, the file behind an application ACU denied, and anything FERPA excludes from the definition of an education record.
2. Ask ACU to correct a record
If you believe something in your record is inaccurate, misleading, or violates your privacy rights, ask the record custodian to amend it. Name the part you want changed and say why. ACU either makes the change or tells you it will not, and if it will not, you have the right to a hearing. You may also add a written statement of disagreement. It stays in the file for as long as the disputed material does, and it travels with that material whenever ACU discloses it.
3. Control who sees your personally identifiable information
ACU releases information from your education records only with your written consent. FERPA permits a set of exceptions, which the official notice below lists in full: university officials with a legitimate educational interest, a school you are transferring to, administration of your financial aid, accrediting bodies, a lawful subpoena, and a health or safety emergency, among others.
4. File a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education
If you believe ACU has failed to comply with FERPA, you can complain to the federal office that enforces it. Its address is at the bottom of this page.
Directory Information & Opt-Out
Directory information is the short list of facts ACU may release without asking you first. ACU designates eight items:
- Student name
- Address
- Telephone number
- Date and place of birth
- Major field of study
- Dates of attendance
- Diplomas, Certificates, and awards received
- E-mail address
The list stops there. Your grades, your account balance, and your disciplinary record are not directory information, and ACU releases them only with your consent or under one of the exceptions FERPA allows.
Telling ACU to withhold it
Submit the withholding request form below, or send written notice to jake@austinchristianu.org.
Open the Directory Information Withholding Request form
The annual deadline is September 15th. A request ACU receives by that date keeps you out of the academic year's directory publications.
You can submit the form at any point in the year. A request takes effect once ACU processes it and applies from that point forward. September 15 is the cutoff for exclusion from the year's directory publications, not for submitting a request.
Withholding has consequences. Dates of attendance is one of the eight items, so withholding it means ACU has nothing it can release to a landlord, an insurer, or an employer asking to verify your enrollment, and you will not appear in published lists such as the graduation program.
Who Has Access?
ACU may share your records with a university official who has a legitimate educational interest in them. The catalog defines both halves of that phrase.
Who counts as a university official
- An ACU employee in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position
- A person appointed to the Austin Christian University Board
- A person employed by or under contract to ACU for a special task, such as the attorney or the auditor
What counts as a legitimate educational interest
A university official has one while doing any of these:
- Performing a task named in their position description
- Performing a task related to your education or your discipline
- Providing a service or benefit to you or to your family
Working at ACU does not by itself open your record. The official has to be doing one of those three things.
Sharing With Southeastern University
ACU is an extension site for Southeastern University. Every degree-seeking ACU student enrolls at both institutions and registers each semester through both the ACU Populi portal and the SEU JICS portal. Your Bachelor of Business Administration comes from Southeastern.
Running one degree through two schools means your records move between them: enrollment status, registration, grades, and financial aid. FERPA permits this. You are a student at both institutions, and both need those records to administer your degree.
Southeastern is ACU's only partner institution. No other school receives your records under this arrangement.
Southeastern publishes its own FERPA notice under Confidentiality of Student Records in the Southeastern University catalog. Records SEU holds are governed by SEU's notice; records ACU holds are governed by this one.
How to File a Complaint
If you believe ACU has not complied with FERPA, write to the office that enforces it:
Student Privacy Policy Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202
For questions about this notice, use the Concerns form. To see or correct a record, write to the record custodian, as the official notice below describes.
Official Policy Text
What follows is ACU's FERPA notice word for word, as printed in the signed Undergraduate Academic Catalog. The signed catalog is the authoritative version, and the same text appears there under Notice of Students’ Rights to Privacy. Where a summary above and this text seem to disagree, this text governs.
Notice of Students’ Rights to Privacy
Austin Christian University complies with the Family Education and Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (the Buckley Amendment). The purpose of the Act, hereafter referred to as FERPA, is to protect the release of and access to student records.
Definitions
Student – any person who attends or has attended any program provided by Austin Christian University.
Education Records – any record (in handwriting, print, electronic, tapes, films, or other medium) maintained by the University or its agent that is directly related to a student, except:
- •
A personal record by a staff member kept in the sole possession of the maker of the record and not accessible or revealed to other persons except a temporary substitute for the maker of the record.
- •
Records created and maintained by the University for law enforcement purposes.
- •
An employment record of an individual, whose employment is not contingent on the fact that he or she is a student, provided the record is used only in relation to the individual’s employment.
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Records made or maintained by a physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, other recognized professionals, or a paraprofessional, if the records are used only for the treatment of a student and made available only to those persons providing the treatment.
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Alumni records that contain information about a student after he or she is no longer in attendance at the University, and which do not relate to the person as a student.
Disclosure of Education Records
The University shall disclose information from the student’s educational records only with the written consent of the student, except to:
- •
University officials who have legitimate educational interest in the records. A University Official is a person employed by the University in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position; a person appointed to the Austin Christian University Board; a person employed by or under contract to the University to perform a special task, such as the attorney or auditor. A University official has legitimate educational interest if the official is performing a task specified in his or her position description, performing a task related to a student’s education or discipline, or providing a service or benefit relating to the student or student’s family.
- •
Officials of another school upon the student’s written request, in which a student seeks or intends to enroll.
- •
Certain officials of the U.S. Department of Education, the Comptroller General, and state and local educational authorities, in connection with certain state or federally supported programs.
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In connection with a student’s request for or receipt of financial assistance.
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Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the University.
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Accrediting organizations to carry out their functions.
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Parents of an eligible student who claim the student as a dependent for income tax purposes.
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To comply with a judicial order or a lawfully issued subpoena.
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To appropriate parties in a health or safety emergency.
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Directory information designated by the University.
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The results of any disciplinary proceeding conducted by the University against an alleged perpetrator of a crime of violence to the alleged victim of that crime.
Directory Information
The University designates the following items as Directory Information:
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Student name
- •
Address
- •
Telephone number
- •
Date and place of birth
- •
Major field of study
- •
Dates of attendance
- •
Diplomas, Certificates, and awards received
- •
E-mail address
The University may disclose any of the above items without prior written consent, unless the Director of Enrollment Services is notified in writing. Current Austin Christian University students may amend the release of their Directory Information in Populi.
Correction of Student Records
Students have the right to ask to have records corrected that they believe are inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of privacy rights. Following are the procedures for the correction of records:
- •
The student must request that the appropriate record custodian amend his or her record, identifying the part of the record to be changed and specifying why it is believed to be inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of privacy rights.
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The University may comply with the request, or it may decide not to comply. If it decides not to comply, the University shall notify the student of the decision and advise him or her of the right to a hearing to challenge the information.
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Upon request, the appropriate custodian of the record shall arrange for a hearing and notify the student, reasonably in advance, of the date, place, and time of the hearing.
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The hearing shall be conducted by a hearing officer who is a disinterested party; however, the hearing officer may be an official of the University. The student shall be afforded a full and fair opportunity to present evidence relevant to the issues raised in the original request. The student may be assisted by one or more individuals, including an attorney.
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The University shall prepare a written decision based solely on the evidence presented at the hearing. The decision will include a summary of the evidence presented and the reasons for the decision.
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If the University determines that the challenged information is not inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of the student’s right of privacy, the appropriate custodian shall notify the student that he or she has a right to place in the record a statement commenting on the challenged information and/or setting forth reasons for disagreeing with the decision.
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The statement shall be maintained as part of the student’s education records as long as the contested portion is maintained. If the University discloses the contested portion of the record, it must also disclose the statement.
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If the University decides that the information is inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of the student’s right of privacy, it will amend the record and notify the student, in writing, that the record has been amended.
Maintaining Financial and Disciplinary Records
Student financial and disciplinary records are maintained by the Director of Operations and Finance. These files are also maintained under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). All student discipline and related files are held for a period of no less than three (3) years after separation from the University. Records may be destroyed at that time. Disciplinary records may be retained for longer periods or permanently if deemed necessary by the Director of Operations and Finance.
Procedure to Inspect Education Records
Students may inspect and review their educational records upon written request to the appropriate record custodian. Students should submit the written request to the appropriate custodian of records. The record custodian (or Designee) shall make the needed arrangements for access as promptly as possible and notify the student of the time and place where the records may be inspected. Access shall be given within ten (10) business days of receipt of the request. When a record contains information about more than one student, the student may inspect and review only the record(s) that directly relate to him/her.
Right to Refuse Access
The University reserves the right to refuse to permit a student to inspect the following records:
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The financial statement of the student’s parents.
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Records connected with an application to attend the University if that application was denied.
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Other records that are excluded from the FERPA definition of education records.
Refusal to Provide Copies
The University reserves the right to deny transcripts or copies of records not required to be made available by FERPA in any of the following situations:
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The student lives within commuting distance of the University.
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The student has an unpaid financial obligation to the University.
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There is an unresolved disciplinary action against the student.
Fee for Copies of Records
The University shall charge the fee of $2.00 per page.