The purpose of The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 is to assure all students, including those attending an institution of postsecondary education, access to their education records and to protect such individuals’ rights to privacy by limiting the transferability of their records without their consent.

During the school year Dana College publishes a directory, which contains the students’ names, campus addresses, grade classification, photographs, home addresses and local telephone numbers. Other published information includes such things as rosters and results of athletic teams including height and weight and student-athletes, academic achievements, acknowledgements of participation in music and drama events, participation in graduation and achievements in campus organizations. “Directory information” also includes such things as courses of study (majors, minors, etc.), dates of attendance, date of birth, email addresses, class rosters, class schedules, advisor, enrollment status (full- or part-time), and graduation date. Students not wishing to have their names and information as listed above printed in public notices or otherwise released are to notify the Registrar’s Office of that fact by the end of the first week of the Fall Semester.

Dana College supports this act and maintains access for the students to review the validity of their Dana educational records. The Registrar monitors the access to academic records, the Dean of Students monitors access to student life and disciplinary files, and the Dean of Enrollment Management monitors access to application forms.

Dana College normally provides academic information to parents only upon receipt of written permission from the student; however, the College does reserve the right to discuss a student’s academic and other records with parents when it feels such communication is appropriate. Attempts will be made to notify students when academic information is provided to a parent.

In matters other than academic performance, Dana College believes that most college students are at the developmental stage of life where they should be learning how to be personally responsible for their own lives and activities. It is not the College’s practice to contact parents or guardians unless the sharing of information seems necessary and appropriate to protect the student or others from serious harm, or is part of a comprehensive plan to deal with problem behavior. In most cases, an initial effort will be made to work directly with the student. Violations of campus regulations that are serious and/or frequent, or situations in which the student is reluctant to obtain assistance for problem behaviors, are the usual situations, which lead to parental notification.

The principle exception to all of these guidelines is critical medical or personal emergencies, in which case parents may be contacted immediately, with or without the student’s knowledge or prior approval. As part of the college discipline process, Dana College reserves the right to contact parents of students under the age of 21 in cases where there is a violation of the internal alcohol or drug policy.

Copies of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 may be obtained from the Registrar’s Office.

This page was last modified on April 26, 2006.