FERPA Challenges to Consider | Origin: CM141
This is a general discussion forum for the following learning topic:
FERPA and Privacy: A Practical Approach --> FERPA Challenges to Consider
Post what you've learned about this topic and how you intend to apply it. Feel free to post questions and comments too.
This section heightened my awareness of others laws that may or may not affect FERPA, such as HIPAA, the Solomon Amendment, the U.S. Patriot Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bailey Act and SEVIS. It, again, drives home to me the importance of comprehensive training and regular training updates so employees are fully aware of all of the components of FERPA.
I found the Solomon Amendment very interesting. Student recruiting information elements are defined by law and must be released if requested. The institution has discretion in determining Director Information by recruiting information must be released. Student recruitment information is very similar to Directory Information.
Thankfully, our online students cannot remain anonymous in our threaded discussions. It makes sense that it would be like a discussion in a traditional classroom.
Reply to Lisa Creach's post: I first encountered this when I was the Financial Aid Director at SWKTS and a recruiter came in asking for a list of studentsAt first, I wasn't aware of the Solomon Agreement and wasn't going to give him the information.
The part of this section that I can appreciate relates to online discussions, grade review, etc.
This section introduced me to other important topics other than FERPA like HIPAA, the Solomon Amendment, the U.S. Patriot Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bailey Act and SEVIS. This truly shows how important protecting student information is regardless if the student is on campus or online.
As a nurse, I see many similarities to Hippa (privacy protection for patients) and Ferpa to student privacy.
I was able to learn more about the meaning of the Gramm - Leach - Baily Act with this Act the instituion must explain their information sharing practices to their customers. So when talking to a student I will be able to explain this information to them.
When it comes to protecting students information it is the job of all staff. Talking in the hall about a student may be a violation of FERPA if overheard. HIPAA and FERPA go hand and hand. Students come in with medical issues and sometimes we request health information that must be keep behind a locked door.
It is important to protect the privacy of your students. Something as simple as being included in a Dean’s list could be a violation if it includes GPA and the student did not give written permission to have the list publicly circulated.
This module covered a lot of information. I learned that there are other government programs that superceed the FERPA Act and the government can access information without students consent in certain instances.
This module has a lot of good information. The primary takeaway for me is dont share informaiton. Even positive information like a perfect score cannot be shared without permission.
There is so much information being given and used by people and Schools that you must keep private and don't share unless you have verified documentation of consent by that person to share.
You must think before releasing any information about students. FERPA has strict rules about sharing information however other laws such as Solomon and the Patriot Act can override some protections.
For an on-line class, it is just really best to keep everything withing the LMS. Presentations shouldn't be done on YouTube, unless written permission is received.
I found from this module that other government programs supersede the FERPA Act and the government can access information without students consent in certain instances
I agree with Harold that I was aware of FERPA and HIPPA but I did not know much about Gramm-Leach-Bailey and Solomon Acts. It is great to note that the Third-party vendors are also subjected to the FERPA guidelines. It is slightly unnerving to find out the Solomon Act supersedes most elements of FERPA. We as instructors have to be aware that the new "online" instruction model is subject to the same guidelines.
I didn't know about the Solomon's act until today and it was indeed an interesting act to know, also with today's online learning environment, it can be a very challenging in regards to maintaining FERPA related laws especially when it comes to online discussion postings.
Reply to Kathleen Watts's post:Yes, I totally agree with you Kathleen on this subject related to Dean's list. I didn't think insitutions could ever list student's GPA anyway, but obvious;ly in order for a student to be on the Dean's list, he or she must be maintaining a high level of GPA.
