Comment on Terrence Mentzos's post:
Your reflection captures the dual nature of FERPA compliance well — both a legal requirement and a relational discipline. The module's framework genuinely covers annual notifications, individual requests, and ongoing institutional practice as integrated elements rather than as separate concerns.
Your point about the overlap between PII and Directory Information stood out to me. The module's emphasis on the idea that institutions DEFINE what counts as Directory Information — within FERPA's limits — creates real institutional discretion. Some institutions are more permissive, others more conservative, and the same data element might be Directory Info at one school and not at another. This complexity makes student opt-out decisions even more important, since students cannot assume institutions handle their data the same way.
Your insight about honoring opt-out choices to help students feel safe resonated deeply. Privacy is not just legal compliance — it's about trust. When students know their preferences are respected, they engage more openly with institutional life. When they feel their privacy choices are ignored or treated as inconvenient, they disengage and become guarded.
In my context as College Director at an Early College Center, your point about respecting student rights applies in unique ways. Our dual-enrollment students are navigating both high school and college environments, which sometimes have different privacy norms. Treating their college-level FERPA rights with the seriousness they deserve communicates to them that they're being treated as adults entering higher education — which is part of what Early College is meant to model.
Thank you for highlighting the relational dimension of compliance.
With Benevolence, Shannon
