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This statement is
issued by Smith College in accordance with the United States
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA)
as amended. The purpose of the act is to give students
and former students access to their official records at
the college, to provide an opportunity to correct inaccurate
or misleading statements and to ensure that records are
not released to unauthorized persons without the consent
of the student.
According to the
terms of the act, access may be provided to administrative
officers and members
of the
faculty who
have legitimate interest, to certain specified agents of
the government for the purposes of enforcement and study,
to military personnel for recruitment purposes, and to
other educational agents and institutions in connection
with applications for admission and requests for financial
aid. All authorized persons outside the college who request
access will be required to file a written, signed statement
of purpose; this statement will be kept on file and will
be made available for inspection only to the student upon
request.
Transcripts of or information
concerning student records will be released to other persons
outside the college
only
with the written consent of the student or upon subpoena,
in which case the student will be notified. The act stipulates
that the student’s written consent indicate which
records are to be released, the reasons for such release
and to whom the copies are to be released. A copy of the
material to be released may be requested by the student.
Certain information, designated
as “directory information,” may
be released without consent.
At Smith College, this information
includes the following: name, home address (while in college),
college address
and telephone, parents' names and addresses, e-mail address, photos and digital images, dates of attendance, majors/minors,
degrees and awards, extracurricular activities (if known)
and most recent previously attended institution (i.e.,
preparatory school or college). A student or former student
who is unwilling to have this information given to inquirers
without consent should notify the Office of the Registrar
in writing. In the case of former students, the college
reserves the right to verify degrees. Students may authorize the release of information from their education records to their parents by completing the appropriate form at the registrar's office.
Students’ official
records include records, files, documents and other materials
containing information directly
related to a student that are maintained by the college.
They do not include notes kept by instructors, advisers
or deans for their own use and available to them only;
such notes are maintained by individual administrators
and are destroyed when no longer relevant or useful.
Records
maintained by the Health Services to provide treatment
to the student are not available to anyone other than the
persons providing the treatment, but such records can be
reviewed by a physician or other appropriate professional
with the written consent of the student.
Records may be released in certain
cases of health or safety emergency. They may be sent to parents
of a dependent student of such parents as defined in section
152 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. It is the policy
of the college to notify both the student and her parents
in writing of probationary status, dismissal and certain academic
warnings.
In communications with parents concerning other matters, it
is normally college policy to respect the privacy of the student
and not to disclose information from student education records
without the prior consent of the student. At the request of
the student, such information will be provided to parents
and guardians.
Confidential letters and statements of recommendation placed
in the record prior to January 1, 1975, are not accessible
to students. Students may waive their right of access to statements
written after that date provided such waiver is not required
by the institution and the statements are used for no purpose
other than that for which they were written.
Student records at Smith are described in the academic life
section of the student handbook. Procedures for students who
wish to consult their records are as follows:
Questions concerning the files or requests for correction
should be made in writing and left with the registrar
or the director of the Career Development Office to be
brought
to the attention of the official in charge of the particular
record. If the official in charge is not able or willing
to make the correction requested, the case shall be brought
to the registrar, the dean of the college and the president. |
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