School Official with Legitimate Educational Interest
Under FERPA, students enrolled in post-secondary educational institutions ‘own’ their education records. These records should be treated as confidential unless prior, written, student consent has been given or disclosure falls under a permissible FERPA exception.
Common FERPA exceptions include release of directory information unless explicitly prohibited by the student and disclosure to school officials with a legitimate educational interest. Currently enrolled students may prevent the release of their directory information by going to https://howdy.tamu.edu and clicking on the “My Information” icon.
Institutions must establish criteria for the designation of school officials, according to their own procedures and requirements for determining them. A school official is a person or entity:
- Employed by the university or the university system in an administrative, supervisory, academic, research, or support staff position;
- Serving on a university governing body or duly authorized panel or committee; or
- Not employed by the university, but who performs an institutional task, function, or service for which the university would otherwise use its own employees and under the direct control of the university with respect to the use and maintenance of education records.
A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the information requested is necessary for that official to fulfill their professional responsibility, such as to:
- Perform appropriate tasks that are specified in their position description or in the performance of regularly assigned duties by their supervisor,
- Fulfill the terms of a contractual agreement,
- Perform a task related to a student’s education,
- Perform a task related to the discipline of a student, or
- Provide a service or benefit relating to the student or student’s family, such as health care, counseling, financial aid, job placement, or former student-related activities.
Practical Implications
A variety of individuals may serve in a Texas A&M University volunteer capacity as a school official, according to FERPA. Examples of this service include, but are not limited to, student service on university committees or faculty/staff service on scholarship selection committees.
Ensuring individuals understand FERPA and its implications on their role and related tasks is essential. There are two Non-Disclosure forms available on the Office of the Registrar website under “FERPA Forms & Resources”. The Office of the Registrar recommends individuals (e.g., community members, students, faculty/staff) complete either the Employee or Volunteer documents prior to serving in a role that includes access to Texas A&M University student education records. University offices should maintain this completed document in their records, following their retention policy.
For additional FERPA information, be sure to review the Office of the Registrar site for FERPA and FERPA Forms & Resources.
An additional training is now available for university personnel on FERPA: Implications for Faculty, Staff & Advisors (TrainTraq #2114557). The current schedule is available within TrainTraq by searching either the course title or number. Individuals within the Office of the Registrar are available to participate in FERPA presentations and/or question and answer sessions for any department or college faculty or staff meeting. To schedule, please call 979-845-1711 or submit a request to ferpa@tamu.edu.
If you have a topic that you are interested in being explored in a future Friday Fun with FERPA, please email ferpa@tamu.edu. Alternatively, you can submit an anonymous form with topic ideas HERE.