Student Records and Confidentiality

Student/Education Record

In most cases, any record generated or received by the College related to a student, whether academic or non-academic, is considered part of that student’s education record and is kept in confidence according to all appropriate federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and policies.  Education records include any records (in handwriting, print, tapes, film, computer, or other medium) maintained by Chattahoochee Technical College that are directly related to a student except:

• A personal record kept by a faculty or staff member if it is kept in the sole possession of the maker of the record, is not accessible or revealed to any other person except a temporary substitute for the maker of the record, and is not used for purposes other than a memory or reference tool. Records that contain information taken directly from a student or that are used to make decisions about the student are not covered by this exception.
• Records created and maintained by a Technical College Law Enforcement Unit for law enforcement purposes.
• An employment record of an individual whose employment is not contingent on the fact that he or she is a student.
• Records made or maintained by a physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, or other recognized professional or paraprofessional if the records are used only for treatment of a student and made available only to those persons providing the treatment.
• Alumni records that contain information about a student after he or she is no longer in attendance at the College and which do not relate to the person as a student.

Education Record Maintenance

Faculty members maintain course assignment grades and submit final grades to the Records Office at the conclusion of each semester. The Director of Records is responsible for the accurate and confidential maintenance of students’ academic records.  Academic transcripts will contain only academic status information.

Financial Aid and other financial records are maintained by the Office of Student Financial Services.

Disciplinary and counseling records are maintained separately from academic records. Official disciplinary records are maintained in the Offices of the Deans of Students and will not be available to unauthorized persons. However, disciplinary action may be recorded within an academic record in cases where it affects the student’s eligibility to register.

Disclosure of Education Records

• A student shall be entitled to a transcript of his/her academic record. Transcripts will be released only upon receipt of a written request that is signed by the student or via online request through providing an individually identifiable student account and authorizing password. There may be a fee associated with providing an official transcript – see fee schedule. NOTE: Transcripts will not be issued to a student or third party whose record indicates financial obligation to the College.
• A student has the right to inspect his/her academic record and is entitled to an explanation of any information recorded on it.
• Documents submitted by or for the student in support of the application for admission or for transfer credit will not be returned to the student nor sent elsewhere at his/her request. In exceptional cases, however, when another transcript is unobtainable or can be secured only with greatest difficulty, copies may be prepared and released to prevent hardship to the student. The student must present a signed request for this procedure, and the determination of need will be at the discretion of the Director of Records, whose decision will be final.
• Students may sign a waiver of access to allow third party individuals to have access to their academic records. The waiver must be in writing and submitted to the Records Office.
• Parents of students termed “dependent” for income tax purposes also have access to the student’s education records. As verification of the student’s dependent status, the requesting parent(s) will need to provide a copy of the most recent tax return to the Director of Records. Except in the case of dependent students, parents have no access to the records of students in postsecondary institutions.

Compliance with FERPA and GLB

Chattahoochee Technical College adheres to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 and the Technical College System of Georgia procedures concerning the accuracy and privacy of student education records. (TCSG Policy V.J.) In compliance with FERPA, students at Chattahoochee Technical College have the right to assurance that the records compiled and maintained by the College are recorded accurately and retained in confidence.

Chattahoochee Technical College also complies with the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, also known as the “Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act” or GLB Act, which includes provisions to protect consumers’ personal information held by financial institutions, including postsecondary institutions. The GLB Act requires that schools have in place an information security program to ensure the security and confidentiality of customer information, protect against anticipated threats to the security or integrity of such information, and guard against the unauthorized access to or use of such information.  There are three principal parts to the privacy requirements:  the Financial Privacy Rule, Safeguards Rule and pretexting (sometimes referred to as “social engineering”) provisions.   Additional information on the GLB Act can found at www.ftc.gov/privacy/glbact/.

Reference:

FERPA Policy

TCSG State Policy:V.J. Student Records