FERPA:
Family Educational Rights and
Privacy Act
Responsibilities of a TA…
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Academic honesty
Confidentiality
Record keeping
Fairness
Students with disabilities
Avoiding the perception of harassment
Dealing with challenging students
FERPA (“Buckley Amendment”):
What is it?
• A federal law administered, interpreted and
enforced by the Family Policy Compliance
Office (FCPO) in the U.S. Department of
Education
• Enacted in 1974
• Privacy of student records
• Continually amended as higher education
evolves
FERPA (“Buckley Amendment”):
To whom does it apply?
• All educational institutions (e.g.,
universities) that receive funding under any
program administered by the Department
of Education
• Eligible students (mutually exclusive):
– have reached 18 years of age
– attending a postsecondary institution
FERPA (“Buckley Amendment”):
What does it afford eligible students?
• The right to review and inspect educational
records within 45 days of request
• The right to seek to have their records
amended
• The right to have control over the disclosure of
personally identifiable information from their
records
• The right to file a complaint with the
Department
FERPA (“Buckley Amendment”):
What are education records?
• Those records that contain information
directly related to a student and which are
maintained by an educational agency or
institution or by a party acting for the
agency or institution
– enrollment records, transcripts, course
assignment grades, attendance rosters,
examinations, student papers, student
evaluations, class rosters, advising notes
FERPA (“Buckley Amendment”):
What are not considered education
records?
• Notes used as a memory aid and not
shared with anyone else
• Observations
• Data compiled in the aggregate
FERPA (“Buckley Amendment”):
What does this mean for you as a TA?
• You must keep student records confidential
– No disclosure of any personal identifying
information of any student
– No discussion of a student’s performance
in your course with anyone other than
the course professor
FERPA (“Buckley Amendment”):
What does this mean for you as a TA?
• Any emails sent on behalf of a faculty member should
be sent to the student’s suffolk.edu email only
• All materials pertaining to a student must be kept
secure at all times on all devices where these records
are kept in any medium
• Return records when they are no longer needed
• Grades should never be posted in a public setting by
student name or number, SSN, examination number
• Graded exams should never be passed around in class
FERPA (“Buckley Amendment”):
Additional Resources
Clifford Ramirez, 2008. FERPA: Clear and Simple. Jossey-Bass,
San Francisco (available in the CTE Lending Library)
U.S. Department of Education:
http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/students.ht
ml
Suffolk Law School:
http://www.law.suffolk.edu/offices/deanofstu/handbook/pol
icies/family.cfm
Case Studies
• Case Study # 1: You are TAing for a course where
you know several of the students and have
socialized with them in the past. One weekend
after the midterm, several of you go out to a local
bar with some other students and various
partners and spouses. While Joe is in the
bathroom, his wife, Jane, pulls you aside
concerned about Joe’s midterm grade. Jane is a
year ahead of Joe in school and wants to help him
study, so she asks you about the areas of the
course where he needs the most help. What do
you do?
• Case Study # 2 – Part 1: You are two weeks into TAing
for a course and several students have approached
you very upset about Professor Smith. The students
feel that Professor Smith is rude to them in class,
dismissive of their questions, and generally
unapproachable. One student in particular, after
complaining at length, challenges you by saying, “you
see it too, right?” What if you agree with the student
complaints based on your first-hand
experience? What if you disagree with the student
complaints because you feel that the students need
to toughen up if they want to be lawyers? How do
you respond?
• Case Study # 2 – Part 2: Since five different
students have approached you about Professor
Smith with similar concerns about rudeness and
his response to students’ questions, you feel that
you should say something to Professor Smith.
How do you approach Professor Smith about this
issue?