The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords eligible students certain rights with respect to their education records. An "eligible student" under FERPA is a student who is 18 years of age or older or who attends a postsecondary institution. To read in depth about these rights, please visit the UAA Catalog FERPA page.

If you have additional questions about student privacy rights at the University of Alaska Anchorage, please contact the University Registrar, Lindsey Chadwell, at 907-786-6190.

Rights Under FERPA

1. The right to inspect and review your education record.

   If you want to review your record, you should submit a written request directly to the University Registrar, identifying the records you wish to inspect. UAA is required to provide access to your records within 45 days of receiving your request.

2. The right to request an amendment of your education record if you believe it is inaccurate or misleading. 

   If you feel there is an error in your record, you should submit a written statement to the University Registrar, clearly identifying the part of the record you want changed and why you believe it is inaccurate or misleading. The University Registrar will notify you of their decision and advise you regarding appropriate steps if you do not agree with the decision.

3. The right to provide written consent before the university discloses personally identifiable information from your education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent. 

   One exception which permits disclosure without consent is disclosure to school officials with “legitimate educational interests.” A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official has a “need to know” regarding information from your education record in order to fulfill his or her official responsibilities. Examples of people who may have access, depending on their official duties, and only within the context of those duties, include: university faculty and staff, agents of the institution, students employed by the institution or who serve on official institutional committees, and representatives of agencies under contract with the University.

4. The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the University to comply with the requirements of FERPA.

Release of Student Information

The release of student record information is generally not done at University of Alaska without the expressed, written consent of the student. There are, however, some exceptions.

Information that is considered directory information may be released without the student’s consent. At UAA, we consider the following to be directory information: name; dates of attendance at UAA; program/major field of study; degrees and certificates received, including dates; participating in officially recognized university activities; academic and co-curricular awards, honors, and scholarships received and dates received; enrollment status; weight and height of students on athletic teams; students’ email addresses; and hometown city, state/province and country.

The following is designated as limited directory information and will only be used by university officials for verification purposes and only in conjunction with a legitimate educational interest: student ID (UA ID) and date of birth.

You have the right to withhold the release of directory information. Please note two important details regarding placing a “directory hold” on your record:

1. The directory hold will prevent us from releasing information to verify your enrollment or earned degrees to scholarship organizations, loan agencies, and future employers.
2. The directory hold will also prevent us from listing or releasing your name related to Dean’s and Chancellor’s lists, as well as the commencement program or any other university publication.

A directory hold applies to all elements of directory information on your record. UAA does not apply a directory hold differentially to the various directory information data elements.

You may enable or disable a directory hold in UAOnline.

Resources

You may find a copy of the complete Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), including more details about your rights and any university policies related to FERPA, in the Annual Notifications and Disclosures section of the UAA Catalog or on the UA System FERPA page.

If you have further questions about FERPA or your rights, please feel free to contact the registrar.

Additional Resources

• Student workers should complete the FERPA Statement of Understanding form. It is a DocuSign form and a copy must be forwarded to a supervisor. It can be securely stored in your department's office and does not need to be submitted to the Office of the Registrar.
• Non-university employees who interact with FERPA protected data should sign a FERPA Overview for Non-university Employees.
• Reference Request Form
• UA System FERPA Page
• FERPA Resources from AACRAO
• Faculty and Staff Resources (FERPA training for student employees, staff, and teaching assistants is available in myUA: Learning Library)