Current through Register Vol. 24-24, December 15, 2024
(1) The university shall not permit access to
or the release of education records or personally identifiable information
contained therein, other than "directory information," (as defined in
subsection (5) of this section), without the written consent of the student to
any party other than the following:
(a) School
officials with a legitimate educational interest. A school official is a person
employed by WSU in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or
support staff position (including health staff and WSU police); a person or
company with whom the university has contracted (such as an attorney, auditor,
or collection agent); a person serving on the board of trustees; or a student
serving on an official committee (such as a disciplinary or grievance
committee, or assisting another school official in performing his or her
tasks). A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official
needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her educational
responsibilities.
(b) Federal and
state officials requiring access to education records in connection with the
audit and evaluation of a federally- or state-supported education program or in
connection with the enforcement of federal or state legal requirements which
relate to such programs. In such cases the information required shall be
protected by the federal or state official in a manner which will not permit
the personal identification of students and their parents to other than those
officials, and such personally identifiable data shall be destroyed when no
longer needed for such audit, evaluation or enforcement of legal
requirements.
(c) Persons or
organizations, other than parents or legal guardians, providing to the student
financial aid, or determining financial aid decisions concerning eligibility,
amount, condition, and enforcement of terms of said aid.
(d) Organizations conducting studies for or
on behalf of the university for purposes of developing, validating or
administering predictive tests, administering student aid programs, and
improving instruction, if such studies are conducted in such a manner as will
not permit the personal identification of students by persons other than
representatives of such organizations, and such information will be destroyed
when no longer needed for the purposes for which it was provided.
(e) Education records may be used for
legitimate academic research; provided that
(i) The procedures utilized and the reported
findings do not violate the student's confidence;
(ii) Students' names will not be included in
the study or in any way linked with the data;
(iii) Case histories and case records are
sufficiently disguised to prevent identification of the individuals involved;
and
(iv) The student's written
permission is obtained where individual identification occurs.
(f) Accrediting organizations in
order to carry out their accrediting functions.
(g) Any person or entity designated by
judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena, upon condition that a reasonable
attempt has been made to notify the student of all such orders or subpoenas in
advance of the compliance therewith unless the subpoena is issued for a law
enforcement purpose or is issued by a federal grand jury and the court or other
issuing agency has ordered that the existence of the subpoena not be disclosed.
Any university employee or office receiving a subpoena or judicial order for
education records should immediately notify the WSU division of the office of
the attorney general.
(h) Parents
or legal guardians of a student who have established that student's status as
their dependent according to Internal Revenue Code.
(i) An alleged victim of any crime of
violence or nonforcible sexual offense, as they are defined in Appendix A to 34
C.F.R. Part 99, shall be informed of the results of any disciplinary proceeding
conducted by WSU against the alleged perpetrator of that crime with respect to
that crime.
(j) To the office of
the attorney general when disclosure is to comply with a judicial order or to
provide legal advice.
(k) WSU may
provide to parents or guardians of students under age twenty one information
regarding violations of federal, state, or local laws or the university's
conduct code where such violations concern the use or possession of alcohol or
controlled substances and where WSU determines that those students have
committed such violations.
(l) When
either the student initiates legal action against WSU or when WSU initiates
legal action against the student, WSU may disclose to the court any educational
records of the student that are relevant to the legal action.
(m) Information may be disclosed in
conformance with other exceptions to the prior written consent requirement of
the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and implementing regulations
found at 34 C.F.R. § 99 . A copy of these regulations may be obtained from
the Office of the Registrar.
(2) Where the consent of a student is
obtained for the release of education records, it shall be in writing, signed
and dated by the person giving such consent, and shall include:
(a) A specification of the records to be
released,
(b) The reasons for such
release, and
(c) The identity of
the parties to whom such records will be released unless the nature of the
activity is such that advance identification of recipients is not possible such
as employment assistance provided by the university office of career services
and placement, in which case an effort will be made to identify recipients of
information as they become known.
(3) In cases where records are made available
without student consent as permitted by subsection (1)(b), (c), (d), (e), (f),
and (g) of this section (except in cases where the subpoena prohibits
disclosure), subsection (1)(i) of this section and, when required by law,
subsection (1)(m) of this section the university shall maintain a record which
will indicate the parties which have requested or obtained access to a
student's records maintained by the university and which will indicate the
legitimate interest of the requesting party.
(4) Personally identifiable education records
released to third parties, with or without student consent, shall be
accompanied by a written statement indicating that the information cannot be
subsequently released in a personally identifiable form to any other parties
without obtaining consent of the student unless such disclosures are made
pursuant to subsection (1)(g), (h), (j), (k), or (l) of this section or the
information released is directory information as defined in subsection (5) of
this section.
(5) The term
"directory information" used in subsection (1) of this section is defined as
student's name (including any former name), local and permanent addresses and
telephone numbers, electronic mail address(es), major and minor fields of
study, participation in officially recognized activities in sports, weight and
height of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance, enrollment status
(e.g., undergraduate or graduate; full-time or part-time), grade level,
degrees, status as graduate assistant and assignment, certificates, and awards
received including the president's honor roll, and the most recent previous
educational institution attended by the student. Students may request that the
university not release directory information by filing a request on-line or
with the office of payroll services.
(6) Information from education records may be
released to appropriate persons in connection with an emergency if the
knowledge of such information is necessary to protect the health or safety of a
student or other person(s).
Statutory Authority: RCW 28B.30.150. 09-04-060, §
504-21-050, filed 2/2/09, effective 3/5/09; 01-19-027, § 504-21-050, filed
9/13/01, effective 10/14/01. Statutory Authority:
RCW
28B.30.150 and
20 U.S.C.
1232 g. 95-07-043, § 504-21-050, filed
3/8/95, effective 4/8/95; Order 77-1, § 504-21-050, filed
5/2/77.
