As a member of the faculty or staff at the College of Charleston, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act(FERPA) defines your ability to access student educational records.

Simply put, College faculty and staff must have a legitimate educational interest to rightfully access a student's educational record.

And they may only access that part of the records that is relevant and necessary to the accomplishment of their specific task.

This includes staff or faculty tasks that are:

• Specified in their position description (academic advising, general counseling, faculty research, varsity and intramural sports)
• Related to a student's education (teaching, cooperative education, Dean, international study)
• A service or benefit to the student or student's family (financial assistance, legal counsel, academic advising, supervising student organizations)
• Maintaining campus security and safety (campus police)

Why can't I have access to ALL our students, not just my advisees and students in my classes?

You must have a legitimate educational interest to access a student's educational record. A school official has a legitimate educational interest when the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her responsibility on behalf of the College of Charleston. See definitions of legal terms for more information.

May I include a student's GPA in a letter of recommendation if the student has asked me to write the recommendation? What can I include in the recommendation? What can't I include?

If you would like to include a student's GPA (or any other personably identifiable information obtained from the education record) in a letter of recommendation, you must obtain a signed release from the student which 1) Specifies the records that may be disclosed; 2) States the purpose of the disclosure; and 3) Identifies the party to whom the disclosure can be made. Personal observations about the student are acceptable to include in a letter of recommendation, and do not require the student's written permission.