Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act(FERPA) in AY 2020 - 2021
Dr. James Castagnera, Esq.
Jim Castagnera holds an M.A. in Journalism from Kent State University and a J.D. and Ph.D. (American Studies) from Case Western Reserve University. He practiced law for 36 years, before retiring in June 2019: 10 years as a labor, employment and intellectual-property attorney with Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr; 3 years as general counsel for Wharton Econometric Forecasting Associates; and 23 years as the associate provost & legal counsel for academic affairs at Rider University.
Currently, he devotes his full-time to writing, teaching, and training. He is the chief consultant for Holland Media Services, LLC, freelance writing, training, and communications company headquartered in Los Angeles, and a founder of LMC Conflict Training & Conciliation, Inc., a non-profit corporation located in Greater Philadelphia.
The Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) governs the disclosure of student records and information. If any faculty member, administrator, department, or office maintains records on a student, those records are educational records and must comply with the laws and regulations under FERPA. Often, College and university faculty and administrators are not familiar with the requirements of this and other related laws that demand such records and information to remain confidential except in limited circumstances.
Com locating the issue, since the 2007 shooting tragedy at Virgínia Tech, the U.S. Department of Education has actively encouraged university faculty and staff to share information about their students, especially where a student appears to present a threat to himself or others in the campus community. join this session by expert speaker James, attorney at law, as he takes you step-by-step through the underlying case law and offers school administrators practiced step-by-step guidance for navigating this sensitive area of the law and avoiding allegations of impropriety.
Areas Covered
Just a sampling of what this webinar will cover:
- What are and are not student records under FERPA
- When parents and students can and cannot access their records
- When you shouldn't, and when you absolutely should, share student records with colleagues
- What training you should offer/require for administrators, faculty, and staff
- What actions you should take when a FERPA violation comes to your attention
- How to protect yourself and your institution from defamation and invasion of privacy suits
- How to balance confidentiality and due-process rights
- What are the best practices and legal requirements with regard to maintaining and destroying student records
- Review how directory information differs from an education record
- Get practical step-by-step guidance for handling specific types of records and requests for records
- Review the process for amending education records and much more!
Course Level - Advance
Who Should Attend
- Administrators and Administrative assistants handling student data
- Faculty members
- Student Services Personnel
- Technology Administrators and Staff
- Campus Healthcare Providers and Staff members
Why Should You Attend
Students and their records can also be caught up in issues involving faculty and staff. In one current California case the plaintiff, a former faculty member denied tenure, is seeking access to student evaluations of her classes and those of former colleagues who were granted tenure. In an ongoing New Jersey case, a terminated coach has asked the labor arbitrator assigned to her grievance to exclude from the case unfavorable exit interviews of her graduating-senior athletes. These are just two examples in which legal forums are struggling to balance students’ privacy rights with the rights of litigants to have their“day in court.” Last, but not least, universities’ growing use of social media creates fresh opportunities to run afoul of FERPA.
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