Asnuntuck Community College is committed to the secure maintenance of confidential student education records. The information on this page is adapted from Board policy 2.2 last amended June 24, 2021. To review ACC’s “Student Records and Confidentiality” policy in full, please review the current Asnuntuck Community College catalog.

About FERPA:

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that protects the privacy of education records. FERPA applies to all institutions receiving federal funding.

Students who have enrolled at Asnuntuck Community College are considered the “owner” of their post-secondary education records under FERPA (not their parents or legal guardians). Asnuntuck provides current students with notification of their rights under FERPA at least annually via college email.

FERPA affords students specific rights with respect to their education records:

 

FERPA Q&A

Note: Because FERPA rules for post-secondary institutions give rights to students, not to parents or legal guardians, the use of the pronouns “I” and “my” in the questions below indicate student ownership of education records.

An education record is any record maintained by the College which personally identifies a student. These include grades, transcripts, financial aid, student employment, and student conduct records.

Exceptions include:

  • Faculty or staff notes “in the sole possession of the maker” which are not officially maintained by the College
  • Employment records NOT related to student status
    • Note: Only student employment records are protected under FERPA (e.g., Work-Study or Student Labor)
  • Law enforcement records
  • Medical records (other privacy regulations may apply)
  • Alumni records

Note: Colleges may disclose directory information without prior consent, unless a student has exercised the right to refuse to permit Asnuntuck to release directory information.

Students may access the vast majority of their educational records by accessing Banner Student Self-Service. Students seeking additional information should:

  1. Submit to the Registrar, Dean, academic Department Head, or other appropriate College official a written request that identifies the specific record(s) they wish to inspect.
    • If the records are not maintained by the Asnuntuck official to whom the request was submitted, that official shall advise the student of the correct official to whom the request should be addressed.
  1. Respond to Asnuntuck official regarding arrangements for access.
    • The official will notify the student of the time and place where the records may be inspected within 45 days of the date the official receives the request for access.

Information about other students, confidential letters of recommendation, or parent financial records are not reviewable under FERPA.

Students may ask an appropriate Asnuntuck official to amend a record that they believe is inaccurate or in some way violates FERPA. FERPA policies do not provide students a process to challenge assigned grades or other substantive judgments that are correctly recorded.

  1. The student writes to the appropriate College official, clearly identifying the part of the record they want changed, and specify why they believe it is inaccurate or in violation of FERPA.
  2. An Asnuntuck Community College official notifies the student of the decision.
  3. If the College decides not to amend the record as requested by the student, the Asnuntuck official will advise the student of their right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment.
    • Specific information about hearing procedures will be provided to the student when notified of the right to a hearing.

FERPA permits release of student information to school officials with legitimate educational interest. Asnuntuck staff and faculty must have access to information to do their jobs, but only that information which is necessary. Board information technology policy and procedures limit access to student records to only those officials who need-to-know.

Asnuntuck may disclose directory information without prior consent, unless a student has exercised the right to refuse to permit the College to release directory information.

FERPA rules do not mean that college officials must always disclose students’ directory information. College officials have discretion not to disclose when release of students’ directory information is not determined to be in their best interest.

FERPA also permits disclosure of education records without consent in the following circumstances:

  • To comply with a judicial order or a lawfully issued subpoena;
  • To appropriate parties in a health or safety emergency;
  • Information regarding a student’s request for or receipt of financial aid, as necessary to determine the eligibility, amount or conditions of the financial aid, or to enforce the terms and conditions of the aid;
  • To certain officials of the U.S. Department of Education, the Comptroller General, and to state and local educational authorities in connection with certain state or federally supported education programs;
  • To accrediting organizations to carry out their functions;
  • To organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the College;
  • To an alleged victim of a crime of violence, the results of an institutional disciplinary proceeding about that same crime against the alleged perpetrator of that crime.

Students may authorize Asnuntuck officials to share protected information including educational records (e.g., courses completed, grades, and GPA), financial data (e.g., financial aid award amounts, fee bill balances), and other information to certain individuals or organizations via a completed FERPA Release form.

Students may complete, revise, or rescind their consent in writing at any time.

Note: College officials reserve the right under federal law to decline to disclose student information when, in the officials’ judgment, it is not appropriate to release that data.

In compliance with FERPA, transcripts may only be obtained while securely logged in to your student account or with a signed request form. Please refer to Asnuntuck’s “Request a Transcript” web page for details.

CT State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) Information Technology policy defines personally identifiable information (PII) as “(d)ata that can be used to uniquely identify, contact, or locate a single person or can be used with other sources to uniquely identify a single individual.” PII may include full name, Social Security Numbers, date & place of birth, financial records, etc.

For the purposes of FERPA, “School Officials” include, but are not limited to:

  • People employed by ACC in an administrative, supervisory, academic, research or support staff position (including law enforcement/ security personnel, counselors, and health staff)
  • People or companies whom ACC has contracted (such as an attorney, auditor, collection agent or official of the National Student Clearinghouse) who perform an official school service or function
  • People serving on the Board of Regents who are authorized to act on ACC’s behalf
  • Students or volunteers serving on official committees or those who assist other ACC officials in performing their professional responsibilities

School officials have legitimate educational interest if the officials need to review an education record in order to fulfill their professional responsibilities for Asnuntuck Community College.

The Board of Regents for Higher Education has designated the following as public directory information for the CT State Colleges & Universities:

  • Student’s preferred name
  • Permanent mailing address
  • Photographs
  • Dates of attendance
  • Major/ Program of study
  • Degree/ Certificate candidacy
  • Degrees/Certificates earned
  • Academic honors and awards
  • Full vs. part-time student status
  • Anticipated graduation date
  • Actual graduation date

For a complete list of Directory Information by category (information available to the public, military, or college officials), review the full Policy #2-2: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) Notice and Directory Information Policy.

Asnuntuck officials may disclose directory information without prior consent (e.g., publishing student information for Dean’s Lists), unless a student has exercised the right to refuse to permit the College to release directory information.

Note: College officials reserve the right under federal law to decline to disclose student information when, in the officials’ judgment, it is not appropriate to release that data. For example, it is Asnuntuck’s established policy NOT to release en masse the names and addresses of students and parents to most third parties.

 

Per the final regulations of the Solomon Amendment (October 1998) and the Department of Defense (July 2002), military recruiters may request and receive the following information about students aged 17 or older who were registered for at least one credit in an immediately previous, current, or future term:

  • Student’s legal name
  • Permanent mailing address
  • College email address
  • Telephone number
  • Age
  • Place of birth (if known)
  • Class level (e.g., “first year”)
  • Major/ Program of study
  • Degrees/ certificates received
  • Educational institution in which student most recently enrolled (if known)

Asnuntuck will disclose this information without prior consent, unless a student has officially prohibited the College from releasing any directory information.

To prevent ACC officials from releasing directory information to persons and entities outside the college, a student must submit a written request to the Asnuntuck Community College Office of the Registrar. The “Request for Non-Disclosure of Directory Information” form is used for this purpose, though other written requests may be accepted.

Once filed, this prohibition becomes a permanent part of the student’s record until the student instructs the ACC Registrar, in writing, to revoke it.

Students should consider carefully the refusal to release directory information, as this could impede the College’s ability to promptly comply with requests to verify enrollment and degree completion for employment background checks, transfer applications to other schools, etc.

Students who believe the College is in violation of the requirements of FERPA may contact the U.S. Department of Education’s Student Privacy Policy Compliance Office:

Student Privacy Policy Office

U.S. Department of Education

400 Maryland Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20202-4605

https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/file-a-complaint

FERPA.Complaints@ed.gov

Phone: 1-800-USA-LEARN