Student Records Privacy-FERPA

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

The Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords students three basic rights:

The right to inspect and review their education records.
The right to have some control over the disclosure of their education records.
The right to seek the amendment of incorrect education records.

FERPA applies to all institutions that receive funds administered by the Secretary of Education. FERPA applies to the education records of individuals, regardless of age, who are currently, or who have been, in attendance in postsecondary institutions. Education records are those records which are directly related to a student and are maintained by an institution or a party acting for the institution. Additional information and details about UNG’s Student Education Records Policy can be located in the UNG Policy Portal.

Annual Notification
Notification of Student Rights under FERPA

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords students certain rights with respect to their education records. These rights include:

The right to inspect and review the student's education records within 45 days of the day the College receives a request for access. Students should submit to the registrar, dean, head of the academic department, or other appropriate official, written requests that identify the record(s) they wish to inspect. The College official will make arrangements for access and notify the student of the time and place where the records may be inspected. If the records are not maintained by the College official to whom the request was submitted, that official shall advise the student of the correct official to whom the request should be addressed.

The right to request the amendment of the student's education records that the student believes is inaccurate. Students may ask the College to amend a record that they believe is inaccurate. They should write the College official responsible for the record, clearly identify the part of the record they want changed and specify why it is inaccurate. If the College decides not to amend the record as requested by the student, the College will notify the student of the decision and advise the student of his or her right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the student when notified of the right to a hearing.

Student Education Records, other than Directory Information, are private and shall not be disclosed except as appropriate and to the extent permissible under federal and state laws as follows:

To the student;

To School Officials with a Legitimate Educational Interest in the information;

To persons specifically authorized by the student in writing to receive the information;

To other educational institutions in which the student seeks to enroll or is already enrolled so long as the disclosure is for purposes related to the student’s enrollment or transfer;

To other organizations conducting certain types of studies for or on behalf of the University;

To persons in compliance with a court order or lawfully issued subpoena;

To appropriate members of the court system when legal actions against the University are initiated by the student and the disclosure is part of the University’s defense;

To appropriate persons in connection with health and safety emergencies;

To an accrediting organization and state or federal education authorities using information for auditing, evaluating, or enforcing legal requirements of educational programs;

To appropriate persons or agencies in connection with a student’s application for or receipt of financial aid to determine eligibility, amount, or conditions of financial aid or to enforce the terms and conditions of the aid;

To parents of a dependent student as defined under the Internal Revenue Code;

The final results of a disciplinary proceeding that a student has violated an institutional rule or policy in connection with a crime of violence or non-forcible sex offense; and

Disclosures concerning sex offenders and other persons required to register as offenders under federal law.

The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the University of North Georgia to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the Office that administers FERPA is:

Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202-4605

Student Directory Information
UNG has designated the items listed below as Directory Information. This information may be disclosed without the student’s prior written consent unless the student has opted out of such disclosure:

Student's name

Hometown

Institution-assigned email address. Under this category, an institution-assigned email address may be disclosed without consent only to other, current students. In addition, students may not request email listings of the entire student body or segments thereof, except for academic purposes.

Major field of study

Enrollment status (e.g.,full-time, part-time)

Participation in officially recognized activities and sports

Dates of attendance

Degrees, honors, and awards received

Thesis/Dissertation title

The most recent educational institution attended

Height & weight of athletes

Class level

Under the provisions of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, students have the right to withhold the disclosure of the categories of "Directory Information." Students who do not want their directory/public information released to third parties must complete the Request for Non-Disclosure of Directory Information Form (PDF). Students must submit the signed consent form in person with photo ID to the Office of the Registrar. Students must submit this signed consent form within two weeks of the first day of enrollment for the semester in which they first attend UNG to ensure that their Directory Information is not reported to any external third parties.

FERPA for Parents and Family
Except under conditions specified in the Act, institutions may not disclose information contained in a student's education records to any third party, including parents, without the student's written permission.

Do parents have a right of access to their student’s educational records?

Although parents do not have a right to these records, the university is permitted to share these records with the parents if the student authorizes that access. The University of North Georgia utilizes the UNG Family Network to provide and manage that access

Requesting access to your student's educational records

A parent can initiate a request for access to their student's information through the UNG Family Network.

FERPA authorization only grants access to information, it does not grant the right to act on the student’s behalf.

The FERPA authorization will remain valid until rescinded by the student.

Joining the UNG Family Network

The UNG Family Network will allow you to connect to your student by sending them a request to access their records. On the day after the request is approved, you will have access to view their authorized information. The data will be updated nightly

Parents and Family Members can Join the UNG Family Network for Free

Go to ung.campusesp.com and either sign in or sign up.

Complete a quick on-boarding survey, if prompted

Update your profile. Users can click the person icon in the top right corner of the page and click “Edit my Profile.”

Update notification settings. Users can click the person icon in the top right corner of the page and click “Edit Notification Preferences.” You can get alerts when something changes!

Connecting to Your Student

To connect to your student, click the graduation cap icon in the top-right corner of the page. Please note that your student must approve the request. Only then will you be able to access their information the following day.

Enter their ung.edu email address. Please note that families cannot request a connection to students who have recently been admitted but have not registered for classes. Connections are only possible after a student has registered for classes.

Parents and family can request access to:

Class Schedule/Enrollment Information

Grade(s) Information

Holds on Account

Financial Aid Information

Account Balance

Having trouble connecting to your student?

Cancel the request by clicking on the graduation cap. Click “Go to my connections,” click on the connection you’d like to cancel, scroll to the bottom, then click "Cancel this connection."

Start a new request with the student's correct email address.

Student gets an email and approves your request.

When students accept their parent or family member’s request, they must accept the connection and then must approve the FERPA requests. Parents and family members can either request everything or choose à la carte what they would like to see. Similarly, the student can either grant access to everything, or pick and choose what they would like their supporters to have access to. Students can revoke access at any time by logging into the UNG Family Network with their UNG username and password.

Forgot your PIN?

During the process of requesting access to your student’s record, you’ll be asked to create a PIN. You’ll need to remember this PIN – if your connection request is approved by your student and you need to call for information about your student’s records, you’ll need to use that number to confirm your identity and your ability to access your student’s record.

If you can’t remember your PIN, you follow the steps below to reset it:

Log in to your UNG Family Network account

Click on the graduation cap icon at the top right side of the page

Click on 'Go to My Connections'

Choose the connection you need to adjust.

Click on ''Forgot PIN?' Click to reset'

Resources

Department of Education

Questions concerning this law and the College’s procedures regarding release of academic information may be directed to the Registrar’s Office.

Model Notification of Rights under FERPA for Postsecondary Institutions

FERPA for Students
Students who wish to share FERPA protected records with your parents, family, or support person may grant or approve access through the UNG Family Network.

Approving Requested Access

If you have a request outstanding in the UNG Family Network, you’ll receive an email.

You can select the button to “Click here to approve this request” if you would like.

You can also grant access by going to the UNG Family Network and selecting the link that says “Are you faculty or a student? Log in here"

You will be taken to a sign-in page. Enter your UNG Username and Password and select “Log In.”

You will be taken to a sign-in page. Enter your UNG Username and Password and select “Log In.”

Select the connection request for which you would like to approve access.

Select the records for which you would like to edit access. You may select to share all records or to individually select the records you'd like to share with the person who requested access. Select “Grant Access.”

If the update to your connection was successful, you'll be taken back to the Connections screen and see a green banner at the top confirming that the connection has been updated.

Granting New Access

To grant access, go to the UNG Family Network and select on the link that says “Are you faculty or a student? Log in here."

You will be taken to a sign-in page. Enter your UNG eRaider or email and Password and select “Log In.”

After you log in, you will be taken to the Connections page where you can select “Add My First Connection.”

Enter the person’s email address and use the drop-down menu to select their relationship to you. Select “Continue.”

Select the records you would like to share. You may either select to share all available records or individually select the records you'd like to grant access

You will see a green banner at the top of the page if your connection request has been successfully sent to the person you granted access to. They will receive an email detailing your connection request. You'll receive an email notification if the person confirms your connection request to view aspects of your student record. And now, feel free to repeat this process if you would like to grant access to additional parents, family members, supporters, etc. You can grant access to anyone who supports you!

FERPA for Faculty and Staff
The Family and Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law regarding the privacy of student records and the obligations of the institution, primarily in the areas of release of the records and the access to these records. Any educational institution that receives funds under any program administered by the U.S. Secretary of Education is bound by FERPA requirements. Institutions that fail to comply with FERPA may have funds administered by the Secretary of Education withheld.

While FERPA allows schools to disclose student education records without consent in certain situations, generally, schools must have written permission from a student to release any information from a student's education record to any party not meeting a stated exceptions. Contact the Registrar's office for more information. Parents, spouses, other students, even staff and faculty who do not have a legitimate educational interest should not access the student's information. It is the responsibility of al University of North Georgia employees who have access to student information to safeguard that information.

UNG Family Network

The UNG Family Network allows parents and family members to connect with their student(s) by sending them a request to access their records. The day after the request is approved by the student, they will have access to view their information. Before you release any information about a student you must first check that the parent or family member is authorized through the UNG Family Network.

Verifying Student Consent to Release Information

As UNG faculty or staff you can log in to UNG Family Network using your UNG Single Sign-On:

At the log in prompt, select the "Are you faculty or a student" link.

Once you are logged in, select the "Profile" icon at the top right

From the drop-down menu, select "Admin" to access the admin area

In the "Students" field, enter one of the following to search

Student ID Number (preferred)

Student Email

Student First Name

Student Last Name

The student's UNG email address will be displayed. Click on the email address to continue

Enter the Validation PIN

While the website does allow "Parent email address" as a verification option, we ask that you only use the PIN that authorized person should vide in order to safely and securely verify their identity.

If the parent or individual on the phone provides you with a correct PIN, green verified boxes with information granted will appear

Student Records Privacy-FERPA

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

UNG Family Network

Verifying Student Consent to Release Information