The purpose of this student records policy is to establish rules and procedures that appropriately implement the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. §1232g). Skagit Valley College is committed to safeguarding appropriate access to student educational records as well as to maintaining individual student privacy. This chapter replaces chapters 132D-130 (Student records) and 132D-280 (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) WAC.

(1) Generally, students have the right to review and copy their education records. Students also have the right to challenge the content of, the release of, or denial of access to their education records.

(2) The college normally will not permit access to or release of the student's education records to the public without authorization by the student, though some exceptions exist. Please see below for a complete description of the policy.

(3) The college may release directory information concerning a student unless the student requests in writing that directory information not be released.

For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the indicated meanings:

(1) "Student" shall mean any person who is or has been officially registered at and attending Skagit Valley College and with respect to whom the college maintains education records or personally identifiable information.

(2) "Education records" shall refer:

(a) To those records, files, documents, and other materials maintained by Skagit Valley College or by a person acting for Skagit Valley College which contain information directly related to a student;

(b) To records relating to an individual in attendance at the college who is employed as a result of his or her status as a student.

However, records made and maintained by the college in the normal course of business which relate exclusively to a person's capacity as an employee are not education records.

(3) The term "education records" does not include the following:

(a) Records of instructional, supervisory, or administrative personnel and educational personnel ancillary thereto which are in the sole possession of the maker thereof and which are not accessible or revealed to any other person except a substitute;

(b) Records of the college's department of safety and security, maintained solely for law enforcement purposes, disclosed only to law enforcement officials, and maintained separately from education records in subsection (2) of this section, but only if said law enforcement personnel do not have access to the records under WAC 132D-125-080; or

(c) Records concerning a student which are created or maintained by a physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, or other recognized professional or paraprofessional acting in his or her professional or paraprofessional capacity, or assisting in that capacity, and which are created, maintained, or used only in connection with the provision of treatment to the student and are not available to anyone other than persons providing such treatment, except that such records may be personally reviewed by a physician or other appropriate professional of the student's choice.

(4) "Personally identifiable information" shall refer to data or information which includes either:

(a) The name of a student, the student's parent, or other family member;

(b) The address of the student;

(c) The address of the student's family;

(d) A personal identifier, such as the student's Social Security number or student number;

(e) A list of personal characteristics which would make it possible to identify the student with reasonable certainty; or

(f) Other information which would make it possible to identify the student with reasonable certainty.

(5) "Dean of administrative and student services" shall refer to the dean of administrative and student services or his or her designee.

All college individuals or offices having custody of education records will develop procedures in accordance with WAC 132D-125-030 through 132D-125-100. Any supplementary regulations found necessary by departments will be filed with the college's records committee, which will be responsible for periodic review of policy and procedures.

(1) Disciplinary records shall be kept separate from academic records, and transcripts or a student's academic record shall contain no notation of any disciplinary action. Special precautions shall be exercised to ensure that information from disciplinary or counseling files is not revealed to unauthorized persons. Provision shall be made for periodic review and routine destruction of inactive disciplinary records by offices maintaining such records.

(2) No records shall be kept that reflect a student's political or ideological beliefs or associations.

(1) Except as provided in WAC 132D-125-035, each student at Skagit Valley College shall have access to his or her education records. The right of access shall include the right to inspect, review, and obtain copies of education records.

(2) The dean of administrative and student services shall prepare and maintain a list of the types of student education records which are maintained by Skagit Valley College.

(3) A student wishing access to his or her education records shall submit a written request for access to the dean of administrative and student services. A request for access shall be acted upon by the dean of administrative and student services within a reasonable period of time, not to exceed ten days.

(4) The dean of administrative and student services shall provide students for the college with an opportunity for reasonable access to education records, provided that the dean of administrative and student services shall be responsible for taking appropriate measures to safeguard and ensure the security and privacy of the institution's records while being inspected by students.

(5) The dean of administrative and student services will inform in writing a student who has requested access to his or her education records of the nature of any records which are being withheld from the student on the basis of the exceptions set forth in WAC 132D-125-080 and 132D-125-085. A student may challenge a decision by the dean of administrative and student services to withhold certain of the student's records by filing an appeal with the grievance review committee, WAC 132D-125-060.

(6) Where requested records or data include information on more than one student, the student shall be entitled to receive or be informed of only that part of the record or data that pertains to the student.

(7) Students have the right to obtain copies of their education records. Charges for the copies shall not exceed the cost normally charged by the college (except in cases where charges have previously been board of trustee action for certain specified services), such as transcripts and grade sheets.

(8) The section shall not prohibit the college registrar from providing a student with a copy of the student's academic transcript without prior clearance from the dean of administrative and student services.

(1) Skagit Valley College shall not make available to a student the following types of materials:

(a) The financial records of the student's parents or any information contained therein.

(b) Letters or statements of recommendation, evaluation, or comment which were provided to the college in confidence, either expressed or implied, prior to January 1, 1975, provided that such letters or statements shall not be used for purposes other than those for which they were originally intended.

(c) If a student has signed a waiver of the student's right of access in accordance with subsection (2) of this section, confidential records relating to the following:

(i) Admission to any educational agency or institution;

(ii) An application for employment; or

(iii) The receipt of an honor or honorary recognition.

(2) A student, or a person applying for admission to the college, may waive his or her right of access to the type of confidential records referred to in subsection (1)(c) of this section, provided that such waiver shall apply only if the student is, upon request, notified of the names of all persons making confidential recommendations, and such recommendations are used solely for the specific purpose for which the waiver has been granted. The college is not allowed to require such waivers as a condition for admission to, receipt of financial aid from, or receipt of other services or benefits from the college.

(3) If any material or document in the education record of a student includes information concerning more than one student, the student shall only have the right either to inspect and review that portion of the material or document which relates to the student or to be informed of the specific information contained in that portion of the material or document.

(1) The dean of administrative and student services shall, at the request of a student, provide the student with copies of the student's education records. The fees for providing such copies shall not exceed the actual cost to the university of providing the copies.

(2) Official copies of transcripts from other educational institutions, such as high school or other college transcripts, will not be provided to students by the college.

The dean of administrative and student services shall respond to reasonable requests for explanations or interpretations of the contents of student education records.

(1) Any student who believes that inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise inappropriate data is contained within his or her education records shall be permitted to have included within the record a written explanation by the student concerning the content of the records.

(2) A student shall have the right, in accordance with the procedures set forth in WAC 132D-125-055 and 132D-125-060, to:

(a) Challenge the content of education records in order to ensure that the records are not inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the privacy or other rights of the students;

(b) Have the opportunity to correct or delete inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise inappropriate data contained within education records;

(c) Challenge the release of education records to specific persons as contrary to the provisions of this chapter; and

(d) Challenge a decision by the college to deny the student access to particular types of records.

(3) A student shall not be permitted under this chapter to challenge the validity of grades given in academic courses, except on the grounds that, as a result of clerical error, the student's records fail to accurately reflect the grades actually assigned by an instructor.

A student wishing to exercise the rights set forth in WAC 132D-125-050(2) shall first discuss with the dean of administrative and student services the nature of the corrective action sought by the student. Failing resolution, the student may seek formal corrective action under WAC 132D-125-030(5).

(1) If informal proceedings fail to resolve the complaint of a student, the student may file with the dean of administrative and student services a written request for a hearing before the grievance review committee of the college.

(2) Within a reasonable time after submission of a request for hearing, the student rights and responsibilities committee shall conduct a hearing concerning the student's request for corrective action.

The student and the college shall be given a full opportunity to present relevant evidence at the hearing before the student rights and responsibilities committee.

(3) If a student demonstrates that the student's education records are inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the privacy or other rights of the student, the student rights and responsibilities committee shall have authority to order the correction or deletion of inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise inappropriate data contained in the records.

(4) If a student demonstrates that the release of the student's education records would be improper under this chapter, the student rights and responsibilities committee shall have authority to order that the records not be released.

(5) If a student demonstrates that the student is entitled to access to particular documents under this chapter, the student rights and responsibilities committee shall have authority to order that the student be permitted access to the records.

(6) The decision of the student rights and responsibilities committee shall be rendered in writing within a reasonable period of time after the conclusion of the hearing.

The college shall not permit access to or the release of a student's education records or personally identifiable information contained therein to any person without the written consent of the student, except as provided in WAC 132D-125-080, 132D-125-085, or 132D-125-090.

Where the consent of a student is required under WAC 132D-125-070 for the release of education records or personally identifiable materials contained therein, the student's consent shall be in writing, shall be signed and dated by the student, and shall include a specification of the records to be released, the reasons for such release, and the names of the parties to whom the records may be released.

(1) The college may permit the access to or release of a student's education records or personally identifiable information contained therein without the written consent of the student to the following parties:

(a) College officials, including faculty members, when the information is required for a legitimate educational purpose within the scope of the recipient's official responsibilities with the college and will be used only in connection with the performance of those responsibilities;

(b) Federal or state officials requiring access to education records in connection with the audit or evaluation of federally or state-supported educational programs or in connection with the enforcement of federal or state legal requirements relating to such programs. In such cases, the information required shall be protected by the federal or state officials in a manner which shall not permit the personal identification of students or their parents to other than those officials, and such personally identifiable data shall be destroyed when no longer needed for the purposes for which was provided;

(c) Agencies or organizations requesting information in connection with a student's application for, or receipt of, financial 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, or improving instruction, if such studies are conducted in a manner which will not permit the personal identification of students by persons other than representatives of such organizations, and the information will be destroyed when no longer needed for the purposes for which it was provided.

(e) Accrediting organizations in order to carry out their accrediting functions;

(f) Any person or entity authorized by judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena to receive such records or information, upon condition that the student is notified of all such orders or subpoenas in advance of compliance therewith by the college. Any college employee or official receiving a subpoena or judicial order for education records or personally identifiable information contained therein shall immediately notify the assistant attorney general representing the college; or

(g) An alleged victim of any crime of violence (as defined in 18 U.S.C. §16), so long as the information disclosed is the result of a disciplinary proceeding for the crime conducted by the college against the alleged perpetrator.

(2) Education records of a student or personally identifiable information contained therein which are released to third parties, with or without the consent of the student involved, shall be conditioned upon a written agreement indicating that the information cannot subsequently be released in a personally identifiable form to any other party without the written consent of the student involved.

(3) The college shall maintain a record, kept with the education records of each student, indicating all parties, other than those parties specified in subsection (1)(a) of this section, which have requested or obtained access to the student's education records, and indicating the legitimate interest that each such party has in obtaining the records or information contained therein. This record of access shall be available only to the student, to the employees of the college responsible for maintaining the records, and to the parties identified under subsection (1)(a) and (c) of this section.

(1) The dean of administrative and student services or his or her designee may, without the consent of a student, release the student's education records or personally identifiable information contained therein to appropriate parties in connection with an emergency if the knowledge of such information is necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or other persons.

(2) The following factors should be taken into consideration in determining whether records may be released under this section:

(a) The seriousness of the threat to the health or safety of the student or other persons;

(b) The need for personally identifiable information concerning the student to meet the emergency;

(c) Whether the parties to whom the records or information are released are in a position to deal with the emergency; and

(d) The extent to which time is of the essence in dealing with the emergency.

(3) If the college, pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, releases personally identifiable information concerning a student without the student's consent, the college shall notify the student as soon as possible of the identity of the parties and to whom the records or information have been released and of the reasons for the release.

(1) The college may release "directory information" concerning a student to the public unless the student requests in writing of the dean of enrollment services that the student's directory information not be released except as provided in WAC 132D-125-070, 132D-125-080, or 132D-125-085.

(2) The term "directory information" shall include information relating to the student's name; major field of study; enrollment status; dates of attendance; participation in recognized sports; degree or certificate earned; term degree or certificate awarded; honors.

Except as otherwise provided by law, the college shall not be prevented under this chapter from destroying all or any portion of a student's education records in accordance with established records retention schedules, provided that no education record to which a student has requested access shall be removed or destroyed by the college prior to providing the student with the requested access.

The college shall annually notify students currently in attendance of their rights under this chapter and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

The notice shall include a statement of the following student rights:

(1) Inspect and review his or her education records;

(2) Request an amendment of the education records to ensure that they are not inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student's privacy or other rights;

(3) Allow or deny disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student's education records, except to the extent that these regulations and the regulations promulgated pursuant to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act allow;

(4) File a complaint with the United States Department of Education under 34 C.F.R. 99.64 concerning alleged failures by the college to comply with the requirements of the act;

(5) Access information concerning the cost to be charged for reproducing copies of the student's records; and

(6) Access a copy of the regulations in this chapter.

The notice shall indicate the places where copies of these regulations are located.