RIGHTS & RESPONSIBILITIES FOR ADMINISTRATION AND STAFF

Regardless of whether faculty members are disseminating individual exam/paper/project grades or semester grades, they must not post a list of grades publicly by name or student BGSU ID number.  Likewise, they cannot not place the exams or papers in a pile from which students sort through to find their own work.  When handing students their exams or papers individually in class, faculty members must be discrete in placing the grade in a position not easily seen by other students.  Grades can never be revealed over the phone.

The only way faculty members may post grades outside their office or on the MyBGSU course site is to assign a confidential code that cannot be identified by others to each individual student. These codes should in no way be alphabetically linked.  The students must be informed in advance of the procedure for posting the grades. Students may request their grades be mailed in self-addressed envelopes.  However, grades should never be mailed on postcards or sent by email.   Registration and Records posts the official grades on MyBGSU, the preferred way to release student grades, on the Thursday following exam week.

Yes. Records that are kept in your sole possession, are used only as a personal memory aid, and are not accessible or revealed to any other person except a substitute (e.g., graduate assistant or support personnel), are not considered education records under FERPA.

For a complete description of the code and the procedures for prevention and resolutions of alleged violations, please visit the Code of Academic Conduct.  A primary objective of the Code of Academic Conduct, often referred to as the Academic Dishonesty Policy, is to communicate to all members of the University community the conviction of the University and its faculty that cheating and plagiarism are destructive of the mission of the University and are universally disapproved. 

If students follow this simple rule, they are not likely to be accused of violating the Code of Academic Conduct.  If, accused of violating the code, however, he or she and other education officials, including the instructor, academic unit chair or director, dean of the college, the registrar and Vice President for Academic Affairs, will be notified in Parents will not be notified unless the student has given them access to their student records through either the Student’s Authorization to Release Education Information/Revoke Previous Request or the Consent to Release Information form available through the Office of the Dean of Students.

You can contact the Student Discipline Program staff  in the Office of the Dean of Students at (419) 372-2843, BGSU’s Police Department non-emergency number at (419) 372-2346 or, if you believe the safety of you and/or others is immediately at risk, call 911 from a campus phone.  The Counseling Center may also have good suggestions that will help you assess the risk to you and/or others in your office and quite possibly rectify the behavior. Many resources are available to you.  Don’t be afraid to use them.

Disciplinary records are considered education records and, therefore, are protected under FERPA.  Police records, however, are not protected.  If you have concerns about your safety or the safety of your students, call Student Discipline Programs in the Office of the Dean of Students at (419) 372-2843 or BGSU’s Police Department non-emergency number at (419) 372-2346.  The Counseling Center may also have good suggestions to help you assess the risk to you and/or your students and quite possibly rectify the behavior. 

If you believe the risk to you and/or your students or colleagues is immediate, call 911 from a campus phone or (419) 372-2346 from a cell phone or other non-University phone to reach BGSU’s Police Department.  Calling 911 from a non-university cell phone will reach the Ohio State Patrol and may delay response time.

The links below provide a broad range of information related to student life and procedures for discipline at BGSU.  You may also want to contact the University’s Office of the Dean of Students for more information.

• Student Discipline
• BGSU Student Handbook
• The Parent’s Handbook

No.  You should leave that responsibility to the BGSU’s Police Department or Registration and Records . In a true emergency BGSU’s Police Department makes reasonable attempts to contact the student and deliver a message.

You can transfer the call to the Firelands Switchboard at 419-433-5560, and a reasonable attempt will be made to contact the student and deliver a message.  You can find additional emergency information for the Firelands campus at Firelands Emergency Contacts.

Many administrators and staff members are surprised to learn that their personal observations and knowledge of a student are not considered education records and, therefore, are not covered by FERPA’s restrictions.  If you have concerns based on your experience with the student, you may convey those concerns to the parent or discuss the issue with a representative of the Counseling Center.  However, you are not responsible for handling the problem.  It is best to refer the parent and/or student to appropriate resources on campus to assure that the proper care is provided.

The health and safety emergency exception allows for the release of information that would normally be protected by FERPA if the institution makes the determination that the information is “necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or other individuals” involved in the incident.  Critical to this decision is the nature of the situation, the immediacy of danger, the relevance of the protected information in solving the problem or averting a crisis, and the ability of responders to address the emergency. BGSU’s Police Department and the Office of the Dean of Students offer excellent resources and advice.

That depends on two things.  First, if the student has restricted release of his or her directory information, you need to get the consent in writing.  Second, if you intend to include information from the student’s education records other than directory information, such as GPA, school-related employment, etc., you must get written consent.  The easiest way to get this consent is to have the student complete a Student’s Authorization to Release Education Information/Revoke Previous Request that identifies both you and the individual(s) who will receive the letter.  The student has the option of revoking the consent for disclosure at anytime.  The form is available from the Bursar’s Office.

Immediately notify your supervisor who will then contact the Office of General Counsel.  General Counsel will process the request and determine what steps are necessary to respond.  However, as required by law, the student will be notified before the University responds to the subpoena.

FERPA regulations require that education records released for a specific purpose must be used for that purpose alone with the understanding that the information will not be disclosed to any other party without the written consent of the student(s).

Each request is considered individually on the basis of its merit and may or may not be granted.  In addition, the process for requesting the information differs between student organizations registered through the Division of Student Affairs (e.g., Latino Student Union, various clubs and fraternities/sororities) and those overseen by the colleges in Academic Affairs (e.g., professional organizations and honorary societies). 

Student Affairs organizations should contact the BGSU Office of the Dean of Students to request access to directory information. If the request is determined to be appropriate, it will be forwarded to Registration and Records for approval and processing. Student academic organizations should contact their faculty adviser who, upon his or her approval, will submit the request to the Registrar.

Although some directory information is accessible on-line and in the BGSU Information & Resource Guide, not all directory information is public.  FERPA leaves access to these records to the discretion of the institution.

Although basic contact information falls under the category of directory information and is not generally considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if released, the University is not mandated to release this information.  For those students who have requested that their directory information be withheld, the answer is simply no. You cannot release the information. A better way of handling this situation would be to distribute the employer information to the students who can then decide whether or not they wish to make contact.