A.  Definition of Student Records:

1.  Educational records, including a record of courses for which a student registered, credit hours, and grades earned, grade index, academic status, and student classification.  Also, transcripts from previous schools and records of changes of information.

2.  Application form which contains personal, biographic, and identifying information such as social security number, name and former names, age and birth date, racial or ethnic characteristics, marital status, sex, general medical information, number of dependents, name of spouse, eligibility for veterans or other governmental benefits, citizenship status or visa type, name of employer and type of employment.

3.  Scores and/or ratings obtained from standardized tests, interest tests and other inventories.

4.  Records and correspondence relating to academic actions such as dismissal for academic deficiency, waiver or exemption from degree requirements, changes of grades or credit hours.

5.  Medical records collected in addition to application information such as in the case of nursing students and athletes when required.

6.  Job placement information such as faculty evaluations, resumes, and recommendations, which will be specified by the student and maintained in the Job Placement Office.

7.  Financial aid records including applications, analysis of financial need, financial aid history, awards and decisions supporting documentation for action, and student employment information.

8.  Disciplinary records, which are maintained in the Vice President of Student Services office, include a record of disciplinary incidents reported, charges brought against the student, and the disposition of those charges through the Judicial System.

9.  Information collected to determine eligibility and to certify the utilization of government benefits in such programs as veteran’s benefits and social security.

B.  Information that is not part of Student Record:

1.  Grade books, class lists, or other documents that are maintained by an instructor (or instructors if more than one individual is responsible for teaching and evaluating students in a given course) to record student performance and achievement during the progress of a course and that are used by the instructor to determine the final grade earned by the student.  In cases of practicum, clinical, or internship experience where records are maintained by individuals other than the instructor, provided such comments and observations are intended solely for the use of the instructor and are not made part of the student's permanent record.

2.  Comments and observations made by administrative officers in the course of interviewing students or evaluating credentials that are intended solely for the use of the individual officer or in a consultative process with other administrative officers are not made part of the student record, and are not accessible or released to others within or outside the college.

3.  Notes and comments made by academic advisors that are intended solely for the use of that individual for subsequent reference in future decisions, actions, or contacts with the students.

4.  Notes, comments, and observations made by counselors in the course of diagnostic and treatment services when these are intended for the sole use of that individual or in the consultative process with professional colleagues, when such information is recorded for reference purposes in future diagnosis or treatment, and when such information is not to be released or accessible to others within or outside the college.

5.  Records maintained by Security that were created for the purpose of law enforcement.

C.  Access to Student Records:

1.  All persons attending or having attended Howard Community College as students shall have the right to inspect and review any or all official education records, files, and data directly related to him or her with the exception of the following:

a.  Any and all income tax forms and financial data submitted in confidence by the student's parents in connection with an application for, or receipt of, financial aid.

b.  Information in the form of notes, comments, and observations, such as those which may be made by an academic advisor or counselor for subsequent reference by the originator are not considered as part of the student records.  Information, which is not part of student records, is characterized by the following:

1)  The information is recorded for use by its originator;

2)  It is not intended to be communicated or shared with others;

3)  It is accessible only to the originator or to professional colleagues within the department or administrative unit.  These provisions do not preclude the use of student information in consultations among professional colleagues, nor does the use of the consultation process necessarily make such student information a part of the student record.

c.  Educational records containing information about more than one student; however, in such cases, the college will permit access to that part of the records which pertains only to the inquiring student.

2.  Such inspection and review shall be granted to the student upon submission of written request and shall be in the presence of designated personnel of the office maintaining such records.  All requests for such inspection and review by the student shall be granted as soon as practical, but in no event later than forty-five days after the date of request.  No documents or files may be altered or removed by the student, and no requests for copies other than official Howard Community College transcripts will be honored.

3.  Other than the exceptions listed below, the college may not release personally identifiable information in education records or direct information or allow anyone access to those records, unless the student has given written consent specifying records to be released, the reasons for such release, and to whom, and a copy of the released record is furnished to the student if requested.  All persons except as noted below who request or obtain file access must submit an explanatory statement, and the college is responsible for preparing and maintaining the record of reasons and to what outsiders obtained access.  Education records may be released without the consent of the student to the following individuals on the condition that the information is not passed on to a "third" party:

a.  Faculty, professorial staff, and administrative officers within the college on a "need-to-know" basis, according to the procedures of the Records Office and at the discretion of the custodian of the records.

b.  The following directory information will be routinely released: student’s name, dates of attendance, major fields of study, degrees and awards received (or lack of degree), participation in officially recognized activities and sports, height and weight of members of athletic teams, when appropriate.

c.  Other educational institutions in which the student intends to enroll (though the student must be given a copy of the record before transmittal and an opportunity to challenge it).

d.  Authorized representatives of the United States and of educational authorities and agencies such as set forth in P.L. 93-380 in connection with audit and evaluation of federally supported educational programs.

e.  State and local officials to whom state law requires information be reported, such as communicable diseases and gun shot wounds.

f.  Organizations in connection with developing, validating, or administering student aid programs and improving instruction, but such organizations must not show the personally identifiable information to outsiders and must ultimately destroy it.

g.  Accrediting organizations in order to carry out their accrediting functions.

h.  Parents of a student who is a dependent as defined in Section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.  Parents must submit a statement certifying the student's dependency.  It is not the college’s practice to release this information.

i.  "Appropriate persons" in the case of health and safety emergencies.

j.  In response to court order or subpoena, the college must attempt to notify the student of all orders or subpoenas in advance of compliance therewith.

4.  In the event that a person is a student and an employee of the same institution, separate records shall be kept.  The confidentiality of student records shall be maintained by the institution, and academic records shall not be accessible for personnel reasons unless released by the student.

D.  Authority to Release Records.  Only the individual or administrative unit that has custody of such records shall release student records.

1.  The Records Office is custodian of all personal biographic and academic information, and such information will be released only as authorized by the Records Office.

2.  Other records may be released by the individual, office, or administrative unit that is the originator and/or custodian of such records.

3.  Individuals, offices, or administrative units which maintain duplicate copies of records are not authorized to release such records unless authorized by the originator and/or custodian of such records in writing.

E.  Information that is Not Released Outside of the College:

1.  Transcripts or other official academic records, letters of recommendation, and similar comments and observations which are received by the college from secondary schools and other colleges and universities will not be released outside of the college, even when requested by the student.

2.  The Director of Records and Registration may make an exception to the policy in the case of foreign students when such students are unable to obtain duplicate sets of foreign academic credentials or students where records have been destroyed.

F.  Right to Challenge Student Records.  The student has the right to challenge information contained in student records and may seek a correction of errors in fact, deletion of extraneous information that might affect the student adversely, and inclusion of an explanatory or rebuttal statement in the record.  The following regulations apply to correction of errors of fact in student records:

1.  While enrolled as a student at the college, each individual has an obligation to provide the Records Office with current and accurate personal and biographic information in writing.  Such records are maintained only during the student's enrollment.  Consequently, a student or former student may request a correction of errors in such information, but only with reference to the accuracy of such information during the period of the student's enrollment.

2.  The Director of Records and Registration is responsible for all retroactive changes in student academic records.

3.  The student may request in writing correction of factual information, which appears in other student records.

4.  Deletion of Extraneous Material.  A student may request in writing the deletion of information from student records if such information will affect the student adversely and provided such information is not part of the biographic, personal, and academic information which the college maintains on each of its students and provided such information is not relevant to current and future enrollment at the college.

5.  Student Challenges and Opportunity for Hearing Thereon.  Whenever a student wishes to challenge the content, release, or withholding of any official record, file, or data directly related to him or her, he or the student shall present such challenge in written form to the Director of Records and Registration.  If such challenge cannot be resolved informally, the student shall be entitled to a hearing before an appropriate ad judicatory body of the college to be designated by the President.

G.  Notice to Students of Rights.  Copies of these guidelines shall be displayed in record-keeping offices of the college and shall be published in student newspapers and other college communications and bulletins.

Policy Manual Review/Revision:  7/1/00