RPI complies with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (Section 438 of the General Education Provisions Act, Title IV of Public Law 90-247), as amended. This Act provides that students attending any post-secondary educational institution which receives federal funds are entitled to access to their education records kept by the institution in order to inspect and review those records. Students are entitled to petition the Institute for the amendment or correction of any information in their education records which they feel is inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of their privacy or other rights. Guidelines are also provided for the conduct of informal and formal hearings at which a student may present evidence that the records are inaccurate or misleading and seek to have them amended or corrected. RPI also intends to comply fully with provisions of the Act which limit the disclosure of certain information contained in students’ education records to the following circumstances: 

1. with the student’s prior written consent;
2. as an item of directory information* (as defined in the Institute’s compliance policies) which the student has not refused to permit the Institute to disclose;
3. under the provisions of the Act which allow a university to disclose information without the student’s prior written consent (see the Institute’s compliance policies). 

In certain circumstances, FERPA permits education records to be disclosed by the Institute without the student’s consent, including to parents or legal guardians of dependent students as that term is defined in the Internal Revenue Code. 

In general, RPI presumes that undergraduate students at RPI are dependent students, which permits RPI to give parents access to their education records. However, under the FERPA Compliance Policy, parents of a students who submit to the office of the Registrar appropriate documentation to establish that they should be considered independent of their parents will not be entitled to such access unless other provisions of FERPA allow for such access. (Note: Dependency status used in financial aid determinations may be different from that as defined in FERPA.) Graduate students are not considered dependents. 

Parents of our students play an integral role in their students’ experience. They nurture, support, and challenge their student to succeed. They are almost always in the best position to address the well-being of their student. Accordingly, subject to RPI’s FERPA Compliance Policy and to the extent permitted by law, RPI will generally notify parents of undergraduate students in the following circumstances without the requirement of consent from the student: 

• any separation from the Institute, including academic suspensions and dismissals, disciplinary suspensions and expulsions, mandatory financial leaves of absence, personal leaves of absence and withdrawals, administrative leaves of absence, and involuntary leaves of absence;
• when a student is placed on probation or continued on probation;
• In other circumstances authorized by the Dean of Students where parental notification is believed to be in the best interests of the student’s well-being. 

Nothing about this policy is intended to impose an obligation or duty on the Institute to notify parents. Moreover, RPI fully reserves its rights to make disclosures in all other circumstances permitted by FERPA, some of which may be made to persons other than parents without student consent and regardless of dependency status of the student. See RPI’s FERPA Compliance Policy for details. 

• Directory Information: The Institute intends to make certain “directory information” available for public use. This would be in connection with publicity of athletic events, honors, etc. The following constitutes directory information: the student’s name, address, photographs, telephone number, email, date and place of birth, major field of study, academic load, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance, degrees, honors and awards received, class year in school, and most recent previous educational agency or institution attended. A student who does not wish any of this information to be released for a given semester should notify the Registrar in writing by the end of the second week of classes. Directory information is published in various forms during the year and RPI can withhold information only in those cases where written requests are received in accordance with the above-mentioned guidelines. Students must fill out a request to prevent disclosure of directory information for each semester they wish to withhold such information. 

Copies of RPI’s complete Statement of Policy and Procedures in Compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act may be obtained upon request from the Office of the Registrar. Any student who believes, after seeking correction through the internal grievance procedures specified in RPI’s policy statement, that the Institute has failed to comply with the provisions of this Act, has the right to file a written complaint: 
Family Policy Compliance Office 
Department of Education
400 Maryland Ave SW
Washington, D.C. 20202