STUDENTS' RIGHTS REGARDING THEIR EDUCATION RECORDS

Golden Gate University (GGU) maintains student education records in two separate offices. Law students' records are maintained by the Law School Registrar's Office; all other student records are maintained by the Office of Records & Registration, which is overseen by the University Registrar. In addition, GGU maintains education records containing personally identifiable information of former students as part of a database of biographical and pledge/gift information about university alumni and friends.

GGU maintains all student education records in compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), Public Law 93-380, as amended. Under this law, you have the following rights as a GGU student:

1. The right to inspect and review your education records within 45 days of the day the university receives a request for access.

If you want to inspect a record, you should submit a written request to the appropriate Registrar's office identifying the records you wish to inspect. The office will make arrangements for access and notify you of the time and place where the records may be inspected. If the office to which you submitted your request does not maintain the records, that office will advise you of the correct office to which your request should be addressed. If you cannot inspect the records at GGU's San Francisco campus, copies of the records will be made available by regular mail at the cost of $0.25 per page, upon satisfactory proof of your identity.

If the records contain information on more than one student, you shall have the right to inspect and review only such part of the records as relates to you. You will not be permitted to inspect and review financial records of your parents, or confidential recommendations (regarding university admission, application for employment, or receipt of an honor or honorary recognition) for which you have signed a waiver of your right of access.

2. The right to request the amendment of your education records that you believe are inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of your privacy rights under FERPA.

If you want to ask the university to amend a record, you should submit a written request to the appropriate Registrar's office, clearly identifying the part of the record you want changed, and specifying why it should be changed. If the Registrar decides to not amend the record as requested, the university will notify you in writing of the decision and of your right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to you when you are notified of the right to a hearing.

3. The right to provide written consent before the university discloses personally identifiable information from your education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.

The university discloses education records without your prior written consent under the FERPA exception for:

(a) Disclosure to appropriate parties, including parents, whose knowledge of the information is necessary to protect the health or safety of a student or another individual if there is a significant and articulable threat to the health or safety of a student or other individual, considering the totality of the circumstances. In this event, the university will record in your education records the parties to whom it disclosed the information and the basis for its decision that a health or safety emergency existed.

(b) Disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is a person employed by the university in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position (including law enforcement unit personnel and health staff); a person or company with whom the university has contracted as its agent to provide a service instead of using university employees or officials (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent); a person or company to whom the university has outsourced institutional services or functions (such as contractors, consultants, volunteers and other outside parties), provided that the outside party performs an institutional service or function for which the university would otherwise use employees, is under the direct control of the university with respect to the use and maintenance of education records, and is subject to the same requirements governing the use and redisclosure of education records that apply to other school officials; a person serving on the Board of Trustees; or a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibilities for the university.

(c) Disclosure to officials of another institution of postsecondary education where you seek or intend to enroll, or where you are already enrolled, so long as the disclosure is for purposes related to your enrollment or transfer.

(d) Disclosure of educational records, or information from education records, that have been de-identified through the removal of all personally identifiable information, provided that the university has made a reasonable determination that your identity is not personally identifiable, whether through single or multiple releases, and taking into account other reasonably available information.

The university may also disclose certain personally identifiable information from your education record without your prior written consent under the FERPA exception for disclosure of directory information. "Directory information" is information that is not generally considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed. GGU designates only the following as directory information:

• Full name
• Address
• Telephone number
• E-Mail address
• Dates of attendance
• Enrollment status
• Major field of study
• Participation in officially recognized activities
• Awards
• Honors (including Dean's List)
• Degree(s) earned and date(s) conferred
• ID card photograph

If you would like your directory information not to be disclosed, please fill out a Request to Prevent Disclosure of Directory Information form available from the Office of Records & Registration, the Law Registrar's Office, or online. You may submit this Request at any time. The Request becomes effective the day it is received by the appropriate Registrar's office and remains in effect until you revoke it in a signed written request to that same office. During the time it is in effect, GGU will not disclose your directory information except upon your signed written request.

4. The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the university to comply with the requirements of FERPA.

The name and address of the Office that administers FERPA is: