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The College has a long-standing policy of preserving the confidentiality of
student records. In keeping with federal law, the College permits students to
review the education records which it maintains concerning them. Student
education records are located primarily in the offices of the Dean of the
College, the Registrar, and the various academic departments. Students may
request to see their transcript in the Office of the Registrar at any time; for
other records, students may file a written request with the person who is
responsible for maintaining the record which the student wants to review.
After reviewing the education record, a student who believes that the record
reviewed is incorrect or misleading may ask to have the record corrected or
deleted. If this request is refused by the person responsible for maintaining
the record, the student may request a hearing. If the decision not to amend the
student’s education record is affirmed after the hearing, the student may have
placed in the file a statement setting forth the student’s version of the
facts. For purposes of disclosure under this exception a school official is
defined as a person employed by the College in an administrative, supervisory,
academic or support staff position (including law enforcement unit and health
staff); a person or company with whom the College has contracted; a person
serving on the Board of Trustees, 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 responsibility.
A legitimate educational interest means the demonstrated need to know by
those officials of an institution who act in the student’s educational
interest, including faculty, administration, clerical and professional
employees, and other persons who manage student records information. Any school
official who needs information about a student in the course of performing
instructional, supervisory, advisory, or administrative duties for Dartmouth
College has a legitimate educational interest.
The College will not disclose personally-identifiable information from the
student’s education record to third parties without notice to the student,
except to the following parties and in the following circumstances:
- Directory information, including name, age, dates and status (part-time or
full-time) of enrollment and residence, class year, major, degrees awarded,
awards and honors, addresses and telephone numbers on campus, home address and
telephone number, date and place of birth, relationship to an alumnus or alumna
of the College, most recent school previously attended, extracurricular
activities, weight and height of members of athletic teams, and other similar
information, may be disclosed without restriction unless the student objects in
writing to the Office of the Dean of the College (NOTE: The hold isn’t just for
the current year; it is in effect until the student releases it).
- Faculty members and other officials of the College who have a legitimate
educational interest in the student’s education record may be permitted to
review it.
- The College will disclose information to government agencies entitled to it
by law.
- The College may disclose information to the parent(s) or guardian(s) of a
student unless the student has filed with the Dean of the College Office a
statement certifying that he or she is not financially dependent as defined by
the federal income tax laws. (All students will be asked whether or not they
are declared as a dependent on a parent or guardian’s tax return at the
beginning of the school year. For students who are dependents, education record
information may be disclosed to parents or guardians. Students who indicate
that they are not dependents, and who do not wish to have student-record
information disclosed to parents or guardians, will be asked to provide
documentation confirming their status.)
- The College must disclose information in response to a lawfully-issued
subpoena; in such cases the College will attempt to notify the student involved
unless prohibited by the terms of the subpoena or other court order.
- The College may disclose information when necessary to determine the
student’s eligibility for financial aid or to enforce the terms or conditions
of financial aid that a student has received.
- The College may disclose information to an organization conducting studies
if the organization certifies that (i) the studies will not be conducted in a
way which will permit the personal identification of the students and (ii) the
organization’s record of such information will be destroyed when the study is
completed.
- The College may disclose information to appropriate parties in a health or
safety emergency in which the health or safety of a student or other
individuals is seriously threatened and the parties to whom the information is
disclosed are in a position to meet the emergency.
- Upon request, the College may disclose education records without consent to
officials of another school in which a student seeks or intends to enroll, or
to another institution which is part of a student exchange program.
- The College must disclose information to federal law enforcement officials
in response to a lawful court order regarding federal terrorist
investigations.
Copies of the Dartmouth College Student Records Policy, which details the
rights summarized above and any applicable federal laws, are available in the
Office of the Dean of the College.
If a student has a concern about the College’s compliance with applicable
federal laws concerning his/her education record, he or she should bring this
to the attention of the Dean of the College. A student has the right to file a
complaint concerning alleged compliance failures by the College with the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act Office (FERPA), Department of Education,
Washington, DC 20201.
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