Middlesex County College - Student Rights

Access to Student Records - Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974
Annually, Middlesex County College informs students of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. This Act, with which the College complies fully, was designated to protect the privacy of education records, to establish the right of students to inspect and review their education records, to challenge the contents of their education records, to have a hearing if the outcome of the challenge is unsatisfactory, to submit an explanatory statement for enclosure in the record if the outcome of the hearing is unsatisfactory, to prevent disclosure, with certain exceptions, of personally identifiable information, and to secure a copy of the College policy which includes the location of all education records.

Students also have the right to file complaints with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act Office (FERPA), Department of Education, Room 4511, Switzer Building, Washington, D.C. 20202, telephone (202) 655-4000, concerning alleged failures by the College to comply with the Act.

Institutional policy explains in detail the procedures to be used by the College for compliance with the provisions of the Act. Copies of the policy are available in the following offices: Office of the Registrar, Counseling and Placement Services, and Division of Continuing Education and Instructional Resources. The policy is also printed annually in QuoVadis, the student newspaper. The offices mentioned also maintain a directory of records which lists all education records maintained on students by the College.

Questions concerning the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act maybe referred to the Registrar.

Directory Information
Middlesex County College hereby designates the following categories of student information as public or "Directory Information." Such information may be disclosed by the college at its discretion.

Category I - Name, program of study, enrollment status (full-or part-time), dates of enrollment, date of actual or anticipated graduation, degree earned, and any honors received.
Category II - Postal address, i.e., city, town, or township and state, but not including street address (to be released to Office of Public Information for the purpose of media distribution in connection with Dean's List and graduation).
Category III - Social security number, current address, telehone number (to be released to College police, for the purpose of investigation of campus traffic violations, and encumbrance of student transcripts in connection with violation charges).
Category IV - Permanent home address (to be released by the international students advisor in compliance with appropriate and necessary institutional reports).
Category V - Name, address, telephone number, program of study, enrollment status (full-time or part-time), dates of enrollment, date of actual or anticipated graduation, degree earned, and any honors received (to be released to college-affiliated corporations, such as the Middlesex County Retail Services Corporation, the Middlesex County College Foundation and similar organizations for their exclusive use, for the purpose of providing information and services to current and former students).

Currently enrolled students may withhold disclosure of any category of information under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. To withhold disclosure, written notification must be received in the Office of the Registrar. Forms requesting the withholding of "Directory Information" are available in that office. Middlesex County College assumes that failure on the part of any student to specifically request the withholding of categories of "Directory Information" indicated individual approval for disclosure. A new form for nondisclosure must be completed each academic year.