Le Fer Hall

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

In accordance with a federal mandate, the following information is provided in regards to student records and access to information:
For the purposes of this policy, SMWC has used the following definitions of terms.

  • Student: any person who attends Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.
  • Education records: any record (in handwriting, print, tapes, film or other medium) maintained by Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College or an agent of the College which is directly related to a student, except:
    1. A personal record kept by a staff member if it is kept in the sole possession of the maker of the record and is not accessible or revealed to persons other than temporary substitutes for the maker of the record.
    2. Records created and maintained by Public Safety for law enforcement purposes.
    3. An employment record of an individual whose employment is not contingent on the fact that he or she is a student, provided the record is used only in relation to the individual’s employment.
    4. Records made or maintained by a physician, psychiatrist or other recognized professional or paraprofessional if the records are used only for treatment of a student and made available only to those persons providing the treatment.
    5. Alumnae records which contain information about a student after he or she is no longer in attendance at the College and which do not relate to the person as a student.

Right of University to Refuse Access

The College reserves the right to refuse to permit a student to inspect the following:

  1. The financial statement of the student’s parents.
  2. Letters and statements of recommendation for which the student has waived his or her right of access, or which were placed in file before January 1, 1975.
  3. Records connected with an application to attend the College or a component unit of the College if that application was denied.
  4. Those records which are excluded from the FERPA definition of education records.

Refusal to Provide Copies

Note: With an understanding that it cannot deny students access to their records, a college or university is required to describe the circumstances in which it may deny students a copy of their education records. The following are examples: The College reserves the right to deny transcripts or copies of records not required to be made available by FERPA in any of the following situations:

  1. The student lives within commuting distance of SMWC.
  2. The student has an unpaid financial obligation to the College.
  3. The student has an unresolved disciplinary action against them.