Department of Education Finalizes FERPA Regulations (12/1/11)

Karen,

Thanks  for sending this.  Unfortunately, the “summary” doesn’t seem to be a summary of the changes at all, but just a statement of the intent behind the changes.  If an actual summary of the changes to the regulations comes along, it would be very useful (as opposed to plowing through a 253 page pdf).  AACRAO has expressed disappointment with the changes and promises a more in depth analysis in the coming week.  AACRAO’s immediate statement is at http://www2.aacrao.org/transcript/index.cfm?fuseaction=show_view&doc_id=5248. 

I realize this is a brand new announcement, so it may take a while before summaries of the changes start circulating..  There could be some important implications for IT in the changes.  Did Educause take a position on the revisions? 

Hi, Tom – Yes, EDUCAUSE did submit comments on the then-proposed FERPA changes, largely highlighting concerns about the relevant privacy and security issues and recommending steps to address them drawn from the work of the Higher Education Information Security Council (HEISC). Please see:

http://www.educause.edu/Resources/EDUCAUSECommentsonProposedFERP/229513

We also met directly with the U.S. Department of Education  (ED) chief privacy officer, Kathleen Styles, in June; while the focus of that conversation was bringing her up-to-speed on the work of our privacy and security community in general, we also referenced the official comments we submitted on the FERPA process and reinforced the concerns they addressed. We had a subsequent meeting with the ED chief information officer, chief information security officer, and Styles; again, the overall focus of that conversation was on facilitating information-sharing on IT issues with the department in general, but it gave us another opportunity for informal discussion with Styles on the status of the FERPA process. – Jarret

_______________________________________________________________________

Jarret S. Cummings

Policy Specialist

EDUCAUSE

202-331-5372

jcummings@educause.edu

www.educause.edu

Hi Tom,

Just to add – we’ll keep a look out for a summary of the changes and make sure to pass that along, too.

Best,
Karen