In compliance with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)—which applies to all universities and schools that receive funds from the U.S. Department of Education—your IU Columbus student records are confidential.
If you are a dependent of your parent, FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to your education records. These rights transfer to you when you reach the age of 18 or attend a school beyond high school (students to whom the rights have transferred are “eligible students”).
- Parents or eligible students have the right to inspect and review the student's education records maintained by the school. Schools are not required to provide copies of records unless, for reasons such as great distance, it is impossible for parents or eligible students to review the records. Schools may charge a fee for copies.
- Parents or eligible students have the right to request that a school correct records which they believe to be inaccurate or misleading. If the school decides not to amend the record, the parent or eligible student then has the right to a formal hearing. After the hearing, if the school still decides not to amend the record, the parent or eligible student has the right to place a statement with the record setting forth his or her view about the contested information.
- Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student's education record. However, FERPA allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to the following parties under the following conditions:
- School officials with legitimate educational interest
- Other schools to which a student is transferring
- Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes
- Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student
- Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the school
- Accrediting organizations
- To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena
- Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies
- State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific state law
According to FERPA regulations, IU Columbus may disclose “directory” information such as your name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, honors and awards, and dates of attendance without your consent. We must, however, tell parents and eligible students about directory information and allow parents and eligible students a reasonable amount of time to request that the school not disclose directory information about them. We must also notify parents and eligible students annually of their rights under FERPA. The actual means of notification is left to our discretion.
For additional information, call 800.USA.LEARN (800.872.5327). Individuals who use TDD may call 800.437.0833. You may also write to the U.S. Department of Education at:
- Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202–8520
Releasing Information to a Third Party
In some cases, you may want to allow third-party access to portions of your student record. You can do this through One.IU
- From the home page in One.IU, type in the search bar: Set Up Parents or 3rd party Users (Students)
- Click and follow the prompts to read the university’s terms and conditions.
- When you click “I Accept,” you indicate that you agree to those terms.
- Third parties can then have guest access to your information through One.IU .
NOTE: If you want to then change that third party’s access in the future, you are responsible for making that change in One.IU . Your authorization to release information through OneStart expires when your access to the Student Self-Service page expires (i.e., if you are no longer an IU Columbus student or after you graduate). At that time, your third party’s guest access will also expire.
Availability of Public Information
Certain student information maintained by the Office of Registrar Services is public. Indiana University maintains an online address book which allows users to find limited information for individual students by searching for that student’s name or network ID. The address book displays your school, major, class standing, and e-mail address.
In addition, IU campuses including IU Columbus use a course management system called Oncourse . Through Oncourse, all students enrolled in a course see the names of their classmates unless a student has filed a restraint of information with the Office of Registrar Services. These names are only available to instructors and those enrolled in class.
Restraint of Release
If you do not want all or some of your information released to any person other than IU Columbus faculty or staff, complete a restraint of release of student information form and return it to the registrar’s office. A confidentiality flag will then be added to your record. We will also block all information from appearing in the online address book and in Oncourse.
NOTE: If you want to remove the restraint at a later date, complete a removal of restraint of release of student information form and return it to the registrar’s office.
Additional Privacy Information
IU Columbus does not provide lists of students or an individual student’s address or phone number to outside businesses, agencies, students, or other parties. In emergency situations, upon consultation with university officials and police, phone numbers may be released.
Because IU Columbus participates in a number of federal programs through the U.S. Department of Education and other agencies, we are required by federal law to provide the name, address, age, and prior military service status of students to military recruiters.
Records of arrests, convictions, and traffic violations are public information and may be released to IU Columbus by local, state, and federal law enforcement and other agencies in accordance with university policy. Some IU Columbus degree programs prohibit enrollment those listed on the Indiana Sex Offender Registry.
The university offers a credit card for all IU students and alumni. A small portion of each charge made using the card is paid to the university, providing students and alumni with an opportunity to support their alma mater. A list of students is provided to the credit card vendor each year for purposes of solicitation for this card only. Under terms of the contract, the vendor may not share the list with any other vendors. Students who have filed a restraint of release of information will not appear on this list.
