The start of the academic year is an excellent time to remind all faculty and staff of the importance of FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the university policy on protection of student data. It is incumbent upon all employees of the university to follow these policies. To that end, we ask you to please be aware of the following:
- Only the Marquette email may be used when you communicate any academic information to or about a student.
- Protect all electronic student data, reports and rosters that you maintain which contains student information by encrypting or protecting with a password. Lock paper data, reports and rosters in a secure place.
- Grades may not be posted in public spaces, including in classrooms or on office doors; nor can the grade change form be emailed/mailed to students.
- Before speaking to parents or others about specific student information such as attendance, assignments, exams, quizzes, tests or grades, written authorization is needed from the student.
- Request written authorization from students prior to writing letters of recommendation that reference specific course information, grades, class schedules, field placement and internship experiences, etc. The “Permission for a One-Time Release of Education Records” form for students to use for this is found on the MU Central academic forms website.
If you have any questions, contact the Office of the Registrar or the Office of General Counsel.
The university’s FERPA policy and the Student Education Data Use and Privacy policies are available online.