Student Records

The School of Graduate Studies adheres to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) to protect the security, confidentiality, and integrity of your student education record.   Under this act, you have the right to inspect and review your education records, and an opportunity to have inaccurate or misleading information in your education records corrected.  

FERPA also permits the disclosure by an institution without a student's prior consent of so-called directory information about that student. Students have the right to file complaints with the Department of Education's Family Policy Compliance Office concerning alleged failures by an institution to comply with FERPA.  Once you become a student, your information will not be released to your parents via the telephone or in person.  This procedure is part of the FERPA law and it is strictly adhered to by the School of Graduate Studies staff.  

Records Maintained by School of Graduate Studies

Two kinds of records are maintained on students: 1) Admission and 2) Candidacy.  Hard copy records of both are archived into electronic format. These records are created and housed on a secure university server.   

Admission records include applications, transcripts, test scores, letters of recommendation, program of study sheets, eFile Transmission form, and other supporting documents for American and International students. Paper admission records are maintained for a period of eight years before they are shredded. A complete electronic copy of a student's file is maintained in the document imagining system in a secure shared file. 

Admission records are transmitted to the Departmental Graduate Admission Committee to make an admission decision.  When a student completes an Application for Candidacy, the student record becomes a Candidacy record unless the student is non-degree.   

Candidacy records are used to monitor students’ progress through graduation.  Candidacy records include academic notification letters, Core Exam Report, Area Exam Report, application for candidacy, application for degree, final transcript, and candidacy checklist.  Student records are never removed from the School of Graduate Studies office.   

Confidentiality of Student Records

The confidentiality of student records is maintained by restricting access to the School of Graduate Studies’ staff.  Upon employment, the School of Graduate Studies’ staff signs a Confidentiality Form.  

You may inspect your records at any time and must show identification to review your record.  On site, you are required to sign a “Student Records Review In-list.”  Once you comply with these security measures, you are given access to view your file. A graduate staff brings the requested materials and you view the record in the conference room under staff supervision.  Files are checked to ensure all documents are intact before you exit the document viewing location.   

If you request information on the telephone, you will be asked information for identification purposes to validate you are the inquirer.