Who Knew? An Advancing Practice Update
I was honestly not expecting FERPA training to be this enjoyable. I thought this was really well done.
-Advancing Practice Session Participant
The Advancing Practice professional development program kicked off on August 19th with a session entitled Let’s Talk Privacy featuring the Associate Campus Council David M. Robinson speaking about the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The session was designed to be a rich exchange between subject matter expert and advisors who had an opportunity to ask questions about their real world experiences with student records. Among the frequently asked questions, What is a student record? What can be disclosed to third parties (including parents and spouses)? and What information is considered to be confidential information at UC Berkeley? (For answers to these questions and more on FERPA please visit the Office the Registrar website.
Advisors were also able to discuss many of the more nuanced ethical and legal questions that impact their daily work such as “What make a great note in a shared notes system?” and What would I do if parents asked to be included in a student appointment involving probation and dismissal? Advisors were encouraged to consider a Back to Practice applied learning strategy to reinforce major takeaways from the workshop. For example, if formal FERPA training was completed more than two years ago, advisors were asked to consider retaking the on-line FERPA training at the UC Learning Center as a refresher. They were also encouraged to consider discussing with their colleagues and supervisors their note taking strategies (especially on complex cases as we move to a shared notes system) and to consider partnering with a FERPA buddy with whom they could share their more complex FERPA related questions and challenges. The FERPA related resources below were also distributed to support learning and development. Who knew a FERPA training could be so enjoyable? All it took was a room full of interested and engaged advisors and a generous subject matter expert to make this important subject come alive.
FERPA RESOURCES
UC Berkeley Office of the Registrar
- Campus FERPA Compliance Officer: Walter Wong, Registrar
- Associate Campus Council – David M. Robinson
UC Learning Center
More than 2 years since you’ve been through a formal FERPA training?
You may want to retake the FERPA training available through the BLU web portal at the UC Learning Center.
Search for: Privacy of Student Records: Are You Revealing Too Much? (FERPA) eCourse BERIG003
U.S. Department of Education
http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html
FERPA General Guidance for Students