FERPA Privacy Policy

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) is a federal law which states that an educational institution must establish a written institutional policy concerning the confidentiality of student education records and the fact that students must be notified of this statement of policy and their rights under the legislation. Your student records are protected by FERPA policy at Cal State East Bay and the University staff has been trained to follow and enforce this policy. For more information, visit the Student Affairs Web site.

FERPA Block

A FERPA Block allows you to protect the privacy of your directory information. It prevents the release of all your private information, including the ability of the Cal State East Bay staff to communicate with you by phone should you need to discuss information in your record. If you have a FERPA Block in place, you can use your Horizon student e-mail or communicate with us in person by visiting the Student Information Lobby on the Hayward Campus or the Academic Service Center on the Concord Campus with a government-issued photo ID.

Please note that a FERPA Block will prevent your name from being included in the annual commencement program when you graduate. You must submit a request to remove the FERPA Block if you want your name included in the program.

To request a FERPA Block that will prevent the release of your records, fill out a Disclosure of Directory Information form.

To remove the FERPA Block your record, complete a new Disclosure of Directory Information.

Students Rights Under The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords student certain rights with respect to their education records. They are:

1. The right to inspect and review the student's education records within 45 days of the day Cal State East Bay receives a request for access. Students should submit to the Registrar's Office written requests that identify the record(s) they wish to inspect. The Registrar will make arrangements for access and notify the student of the time and place where the records may be inspected. If the records are not maintained by the Registrar's Office, the student shall be advised of the correct official to whom the request should be addressed.
2. The right to request the amendment of the student's education records that the student believes are inaccurate. Students may ask Cal State East Bay to amend a record that they believe is inaccurate. They should write the Registrar, clearly identify the part of the record they want changed, and specify why it is inaccurate. If Cal State East Bay decides not to amend the record as requested by the student, the student shall be notified of the decision and advised as to his or her right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the student when notified of the right to a hearing.
3.  The right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student's education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent. One exception which permits disclosure without consent is disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is a person employed by Cal State East Bay University in an administrative, supervisory, academic, research, or support staff position (including law enforcement personnel and health staff); a person or company with whom Cal State East Bay has contracted (such as an attorney, auditor, collection agent, degree conferral & transcript processing agent, document managing agent, and placement sites for internship or similar student work/study opportunities); a person serving on the Board of Trustees; a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks; consultants, volunteers or other outside parties to whom Cal State East Bay has outsourced institutional services or functions that it would otherwise use employees to perform. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility. As allowed within FERPA guidelines, Cal State East Bay may disclose education records without consent to officials of another school, upon request, in which a student seeks or intends to enroll.
4. The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by Cal State East Bay to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the Office that administers FERPA is: Family Policy Compliance Office, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC, 20202-4605. At its discretion Cal State East Bay may provide Directory Information in accordance with the provisions of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act. Directory Information is defined as that information which would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed. Designated Directory Information at Cal State East Bay includes the following: student name, permanent address, local address, temporary address, electronic mail address, telephone number, dates of attendance, degrees and awards received, major field of study, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, final theses/dissertation, photograph, full-time/part-time status, most recent previous school attended, date and place of birth, class schedule. Students may withhold Directory Information by completing the Disclosure of Directory Information form and submitting it to the Office of the Registrar; please note that such withholding requests are binding for all information to all parties other than for those exceptions allowed under the Act. Students should consider all aspects of a Directory Hold prior to filing such a request. Such authorization is in place until such time as the form is resubmitted requesting the Directory Hold be removed.