The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords eligible students certain rights with respect to their education records. Refer to CIA’s FERPA Policy for further details. In accordance with the law, CIA defines an eligible student as any person who attends or has attended the College. At CIA, FERPA becomes effective the first day of the semester of entrance. The rights include:
The right to inspect and review the student’s education records within 45 days after the day the Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA) receives a request for access.
A student should submit to the Registrar, Dean, or head of the academic department, a written request that identifies the record(s) the student wishes to inspect. The school official 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 school official to whom the request was submitted, that official shall advise the student of the correct official to whom the request should be addressed.
- The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records that the student believes is inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student’s rights under FERPA.
A student who wishes to ask the school to amend a record should write the school official responsible for the record, clearly identify the part of the record the student wants changed, and specify why it should be changed.
If CIA decides not to amend the record as requested, a school official will notify the student in writing of the decision and the student’s 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.
- The right to provide written consent before CIA discloses personally identifiable information (PII) from the student’s education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.
CIA discloses education records without a student’s prior written consent under the FERPA exception for disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official typically includes a person employed by the College in an administrative, supervisory, academic, research, or support staff position (including law enforcement unit personnel and health staff); a person serving on the board of trustees; or a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee. A school official also may include a volunteer or contractor outside of CIA who performs an institutional service of function for which the school would otherwise use its own employees and who is under the direct control of the school with respect to the use and maintenance of PII from education records, such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent or a student volunteering to assist another school official in performing their tasks. A school official typically has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill their professional responsibilities for the CIA.
- The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the CIA 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
Directory Information
FERPA allows institutions to identify certain types of information called ‘directory information’ that may be disclosed without student consent. Cleveland Institute of Art has designated the following information as directory information and will release this information upon request, unless the student has submitted a request to restrict directory information to the Registrar’s Office.
- Student name
- CIA Email Address
- Phone number (
- Class standing (first-year, sophomore, etc.)
- Full or part-time Status
- Major (Animation, Ceramics, etc.)
- Date(s) of attendance
- Anticipated degree date
- Academic awards and honors
- Degree awarded and date degree awarded from CIA
- Participation in officially recognized activities
Restricting Release of Directory Information
According to FERPA, a student can request that the institution not release any directory information about him/her. Institutions must comply with this request, once received, if the student is still enrolled.
At CIA, students who wish to restrict the release of all directory information about themselves must contact the Registrar’s Office. Students who wish to restrict directory information should understand that their names will not appear in any university publications, except for the Commencement program at the appropriate time. Also, employers, credit card companies, scholarship committees and the like will be denied any of the student’s directory information and will be informed that we have no information available about the student.