SUNY Old Westbury is committed to maintaining the confidentiality and privacy of your education records. We want to take this opportunity to inform you of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). FERPA is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. These rights include:
1. The right to inspect and review your education records within 45 days of the day the University receives a request for access. If you want to review your records, you may contact the Office of the Registrar in writing to make appropriate arrangements.
2. 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 privacy rights under FERPA. If you feel there is an error in your record, you should submit a written request to the Office of the Registrar, clearly identifying the part of the record you want changed, and specifying why it is inaccurate or misleading. The University official will notify you of their decision and advise you regarding appropriate steps if you do not agree with the decision.
Note: This does not apply to disputes about grades assigned by faculty.
3. The right to provide written consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in your education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent. For example, SUNY Old Westbury may disclose education records without a student’s prior written consent under the FERPA exception for disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interest. School officials include: any University official who has a legitimate educational interest in reviewing an education record in order to fulfill their professional responsibilities on behalf of the University; other schools to which a student is transferring, specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes; appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student; organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the school; accrediting organizations; to comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena; appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies; and state and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific State law. School officials may also include volunteers or contractors outside of the University who perform an institutional service or 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. SUNY Old Westbury has designated the National Student Clearinghouse as a school official.
4. The U.S. Department of Education reviews complaints alleging that SUNY Old Westbury has failed to comply with FERPA. If you wish to file a complaint under FERPA or the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), you may submit the appropriate complaint form by email to FERPA.Complaints@ed.gov (for FERPA complaints) or PPRA.Complaints@ed.gov (for PPRA complaints), or by mail to:
U.S. Department of Education
Student Privacy Policy Office
400 Maryland Ave, SW
Washington, DC 20202-8520
Directory Information
SUNY Old Westbury may release directory/public information without a student’s consent. Directory information includes student’s name, address, e-mail address, phone number, student class level, major field of study, dates of attendance, honors designation and earned degrees. If you wish to restrict access to “directory information” please submit a FERPA Directory Information Opt-Out Form.
You may authorize the release of your education records to your parent, guardian, or another designated individual by submitting a FERPA Authorization Form through the Connect OW portal under the "Registrar Forms" card. This authorization permits only the in-person disclosure of education records to the individuals designated by the student. It does not authorize disclosure by any other method.
For additional information about FERPA, please review the SUNY Old Westbury FERPA page.
If you have questions regarding FERPA, you may contact the Office of the Registrar via email at owregistrar@oldwestbury.edu