1. the right to inspect your education records maintained by WKU;
2. the right to request  WKU correct any information in your education records you believe to be inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of your privacy rights;
3. the right to exercise control over your education records whether by release of your student information to parties outside of WKU or to withhold your information from all parties (with certain exceptions, as provided by law);
4. the right to file a complaint with the FERPA compliance office at the U.S. Department of Education.

FERPA rights begin when a student begins classes at WKU.

Education records are any records maintained by the university that are directly related to a student, with the following exceptions:

1. personal records kept by WKU employees that are in the sole possession of the maker and are not accessible by or revealed to any other person;
2. employment records, unless those records are contingent on the fact that the employee is a student;
3. records maintained by campus police solely for law-enforcement purposes;
4. records maintained by counseling services or WKU Health Services;
5. alumni records.

FERPA defines directory information as information included in the education records of a student that would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed. In accordance with FERPA, WKU designates the following student information as public or directory information. Such information may be disclosed by the institution at its discretion. 

Refer to FERPA Guidelines for more information. 

Students may withhold disclosure of directory information. To withhold disclosure, the student must provide written notification within the first five days of a term to the WKU Office of the Registrar; 1906 College Heights Blvd., #11017, Bowling Green, KY 42101-1017. Directory information will then be withheld indefinitely until the Office of the Registrar receives, in writing, a revocation of the request for non-disclosure. WKU will honor a request to withhold information, but the university cannot assume responsibility to contact the student for subsequent permission to release it.  Regardless of the effects upon the requesting student, the institution assumes no liability as a consequence of honoring instructions that directory information be withheld. WKU assumes that failure on the part of any student to request specifically the withholding of categories of directory information indicates approval of that information for disclosure. 

FERPA Form for Students

FERPA permits disclosure without consent to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is defined as a person employed by the university in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support-staff position (including law-enforcement-unit personnel and health staff); a person or company with whom the university has contracted for a service or operations function (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent); a person serving on the Board of Regents; or 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. 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.

The university may disclose personally identifiable information from a student's education record to officials of another school in which a student seeks or intends to enroll.

Furthermore, the university is required by law (the Solomon Amendment) to provide the name and address of all students to any legitimate military recruiter who makes such a request in writing to the Office of the Registrar. This applies even if a student has submitted a request to withhold directory information.

FERPA details other exceptions that allow disclosure without a student's consent.

For a parent to have access to his or her child's' non-directory information, he/she must be granted proxy access by the student. A student may assign proxy access to view educational records.  The process to assign a proxy is initiated by the student. In TopNet, students will navigate to the Main Menu page and choose  “Proxy Access,” the last option.  Once the student has assigned a proxy (parent, coach, etc) and designated the type of access the proxy should have, the proxy will receive a series of emails to set up proxy access.  Below find step-by-step instructions on granting proxy access:

1. Login to TopNet
2. Choose “Proxy Access”
3. Click “Add New” to add a new proxy
4. Provide requested information about the person receiving proxy access
5. Select what information you want the grantee to be able to see
6. Completion of this process will generate two emails to the grantee
7. To revoke proxy access, return to the proxy menu and set the expiration date to today or an earlier date

If non-directory information is required during an emergency, WKU may release that information if it deems the information is necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or other individuals.

Please direct any questions not answered here to the Office of the Registrar at 270-745-3351.