Privacy Statement

 Policy on Privacy Rights of Students

Notification by the University

 At least annually the University shall notify its eligible students of its policy on privacy rights of a student as follows:

1. Access to records.

(a) Subject to the limitations contained in (b) which follows, the education records of an eligible student shall be accessible to such students. Such right of access shall include: The right to be provided a list of the types of education records which are maintained by the institution and are directly related to students; the right to inspect and review the content of those records; the right to obtain copies of those records, which may be at the expense of the eligible student (but not to exceed actual cost to the insti­tution of reproducing such copies), the right to a response from the institution to reasonable requests for explanations and interpretations of those records; the right to an opportunity for a hearing to chal­lenge the content of those records; if any material or document in the education records of the student includes information on more than one student, the right to inspect and review only such part of such material or document as related to such student or to be informed of the specific information contained in such part of such material.

(b) The following materials will not be available to an eligible student: Financial records of the parents of the student or any information contained therein; confidential letters and statements of recommenda­tions, which were placed in the education records prior to January 1, 1975, if such letters or statements are not used for purposes other than those for which they were specifically intended; if the student has signed a waiver of the student’s right of access, confidential recommendations (1) respecting admission to any education agency or institution, (2) respecting an application for employment and (3) respecting the receipt of an honor or honorary recognition.

2. Procedures for granting access.

(a) An eligible student desiring access to his/her education records shall make a request in writing to the appropriate office. Requests concerning: (1) Admissions should be made to the Office of Admissions. (2) Student records should be made to the University Registrar; (3) Financial records should be made to the Vice President of Business Affairs; (4) Financial aid records should be made to the Director of Fi­nancial Aid; (5) Placement, counseling, disciplinary, health and security records should be made to the Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management & Student Affairs; (6) school and departmental records should be made to the Dean of the appropriate school; (7) employment records should be made to the Director of Human Resources.

(b) In the event the records are not produced for inspection as set out above, or there is some question as to the right or duty of the office to produce them for inspection, the matter shall forthwith be sub­mitted to the head of the office involved for determination. An appeal of his decision may be made immediately to the President of the University, who may notify the Records Grievance Committee, if appropriate.

3. Challenges of the content of records.

(a) Any dispute with an eligible student regarding the content of his/her education records will be settled if possible through an informal meeting and discussion with the student.

(b) If the dispute is not settled through informal meeting and discussion referred to above, either the student or the appropriate official of the University may request a formal hearing on the matter. The hearing shall be conducted and the decision rendered by the Records Grievance Committee appointed by the President. At said hearing the eligible student shall be afforded a full and fair opportunity to present evidence relevant to the issues involved. A decision shall be rendered in writing by the Com­mittee within a reasonable period of time after the conclusion of the hearing, in no case to be more than 15 days.

4. Release of personally identifiable records.

(a) An eligible student may request in writing that directory information not be made accessible to any party except those set forth in (b) below. Any such request shall be made within seven days after the formal registration period ends; this request may not be withdrawn during the semester in which made. Directory information includes the student’s name, mailing address, telephone listing, JSU email address, enrollment status: full time, part-time; currently enrolled or not, major field of study; participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance, degrees and awards received. The University reserves the right to deny directory information.

(b) Without the written consent of an eligible student, other education records shall not be made accessible to any party other than the following: Other University officials and teachers who have a legitimate education interest in such records; officials of other schools in which the student seeks and intends to enroll; the Comptroller General of the United States; the Secretary of the Office of Education; the U.S. Commissioner of Education; the Director of the National Institute of Education; the Assistant Secre­tary for Education; authorized state educational authorities; the appropriate authorities in connection with the student’s application for, or receipt of, financial aid; state and local officials or authorities to which such information is specifically required to be reported or disclosed by state law adopted prior to November 19, 1974; organizations conducting studies for, or on behalf of, educational agencies of institutions for the purpose of developing, validating, or administering predictive tests, administer­ing student aid programs, and improving instruction, if such studies are conducted in such manner as will not permit the personal identification of students and their parents by persons other than repre­sentatives of such organizations, and such information will be destroyed when no longer needed for the purpose for which it is conducted, accrediting organizations in order to carry out their accrediting functions; parents of a dependent student or such parents, as defined in section 152 of the Internal Rev­enue Code of 1954; or in compliance with judicial order, or pursuant of any lawfully issued subpoena, upon condition that the students are notified of all such orders or subpoenas in advance of the compli­ance there-with by the educational institution.

(c) The written consent of the eligible student referred to in (3b) above must be signed by the student, must be dated, shall include a specification of the records to be released, the reason for such release and the names of the parties to whom such records will be released shall be provided to the eligible student upon payment of the reproduction cost.

(d) The restriction on the release of education records or personally identifiable information contained therein, as set out in (3b) above, shall not prohibit the release of information from the education re­cords of an eligible student to appropriate persons in connection with an emergency if the knowledge of such information is necessary to protect the health or safety of a student. The factors which should be taken into account in determining whether records may be released under this section include the following: The seriousness of the threat to the health or safety of the student or other persons; the need for such records to meet the emergency; whether the persons to whom such records are released are in a position to deal with the emergency; and the extent to which time is of the essence in dealing with the emergency.

(e) No personal information on a student will be released without a written statement from the University to the party receiving the information that no other party is to have access to such information without the consent in writing of the eligible student.

5. The USA Patriot Act (USAP) amends the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) to permit education institutions to disclose education records to federal law enforcement officials without student consent as follows:

(a) By certifying that “specific and articulable facts” support the request, a U.S. Assistant Attorney General or higher-ranking official may obtain an ex parte court order that requires an educational institution to turn over education records considered relevant to a terrorism investigation.

(1) Institutions do not violate FERPA by responding to such an order without student consent.

(2) The institution need not make a record of the disclosure, as FERPA ordinarily requires.

(3) A College or university “shall not be liable to any person; for good faith disclosure of education re­cords in response to such an ex parte order.

6. Release of Student Transcript:

In accordance with the Buckley/Pell Amendment to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 1974, Jacksonville State University requires a signed letter of authorization or a signed JSU Transcript Request Form, with the original signature of the student making the request or a request through the secure Na­tional Student Clearinghouse website in order to release that student’s transcript(s). Additionally, the signed request must include the name and address of the institution or individual who is to receive the transcript(s), and the appropriate payment for the transcript(s). Fax requests will be accepted with the inclusion of a Visa/MasterCard, or Discover number along with expiration date of card and the V code in addition to the aforementioned information. Official transcripts may only be faxed to other institutions or potential employers. Official transcripts may not be faxed to an individual due to the many questions of legal validity and real identity of the recipient of the Fax message. A transcript cannot be released to an­other individual without written authorization from the student. Telephone requests will not be accepted. Transcripts may be mailed directly to an institution or individual from the JSU Registrar’s Office, or issued directly to the student in a sealed JSU envelope. Official transcripts may NOT be released if the stu­dent account currently has a balance or HOLD at the time the transcript request is processed. All accounts in the office of Student Accounts must be clear. Transcript requests received in the Registrar’s Office will be processed in a timely manner. Any request that is held until semester grades are posted or until degrees are confirmed will be processed on the next business day after such occurrence. Payment must be made upon request, however, and all accounts must be clear at the time the transcript request is processed. Any transcript request received in the Registrar’s Office without a proper signature or without appropriate payment or with a Record “HOLD” will be returned to the student with instructions to resubmit the re­quest with the appropriate inclusions. JSU reserves the right to alter, amend, or modify this policy at any time and will publish at least annually its policy on release and costs of student transcripts.

Permanent Educational Record

The permanent educational record of the student consists of all classes the student has taken at JSU, the grades earned for those classes, all classes transferred to JSU from other institutions of higher education, the grades earned for those classes and all non-traditional credit that has been granted by JSU to the student: CLEP, AP, Military Service Schools or Work Experience.

Social Security Number

The student’s social security number is confidential. However, the Federal Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 re­quires all institutions to report certain data using the social security number. Therefore, the social security number must be provided to Jacksonville State University in accordance with the legislation. Federal law re­quires that students who apply for financial aid must use their social security number.

Authority for requesting the disclosure of a student’s social security number is in Section 7(a)(2) of the Pri­vacy Act 1974 (5 U.S.C. 522a).

Section 504/American with Disabilities Act (ADA) Compliance

Jacksonville State University has filed with the Federal Government an Assurance of Compliance with Sec­tion 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended. The University does not discriminate on the basis of disability and no qualified disabled person shall, on the basis of disability, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity.

The coordinator of Section 504 and compliance officer for ADA is Don Killingsworth, (256) 782-5278. Students seeking accommodations may call Disability Resources at (256)782-8380. Disability Resources is located on the 2nd floor of the Houston Cole Library.

University Drug Free Workplace Policy

Jacksonville State University hereby affirms its policy of providing a drug-free work place for its employees. In furtherance of this policy, the following guidelines and sanctions have been adopted.

A. Drug Use Policy

Federal law prohibits the illegal manufacture, distribution, dispensing, possession, or use of a controlled substance in the work place. (The “work place” is defined as Jacksonville State University property, ve­hicles, or participation in a JSU sponsored activity away from campus.) It is the policy of JSU to comply totally with this law and in compliance will: 1) Provide each student and employee a copy of this policy; 2) Require any student convicted of any criminal drug statute violation which has occurred in the work place to notify the University Judicial Coordinator within five (5) days of the conviction; 3) Require any faculty or staff member convicted of any criminal drug statute violation which has occurred in the work place to notify the Director of Human Resources within five (5) days of the conviction.

B. Legal Sanctions

Legal sanctions for possession, use or distribution of illicit drugs and alcohol may include imprisonment for periods ranging from less than one year (for first offense) up to life imprisonment without parole (for multiple convictions) and fines ranging up to $500,000.

C. Health Risks

Marijuana:

1) Use of marijuana reduces short term memory, motivation, concentration and attention span;

2) Infertility may be caused by the use of marijuana in both males and females;

3) Lung damage may result from use of marijuana.

Cocaine:

1) Use of cocaine may lead to addiction;

2) Use of cocaine may cause permanent damage to the lungs, liver, and nose;

3) Chest pain, heart attack, heart failure, stroke, and seizures may result from the use of cocaine.

Alcohol:

1) Uses of alcohol may lead to addiction;

2) Damage to the liver, brain, heart, and other organs may result from long-term drinking;

3) Harm may occur to babies whose mothers use/abuse alcohol during pregnancy (Fetal Alcohol Syn­drome);

4) Abuse of alcohol can lead to overdose and death;

5) Mixing alcohol with other drugs (legal and illicit) may intensify the effects of either, making overdose more likely.

Use of drugs and/or alcohol causes impairment of judgment and motor skills which greatly increases the risks of injury or death due to accidents.

D. Drug Awareness, Counseling, and Treatment

Counseling Services offers counseling to all students, faculty, and staff at Jacksonville State University. These services are without charge. These services may include intervention and other methods of therapy. Referrals may also be made to a facility approved under our health insurance plan. These services are con­ducted under the strictest confidence.

E. Institutional Sanctions

1) Students who violate this policy will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal from the University.

2) Employees who violate this policy will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including discharge. If you are charged by your immediate supervisor with an offense which may result in discharge, your case will be referred to the next level of supervision and your immediate discharge may be recom­mended or effected immediately. If discharged, you will not be entitled to accrued annual leave, and this action will become a part of your employment record.