Section 504-21-050. Release of personally identifiable records.

(1) The university shall not permit access to or the release of education records or personally identifiable information contained therein, other than "directory information," (as defined in subsection (5) of this section), without the written consent of the student to any party other than the following:

(a) School officials with a legitimate educational interest. A school official is a person employed by WSU in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position (including health staff and WSU police); a person or company with whom the university has contracted (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent); a person serving on the board of trustees; 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 educational responsibilities.

(b) Federal and state officials requiring access to education records in connection with the audit and evaluation of a federally- or state-supported education program or in connection with the enforcement of federal or state legal requirements which relate to such programs. In such cases the information required shall be protected by the federal or state official in a manner which will not permit the personal identification of students and their parents to other than those officials, and such personally identifiable data shall be destroyed when no longer needed for such audit, evaluation or enforcement of legal requirements.

(c) Persons or organizations, other than parents or legal guardians, providing to the student financial aid, or determining financial aid decisions concerning eligibility, amount, condition, and enforcement of terms of said aid.

(d) Organizations conducting studies for or on behalf of the university for purposes of developing, validating or administering predictive tests, administering student aid programs, and improving instruction, if such studies are conducted in such a manner as will not permit the personal identification of students by persons other than representatives of such organizations, and such information will be destroyed when no longer needed for the purposes for which it was provided.

(e) Education records may be used for legitimate academic research; provided that

(i) The procedures utilized and the reported findings do not violate the student's confidence;

(ii) Students' names will not be included in the study or in any way linked with the data;

(iii) Case histories and case records are sufficiently disguised to prevent identification of the individuals involved; and

(iv) The student's written permission is obtained where individual identification occurs.

(f) Accrediting organizations in order to carry out their accrediting functions.

(g) Any person or entity designated by judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena, upon condition that a reasonable attempt has been made to notify the student of all such orders or subpoenas in advance of the compliance therewith unless the subpoena is issued for a law enforcement purpose or is issued by a federal grand jury and the court or other issuing agency has ordered that the existence of the subpoena not be disclosed. Any university employee or office receiving a subpoena or judicial order for education records should immediately notify the WSU division of the office of the attorney general.

(h) Parents or legal guardians of a student who have established that student's status as their dependent according to Internal Revenue Code.

(i) An alleged victim of any crime of violence or nonforcible sexual offense, as they are defined in Appendix A to 34 C.F.R. Part 99, shall be informed of the results of any disciplinary proceeding conducted by WSU against the alleged perpetrator of that crime with respect to that crime.

(j) To the office of the attorney general when disclosure is to comply with a judicial order or to provide legal advice.

(k) WSU may provide to parents or guardians of students under age twenty one information regarding violations of federal, state, or local laws or the university's conduct code where such violations concern the use or possession of alcohol or controlled substances and where WSU determines that those students have committed such violations.

(l) When either the student initiates legal action against WSU or when WSU initiates legal action against the student, WSU may disclose to the court any educational records of the student that are relevant to the legal action.

(m) Information may be disclosed in conformance with other exceptions to the prior written consent requirement of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and implementing regulations found at 34 C.F.R. § 99. A copy of these regulations may be obtained from the Office of the Registrar.

(2) Where the consent of a student is obtained for the release of education records, it shall be in writing, signed and dated by the person giving such consent, and shall include:

(a) A specification of the records to be released,

(b) The reasons for such release, and

(c) The identity of the parties to whom such records will be released unless the nature of the activity is such that advance identification of recipients is not possible such as employment assistance provided by the university office of career services and placement, in which case an effort will be made to identify recipients of information as they become known.

(3) In cases where records are made available without student consent as permitted by subsection (1)(b), (c), (d), (e), (f), and (g) of this section (except in cases where the subpoena prohibits disclosure), subsection (1)(i) of this section and, when required by law, subsection (1)(m) of this section the university shall maintain a record which will indicate the parties which have requested or obtained access to a student's records maintained by the university and which will indicate the legitimate interest of the requesting party.

(4) Personally identifiable education records released to third parties, with or without student consent, shall be accompanied by a written statement indicating that the information cannot be subsequently released in a personally identifiable form to any other parties without obtaining consent of the student unless such disclosures are made pursuant to subsection (1)(g), (h), (j), (k), or (l) of this section or the information released is directory information as defined in subsection (5) of this section.

(5) The term "directory information" used in subsection (1) of this section is defined as student's name (including any former name), local and permanent addresses and telephone numbers, electronic mail address(es), major and minor fields of study, participation in officially recognized activities in sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance, enrollment status (e.g., undergraduate or graduate; full-time or part-time), grade level, degrees, status as graduate assistant and assignment, certificates, and awards received including the president's honor roll, and the most recent previous educational institution attended by the student. Students may request that the university not release directory information by filing a request online or with the office of payroll services.

(6) Information from education records may be released 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 or other person(s).

[Statutory Authority: RCW 28B.30.150. WSR 09-04-060, § 504-21-050, filed 2/2/09, effective 3/5/09; WSR 01-19-027, § 504-21-050, filed 9/13/01, effective 10/14/01. Statutory Authority: RCW 28B.30.150 and 20 U.S.C. 1232g. WSR 95-07-043, § 504-21-050, filed 3/8/95, effective 4/8/95; Order 77-1, § 504-21-050, filed 5/2/77.]

RCW 28B.30.150. WSR 09-04-060, § 504-21-050, filed 2/2/09, effective 3/5/09; WSR 01-19-027, § 504-21-050, filed 9/13/01, effective 10/14/01. Statutory Authority: RCW 28B.30.150 and 20 U.S.C. 1232g. WSR 95-07-043, § 504-21-050, filed 3/8/95, effective 4/8/95; Order 77-1, § 504-21-050, filed 5/2/77.