FERPA Parent Guidelines

The University of the Pacific Student Records Policy and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) provide guidelines for maintaining the confidentiality of students' education records and monitoring the release of information from those records.

Definition of Education Records

Educational records are those records directly related to a student and maintained by the University or by a party acting for the university. Some examples: records of grades, coursework, records indicating progress toward a degree, student financial account records.

Parent Rights

Once a student has reached age 18 or is attending the university, all FERPA rights belong to the student. Parent access to education records is allowed when the student provides the university with a signed and dated release specifying the records to be disclosed and the purpose of the disclosure.

Family Emergency Situations

If a parent or other family member needs assistance in contacting a University of the Pacific student in an emergency, they should contact the Office of Student Life, 209.946.2365. Staff members in that office have systems in place to help families connect with their students under such circumstances.

Public Health or Safety Emergencies

Disclosure of information from education records is allowed under the University of the Pacific Student Records Policy and FERPA in connection with a health or safety emergency if the information is necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or others. To determine if the disclosure is necessary, the university considers factors like the following:

the seriousness of the threat to health or safety;
the need for the information to meet the emergency;
whether the individual(s) to whom the information is released is in a position to deal with the situation; and
the extent to which time is of the essence.