As a student, you have certain rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) concerning your school records. This law permits the College to release “directory” information about students without student consent.

Western defines directory information as:

• Name
• City
• State
• Dates of attendance
• Credit load
• Previous colleges and schools attended
• Program of study
• Awards, honors, and degrees conferred including dates
• Past and present participation in officially recognized sports and activities
• Address (limited directory information only)
• Phone (limited directory information only)

You can withhold directory information by submitting a Request to Withhold Directory Information Form to the Welcome Center. This request is valid until it is revoked in writing.

You have the right to inspect and review your records. All requests will be responded to within 45 days. Contact the Welcome Center.

Upon request, the College may disclose education records without consent to officials of another school in which you intend to enroll.

Student names and addresses may be released to Western Technical College Foundation for Foundation-related activities.

If you would like additional information released to specific parties (e.g., information concerning your financial aid, tuition, or educational records released to your parents), a Release of Student Information Form should be submitted to the Welcome Center. This Release will be valid until it is revoked in writing. Two versions of the Release form are available: Fillable Form and PDF Version. The fillable form is in the My Links section of MyWestern so you'll need to login using your student ID/password to access this form.

Limited Directory Information Designation:

Western does not disclose any directory information for marketing or solicitation purposes. Western designates address and phone numbers as limited directory information only. This information is only eligible for release to Western Technical College Foundation for Foundation-related activities and/or local, state or federal law enforcement agencies for safety and/or criminal investigative purposes.

Solomon Amendment & FERPA

Solomon Amendment is a federal law that allows military recruiters to access some address, biographical and academic program information on students age 17 and older.

The Department of Education has determined the Solomon Amendment supersedes most elements of FERPA. An institution is therefore obligated to release data included in the list of “student recruiting infor­mation,” which may or may not match Western's FERPA directory information list. However, if the student has submitted a request to the College to restrict the release of his/her Directory Information, then no information from the student's education record will be released under the Solomon Amendment. View the Request to Withhold Directory Information Form.

Definition - "Student Recruitment Information" or "Solomon Information"

1. Name
2. Address
3. Telephone
4. Student email
5. Date of Birth
6. Academic program
7. Degrees received
8. Previous Educational institutions in which the student was enrolled

Procedure for Releasing Information to Military Recruiters

1. Under the Solomon amendment, information will be released for military recruitment purposes only. The military recruiters may request student recruitment information once each term or semester for each of the 12 eligible units within the five branches of the service:
   
   1. Army: Army, Army Reserve, Army National Guard
   2. Navy: Navy, Navy Reserve
   3. Marine Corps: Marine Corps, Marine Corps Reserve
   4. Air Force: Air Force, Air Force Reserve, Air Force National Guard
   5. Coast Guard: Coast Guard, Coast Guard Reserve
2. The request should be submitted in writing to the Registrar clearly identifying the unit of service requesting the student recruitment information.
3. The request should specify whether the information needed is for the current or previous semester.

Health and Public Safety Exemption

There are limited exceptions to FERPA regulations under which Western is permitted to disclose education records or personally identifiable, non-directory information from education records in connection with a health or safety emergency without student consent.

The situation must present imminent danger to a student, other students, or members of the school community in order to qualify as an exception. This action is not taken lightly and only under circumstances that present imminent danger.