Student Academic Record
The College maintains student records, housed in Student Services, in accordance with state law, College policy, the USA Patriot Act, Solomon Amendment and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 as amended. The College maintains accurate and confidential records for each student to preserve authentic evidence of the events and actions that are important and can contribute to the efforts to educate the student and to facilitate the achievement of the educational goals of the College.
The transcript is the statement of official academic record of the student, including all attempted courses, credits, grades, and current and cumulative Grade Point Average. An official transcript may be released by the student upon written request to Student Services. Current students may view their unofficial transcript via MyCleveland. The College will not release a transcript unless all tuition, fees, and other obligations due to the College have been resolved.
Educational Record and Privacy Rights
The College, in accordance with existing state and federal laws, reaffirms the rights of students to access their official educational record and to challenge the accuracy of such information. The College limits the release of personally identifiable data, other than directory information, without explicit student consent.
The educational record includes, but is not limited to, a copy of the original application for admission, transcript(s) of previous educational records, placement test results, Student Data Change forms, duplicates of other forms completed by the student, and copies of correspondence between the College and the student.
Information identified as public or directory information may be released without the student’s consent for purpose deemed beneficial to the student by College officials or to remain in compliance with the Solomon Amendment. Directory information is defined as the student’s name, local address, date of birth, age, email address, phone number, major field of study, degrees and honors received, dates of enrollment and current enrollment status. Students who do not wish any or all of the above information be released to outside agencies must notify Student Services in writing at time of registration. The request for nondisclosure of directory information should be renewed each semester.
Students are notified annually of their rights under FERPA through the Academic Bulletin and Student Handbook. Also, students may inspect and review their educational record upon a letter of request submitted to Student Services identifying the record to inspect. A student may ask for amendment of a record that is believed to be inaccurate or misleading. The student should make the request in writing to Student Services. The request should clearly identify the part of the record to be changed and should specify why it is inaccurate or misleading.
Security and Confidentiality Policy
The following persons or groups are authorized access to official records without student consent:
- College faculty members and other College officials with legitimate educational interests.
- College officials of other institutions in which the student seeks or intends to enroll.
- Authorized representatives of federal, state, or local government.
- Accrediting organization in order to carry out their accrediting functions.
- The privacy rights of an individual expire with that individual’s death. Accordingly, the disposition of records held by the College and pertaining to a deceased individual is not a FERPA issue but a matter of institutional policy. The College requires that an individual seeking records on a deceased student must complete the release form, submit an official death certificate, and submit documentation proving the requester is either a parent or guardian of the deceased student or an executor/executrix of the deceased student’s estate.
Records of Request and Disclosures
The student must submit a written request to Student Services and specify the records to be released, the purpose of the disclosure, and the party and address to which information is to be released. All requests must have the student’s signature, or appropriate electronic authorization, in the space provided for signature. Furthermore, Student Services will release a transcript of a student’s academic record only upon written request of the student. The request for the transcript release must bear the signature, or appropriate electronic authorization, of the student along with identifying information.
The College maintains records of request and disclosures of personally identifiable information. The records of requests include the names and addresses of the person who requested the information and their legitimate interest in the information. The records of disclosures and request for disclosures are considered part of students’ academic records; therefore, records of disclosures and request for disclosures must follow the student record retention policy.
A student who is indebted to the College is not eligible to receive a transcript or documentation of a credential. A student has the right to see and photocopy the official record upon request.
Student Record Retention
Each student transcript is a permanent document of the College and will be maintained indefinitely. All other student records are maintained in accordance with the Records and Retention and Disposition schedule approved by the North Carolina Community College System in accordance with provisions of the General Statues of North Carolina.