Confidentiality & Student Records
Disability Services for Students strives to treat all personal information with the strictest confidentiality. We respect the privacy of individuals and will err in favor of confidentiality whenever possible.
Disability Services regards the information it keeps about students as educational records. Educational records fall under different rules than do medical records, and Disability Services advises students to note the difference. Thus, Disability Services prefers that documentation of disabling conditions provided by students should be limited to that which is necessary to establish the disability and the right to an accommodation in an educational setting. Please refer to the section of Expect Access titled Disability And Its Impact for more details on verifying a disability and the right to accommodation.
Disability Services may release information to University faculty and staff when a "need to know" some or all of that information is established by Disability Services. The need to know must be based on compelling and legitimate educational reasons for the information disclosure. Generally speaking, faculty and staff do not need to know what the student's disability is. These University officials merely need to know that Disability Services verified the disability and the student's right to reasonable accommodations. Likewise, faculty and staff (outside of Disability Services) have no right to access student files directly. On occasion, internal auditing and monitoring of student information may occur, but only under the strictest confidentiality protections.
Written authorizations to release confidential information to persons or entities outside of the University will be obtained from the student before any such information is released. This includes parents. On occasion, third parties such as courts of law, civil rights investigators, etc. may legally order Disability Services to release information with or without a signed authorization from the student.
For each student served, Disability Services creates a paper file that contains both internal and external documents. Disability Services owns and maintains these files in secure storage for up to five years after the last year in which the student was enrolled at the University. After that time, DSS destroys the physical file and all its contents.
Disability Services encourages students to obtain and keep copies of their documentation for future uses. Students may receive copies of their files on request. In addition, students may give written permission for copies of the file to go to a third party however, only Disability Services personnel may directly access the file.
In addition to paper files, Disability Services keeps some electronic information about students. The electronic records are kept in one of two places, in the University's Banner student record database and in an internal database in Disability Services. Only those who have been given the security clearance by the Disability Services Director may access the password protected Banner record, which simply consists of a disability and registration code designed to track enrollment information. For instance, faculty may not see this information.
One exception to these restrictions involves a temporary Banner code that authorizes a priority in registration. Those students with disabilities who qualify for the accommodation of priority registration temporarily show a registration code in Banner which authorizes the priority, and which may be viewed by faculty and staff during the brief time it is visible.
For the second of the two electronic records, only Disability Services personnel access the Disability Services' internal database. It is used mainly for file management and service tracking purposes. Electronic records are not expunged.
Occasionally, a student's diagnostician or vocational rehabilitation counselor stamps the student's documentation with admonishments not to release copies of the documentation to anyone, including the student. Disability Services will not accept disability documentation marked with a stamp or some other notice that the documentation may not be released without the permission of the diagnostician or counselor. Such documentation will be returned to the sender with Disability Services keeping no copies of the restricted documentation. Disability Services will then inform the student that the documentation was unacceptable and request the student to provide acceptable documentation. Remember that Disability Services regards the documentation as educational records. Thus, Disability Services will not tolerate any restrictions that may limit or deny passing information to the student and other appropriate parties.
Disputes and complaints involving confidentiality may be pursued through University due process. Please refer to the section of Expect Access titled ADA/504 Committee.
