Records and Confidentiality

Policy

The Boonshoft School of Medicine (BSOM) follows the Student Privacy and Release of Educational Records – FERPA Policy 3010 set forth by Wright State University. Policy 3010 includes information pertaining, but not limited to:

• release of an educational record without consent
• consent for release of an educational record
• procedures for review of an educational record
• right to seek to amend an education record
• procedures for challenging information in an educational record.

The aforementioned Wright State University Policy 3010 and the following procedures are in place for the protection of student educational records and are in alignment with FERPA guidelines, in accordance with LCME elements 11.5 and 11.6:

"At a medical school, medical student educational records are confidential and available only to those members of the faculty and administration with a need to know, unless released by the student or as otherwise governed by laws concerning confidentiality." (LCME 11.5)

"A medical school has policies and procedures in place that permit a medical student to review and to challenge his or her educational records, including the Medical Student Performance Evaluation, if he or she considers the information contained therein to be inaccurate, misleading, or inappropriate." (LCME 11.6)

Under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), medical students have access to all items of their educational record except for those items to which they waive their rights (e.g., letters of recommendation).

Per Wright State University Policy 3010, a student education record is defined as “any record that is directly related to a student and maintained by Wright State University or by a party acting for Wright State University.”

Student education records are available only to those individuals who are official agents of University and have a legitimate need to access the information in order to fulfill the responsibilities of their jobs. A person’s role (see table below) dictates the access level that person is provided as appropriate.

Role	Student Education Record Access Eligibility	Business Need
Admissions Committee; Admissions staff	All applicant data, including all information submitted via AMCAS/WebAdmit, applicant interview reports/scoring	To determine those students who will be invited to interview and/or matriculate at BSOM
Clerkship/Module Director	Student absence reports, assignments, examinations, grades, evaluations pertinent to the clerkship/module the faculty is director	To assign final grade for the pertinent clerkship/module
Departmental Faculty	Student final grades and ranking pertinent to the module/clerkship associated with the particular department the faculty is a member	To write letters of recommendation for residency applications, scholarships, etc.
Faculty Advisor	Student final grades and ranking	To provide career and/or academic counseling to the student
Research Mentor	Student scholarly project data and paperwork	To provide mentoring to complete scholarly work
Honor Code Council	Professionalism grievances filed against a student, including formal documentation and evidence of incursion	To conduct investigation of honor code/ professionalism violation
Office of Medical Education staff; academic advisors	Student absence reports, complete student educational record, assignment drop boxes, student schedules, USMLE data	To manage students’ progress of curricular requirements
Office of Student Affairs & Admissions staff	Student schedules, final transcripts, USMLE data	To monitor completion of curricular requirements for promotion and graduation
Manager of Career Services	Complete student educational record	To review and make recommendations regarding student career planning
Manager of Financial Aid	Student financial aid, tuition, and debt data	To provide students and reporting agencies with pertinent tuition, debt, and financing data
Student Promotions Committee; Student Appeals Committee; Dean of Medicine	Complete student educational record	To review and make recommendations regarding student progress at BSOM

Procedure

FERPA Training for Staff & Faculty

All personnel listed in the policy that have access to student educational records in order to fulfill the responsibilities of their jobs must complete annual FERPA training provided by BSOM indicating their understanding of the FERPA law and Wright State University FERPA policies. The completion of this annual attestation is monitored by the Department of Medical Education.

Student Release for Letters of Recommendation Writers

A release signed by the medical students at orientation and reaffirmed prior to the start of the Doctoring phase grants future letters of recommendation writers access to pertinent parts of student record depending on their roles (see the table in the Policy).

Opt-Out of Student Directory

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) is the federal law that governs the release of and access to student educational records. Institutions provide “directory information” in accordance with FERPA provisions. To opt out and prevent release of WSU directory information complete this form, and to opt out of photo use contact the Office of Student Affairs.

Reviewed and approved by FCC on April 22, 2020

Edited and approved by FCC on 9/22/2021