University of California campuses maintain various types of records pertaining to students. Some are maintained for academic purposes; others, such as medical records, are maintained for other specific purposes.
These policies apply only to records directly related to students as students, hereafter referred to as 'student records' in these policies (also see Section 130.233). The disclosure of information from student records is generally governed by the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
These policies are not applicable to other records that are maintained for purposes unrelated to a student's status as a student. Specific categories of such records are identified in Section 130.234. The disclosure of information from such records is governed by the California Information Practices Act.
It is the purpose of these policies to provide reasonable interpretations of the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and to protect the student's right of privacy as guaranteed by the Constitution of the State of California and the Information Practices Act. When the law is silent, the campuses shall be guided by two principles: (1) the privacy of an individual is of great weight, and (2) the information in a student's file should be disclosed to the student on request.
These policies supersede the University of California Policies Applying to the Disclosure of Information from Student Records, Policies Applying to Campus Activities, Organizations, and Students, dated August 15, 1994. They incorporate the requirements set forth in the regulations implementing the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and all amendments thereto through April 25, 2002.
Although not strictly required under federal law, as a matter of University policy, for the purposes of implementing the provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, the University generally views itself as thirteen separate institutions, rather than as a single entity. The thirteen institutions include the nine general campuses, the one health sciences campus, and the three Department of Energy Laboratories operated by the University. Therefore, personally identifiable information contained in student records maintained by one campus may not be disclosed to the other campuses without the written consent of the student, unless the disclosure is consistent with the provisions of Section 130.70 of these Policies. Such information may be disclosed by any campus to the Office of the President, as permitted by Section 130.721(a)(2) of these Policies.
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