保单号码: 1.9

政策部分: 机构事务

修订日期: 2019年1月2日

1.  政策声明

Federal and state laws govern current and former student and employee records, as well as requests for “public” information under the federal Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) and the Texas Public Information Act.  The Office of Legal Affairs at SMU is responsible for determining the appropriate response to a subpoena or other request for information received by an SMU employee or faculty member relating to SMU business records.

2.  学生记录

1. All records maintained by any University department which pertain to current or former students are student records protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, 经修订(也称为FERPA或巴克利修正案). FERPA sets forth very strict guidelines which govern the University's release of student records to any person other than the student, 没有事先取得学生的书面同意, or the student’s authorization of release of the student’s records through the Office of the Registrar in my.SMU.
2. FERPA permits the release of student records under very limited circumstances, which include those records requested by a validly issued subpoena. It is important that no response indicating the existence (or non-existence) of student records pursuant to a subpoena served on any employee of the University be made without the advice and consent of the Office of Legal Affairs. The Office of Legal Affairs must determine whether the subpoena is validly issued and whether it meets the strict FERPA notice requirements to advise the current or former student of the subpoena, so that the student has an opportunity to raise objection to the subpoena with the issuing entity prior to the University's compliance.
3. SMU Police Department incident reports are not protected under FERPA and are subject to information requests under the Texas Public Information Act. (见大学政策.10、公开资料要求)
4. Requests for student health records should be presented to the Dr. 鲍勃·史密斯纪念健康中心, which will coordinate the release of any student health or pharmacy records with the Office of Legal Affairs, 根据大学政策1.9、健康信息隐私(HIPAA).

3.  员工记录

Any subpoena requesting employment or payroll records or other information relating to current or former employees must be presented to the Office of Legal Affairs for review.  Once the Office of Legal Affairs has verified that the subpoena is valid, it will coordinate compliance with the subpoena with appropriate SMU offices.

4.  Requests for Records of Information under “FOIA” or the Texas Public Information Act

A request presented to the University by an individual or entity claiming a right to the information under the federal “Freedom of Information Act” or “FOIA” or under the Texas Public Information Act are generally declined.  作为一个私人机构, SMU is generally not subject to 这些 requests and declines to provide any information under a FOIA request.  然而, please check with the Office of Legal Affairs to determine whether the request you receive is valid, 如果有必要的话. The Office of Legal Affairs will coordinate any response on behalf of SMU.

5.  拒绝和重定向服务

If service is attempted on an employee related to records described in section 2 or section 3 of this policy, the employee should decline to accept service of the subpoena and redirect the process server to the Office of Legal Affairs during regular business hours. 不过, if service of a subpoena is accepted contrary to this policy, the person accepting service shall immediately contact the Office of Legal Affairs so that all proper steps are taken to protect the University from liability for wrongful release of student, 或者员工记录.

6.  联邦和州机构的请求

Various Federal and State agencies occasionally come onto campus seeking information through oral communication or access to files concerning particular students or employees. FERPA protects student records from this kind of "informal" disclosure. It is the University's policy to cooperate with all governmental agencies, but Federal law prohibits the University from cooperating in a manner that would violate FERPA, 即使它是另一个联邦机构, 或者是国家机构, 请求的信息. Please direct any representatives from state or federal agencies to the Office of Legal Affairs.  The Office of Legal Affairs will review the request and any additional documents, and will coordinate the University’s response to the request. 

For additional information, please contact the Office of Legal Affairs or reference 这些 常见问题.

修改后: 2019年1月2日

采用: 一九九九年一月十八日