Kansas State University

Coming soon: Annual FERPA self-assessment for 2014-2015

Submitted by Office of the Registrar

Each year, the Office of the Registrar develops a short electronic Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, or FERPA, self-assessment that can be completed in approximately 15 minutes. Knowledge of FERPA is required for all faculty, staff and student employees accessing student data as part of their work duties.

The cohort identified for completion of the FERPA self-assessment includes staff with an instructor role in K-State Online or staff with a faculty/advisor/student services role in iSIS who have logged into the system within the past 12 months.

Early in the fall term, members of the cohort will receive an initial email with a link to the FERPA self-assessment using the Qualtrix survey software. Follow-up emails also will be sent periodically during the academic year to remind current staff and to ensure that newly hired staff is contacted. The survey link that is sent via email is designated specifically for the recipient of the email and should not be forwarded. This is how completion of the survey is tracked and then reported in the training summary area of HRIS.

This self-assessment will employ a broad range of real-life situations that have been and can still be encountered by faculty and staff in the course of their duties. Since FERPA is a federal law that is directly applicable to educational institutions, it is in the best interests of faculty and staff to be aware of the typical, everyday situations that can have FERPA implications.

The self-assessment includes 14 questions. The correct answer is displayed after you make a selection for each question. Satisfactory completion of this assessment does not require that you answer a specific number of questions correctly. However, it is important to read the correct answers and any accompanying explanations. This component serves as a teaching/training tool.

You should be able to move through it quickly but the questions/answers are sufficient to compel thought and perhaps provoke additional questions, which may be directed to the Office of the Registrar at registrar@k-state.edu. To assist in appropriate routing of any questions, please include FERPA self-assessment in the subject line of your email.

Please visit the registrar's office FERPA information either before or after completing the assessment for additional information about FERPA at Kansas State University.