Brite Divinity School abides by The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. This Act, as amended, is a federal law that states (a) that a written institutional policy must be established and (b) that a statement of adopted procedures covering the privacy rights of students be made available. The law provides that the institution will maintain the confidentiality of student education records. Texas Christian University accords all the rights under the law to students who are declared independent.

Institutional Policy and Statement of Procedures:

1. No one outside the institution shall have access to nor will the institution disclose any information from students' education records without the written consent of students with the following exception permitted under the act:

   • personnel within the institution*

   • officials of other institutions in which students seek to enroll

   • persons or organizations providing student financial aid

   • accrediting agencies carrying out their accreditation function

   • persons in compliance with a judicial order

   • persons in an emergency in order to protect the health or safety of students or other persons

*Within the Brite Divinity School and Texas Christian University community, only those members, individually or collectively, acting in the students' educational interest are allowed access to student education records. These members include all Brite Divinity School and Texas Christian University personnel including University Police, faculty, advisors, administrative staff, clerical staff and student employees within the limitations of their need to know.

At its discretion, the institution may provide directory information in accordance with the provisions of the acts to include the following:

1. name

2. home address

3. home telephone number

4. major field(s) of study

5. dates of attendance

6. degrees and awards received (including Dean's List)

7. participation in officially recognized activities and sports

8. weight and height of members of athletic teams

Under the regulations defined by the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, you can choose to restrict the information listed above from release. Please note that unless otherwise indicated, this information will not be made available to any oral or written request nor will it appear in any publication. You can elect this option on my.tcu.edu by taking the following steps:

1. Log in to my.tcu.edu

2. Click on Student Center

3. Scroll down to Personal Information

4. Click on drop down and choose Privacy Setting

5. Click on arrow

6. To restrict release of personal information, click "FERPA ON"

7. To allow release of personal information after previously restricting the information, click "FERPA OFF" [The default setting for this feature is FERPA OFF]

8. The law provides students with the right to inspect and review information contained in their education records. The Registrar at Texas Christian University has been designated by the institution to coordinate the inspection and review procedures for student education records, which include admissions, personal, academic, and financial files, and academic, cooperative education, and placement records. Students wishing to review their education records must make written requests to the Registrar listing the item or items of interest. Only records covered by the act will be made available within forty-five (45) days of the request. Students may have copies made of their records with certain exceptions (e.g. a copy of the academic record for which a financial "hold" exists, or a transcript of an original, or source document which exists elsewhere). Their copies would be made at the students' expense at prevailing rates. Education records do not include records of instructional, administrative, and educational personnel, which are the sole possession of the maker and are not accessible or revealed to any individual except a temporary substitute, records of the law enforcement unit, student health records, employment records or alumni records. Health records, however, may be reviewed by physicians of the students' choosing.

9. Students may not inspect and review the following as outlined by the act: financial information submitted by their parents; confidential letters and recommendations associated with admissions, employment or job placement, or honors to which they have waived their rights of inspection and review; or education records containing information about more than one student, in which case the institution will permit access only to that part of the record which pertains to the inquiring student. The institution is not required to permit students to inspect their files prior to January 1, 1975, provided those letters were collected under established policies of confidentiality and were used only for the purposes for which they were collected.

10. Students who believe that their education records contain information that is inaccurate or misleading, or is otherwise in violation of their privacy or other rights, may discuss their problems informally with the registrar, to have a hearing if the outcome of the challenge is unsatisfactory, and to submit explanatory statements for inclusion in their files if the decisions of the hearing panels are unacceptable.

If the decisions are in agreement with the students' requests, the appropriate records will be amended. If not, the student will be notified within a reasonable period of time that the records will not be amended, and they will be informed by the Registrar of their right to a formal hearing. Student requests for a formal hearing must be made in writing to the Office of the Registrar who, within a reasonable period of time after receiving such requests, will inform students of the date, place and time of the hearings. Students may present evidence relevant to the issues raised and may be assisted or represented at the hearings by one or more persons of their choice, including attorneys, at the students' expense.

Decisions of the hearings will be final, will be based solely on the evidence presented at the hearing, and will consist of written statements summarizing the evidence and stating the reasons for the decisions, and will be delivered to all parties concerned. The education records will be corrected or amended in accordance with the decisions of the hearings, if the decisions are in favor of the students. If the decisions are unsatisfactory to the student, the student may place with the education records statements commenting on the information in the records, or statements setting forth any reasons for disagreeing with the decisions of the hearings. The statements will be placed in the education records, maintained as part of the students' records, and released whenever the records in question are disclosed.

5. Students who believe that the adjudication of their challenges were unfair or not in keeping with the provisions of the act may request, in writing, assistance from the Chancellor of the institution or his designee and have the right to file complaints with the U.S. Department of Education. Complaints should be sent directly to the following address:

Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D. C. 20202-4605

Revisions and clarifications to this policy will be published as experience with the law and institution's policy warrants.

Personal Data and Changes in Data

1.     Address changes: Address or telephone number changes should be reported to the Office of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. In addition, it is the student’s responsibility to see that addresses and phone numbers are kept current through my.tcu.edu.

2.     New students are requested to have photographs taken during Orientation.

3.     Brite Divinity School and Texas Christian University use the Social Security card as the documentation to allow an individual to change his or her name of record (also known as the primary name). The Office of Human Resources, the Office of the Registrar, and the Office of Career Services are authorized to change an individual’s name of record. A Social Security card bearing the new name must be presented to one of these offices.

      In an effort to provide better customer service to all of our community, these offices will also inquire as to whether the individual has a preferred name different from the name of record, in which case the data entry operator will override the defaulted preferred name with the preference. (Photo ID is necessary for preferred name changes.)

The original documentation for all current or former students will be retained in the Office of the Registrar. An audit notification of changes in name of record will be available for the authorizing office (Human Resources Office, Office of the Registrar, or Career Services) periodically as well as on request.