FAMILY EDUCATION RIGHTS AND PRIVACY ACT ("FERPA") POLICY, ANNUAL NOTIFICATION OF FERPA RIGHTS, AND DESIGNATION OF DIRECTORY INFORMATION

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1 APPENDIX L FAMILY EDUCATION RIGHTS AND PRIVACY ACT ("FERPA") POLICY, ANNUAL NOTIFICATION OF FERPA RIGHTS, AND DESIGNATION OF DIRECTORY INFORMATION Section Introduction. A. General Information. This document sets forth Cooley's FERPA Policy, Annual Notification of FERPA Rights, and Designation of Directory Information. A federal law known as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or "FERPA," gives students enrolled at Cooley Law School who are at least 18 years old or older certain rights regarding their education records that are maintained by Cooley. B. Education Records Defined. "Education records" are defined to include any record maintained by Cooley that identifies and is directly related to the student. Section Basic Student FERPA Rights. A student's FERPA rights include: A. Reviewing and Inspecting Records. A Cooley student has the right to inspect and review his or her own education records. Any student who wishes to do so should submit to the Cooley Registrar a written request, via , that identifies the record(s) the student wishes to inspect. The Registrar or his or her designee will make arrangements for access and notify the student of the time and place where the records may be inspected. If the records that the student identifies are not maintained by the Registrar, the student will be advised of the correct official to whom the request should be addressed. B. Time for Response and Fees. Unless exceptional circumstances make doing so impractical, Cooley will provide a student who has requested his or her records access to them, or a copy of the requested records, no later than 45 calendar days after receipt of the student's request. A student who requests a copy of his or her records must pay a reasonable copy fee, as well as the cost of postage if copies are mailed to the student. C. Request to Amend Records. A Cooley student has the right to request amendments to any of his or her education records that the student believes are inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student's privacy rights under FERPA. i. Process. A student who wishes to ask Cooley to amend an education record should contact the Cooley Registrar via , clearly identify the part of the record the student wants changed, and specify why it should be changed. ii. Cooley Response. If Cooley decides not to amend the record as requested, the student will be notified in writing of the decision and of the student's right to a hearing, through Cooley's Student Complaint Policy process, regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the complaint and hearing procedures will be provided to the student when he or she is notified of the right to a hearing.

2 D. Privacy/Consent to Disclosure. Cooley maintains the privacy of a student's education records as required by FERPA, and does not disclose any personally identifiable information about a student from his or her education records without the student's written consent, unless FERPA authorizes Cooley to make the disclosure without consent. Some of the situations in which Cooley may make disclosures without a student's consent are described in Section 1.02 below. FERPA Consent to Disclosure form. A consent form authorizing the release of a student's personally identifiable information from education records is available through the "Forms" link on the Registrar's page under the Student Services tab on the Cooley portal. E. Complaints. A Cooley student has the right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by Cooley to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the Office that administers FERPA is: Family Policy Compliance Office U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue, SW Washington, DC Disclosure Without Student's Consent. The FERPA law and U.S. Department of Education regulations define the circumstances in which Cooley may disclose personally identifiable information from education records without a student's consent. While not all of the circumstances in which Cooley may do so are described here, the following are some of the most common situations in which Cooley may, in compliance with FERPA, release personally identifiable information from a student's education records without the student's prior consent: A. Directory Information. FERPA permits Cooley to release, without a student's consent, certain types of information that Cooley designates as "directory information." "Directory information" is defined by FERPA as information contained in a student's education record "that would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed." Cooley has designated the following information about its students as "directory information": (1) a student's name (2) whether he or she is enrolled, and at which Cooley campus (3) awards the student has received (4) photographic images of the student (5) whether the student has graduated and, if so, the date and degree granted

3 Cooley may also release, at the time of graduation, information contained on the graduation information sheets completed by students who are graduating. Opting Out of Directory Information Disclosure. Students who do not want Cooley to release "directory information" about them must complete and provide to the Cooley Registrar a "FERPA Directory Information Opt-Out" form, which is available through the "Forms" link on the Registrar's page under the Student Services tab on the Cooley portal. Students may complete this form at any time, and it will remain in effect until cancelled, in writing, by the student. While Cooley will honor any student's "FERPA Directory Information Opt-Out" form and not publicly disclose directory information about that student, the following are additional situations in which FERPA allows Cooley to disclose personally identifiable information from a student's education records without the student's consent to specific parties in the specific situations defined by FERPA. B. Subpoenas. Cooley may disclose personally identifiable information from a student's education records in order to comply with a lawful subpoena or other valid legal process. Cooley will attempt to notify the student whose records are subject to the subpoena before responding to the subpoena so that the student has an opportunity to challenge the subpoena. In this notice, Cooley will advise the student of the date on which it intends to disclose the requested information to comply with the subpoena or other valid legal process. In this situation, it is up to the student to seek a legal order barring the disclosure. C. Cooley School Officials with a "Legitimate Educational Interest." Cooley may disclose education records without a student's prior written consent to school officials within Cooley who have legitimate educational interests in the records. (1) School Officials Defined. A "school official" is: a. a person Cooley employs in an administrative, supervisory, academic, research, or support staff position (this may include an employee who is also a Cooley student); b. a person serving on Cooley's Board of Directors; c. a student serving on an official committee, such as the Cooley Honor Council or Office of Student Assistance; d. a volunteer or contractor outside of Cooley who performs an institutional service or function for which Cooley would otherwise use its own employees and who is under Cooley's direct control regarding the use and maintenance of personally identifiable information from education records (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent); or e. a student volunteering to assist another school official in performing his or her tasks.

4 (2) Legitimate Educational Interest Defined. A school official is deemed to have a "legitimate educational interest" in a student's educational record if the information requested is necessary for that person to: a. perform appropriate tasks that are specified in his or her position description or by a contract agreement; b. perform a task related to a student's education; c. perform a task related to student discipline at the school; or d. provide a service or benefit relating to the student, such as mentoring, advising, financial aid, or career or job placement services. (3) Examples. The following are examples of common situations in which Cooley school officials will have a legitimate educational interest to review a student's education records, including personally identifiable information from those records. This listing is not exhaustive-there may be other situations not described here where Cooley school officials will have a legitimate educational interest in reviewing personally identifiable information in a student's educational records. a. Faculty who are engaging in mentoring, academic advising, and writing letters of recommendation for students; b. Deans and other administrators/employees working in areas such as financial aid administration and accounting, student records administration, mentoring, academic advising, career services and job placement, letters of recommendation, and investigation and resolution of disciplinary, Honor Code, or other complaints; c. Clinic staff conducting evaluation of applications for clinic placement; d. Outside contractors including financial auditors and outside legal counsel. D. Officials at Another School. Upon request, Cooley may also disclose education records without a student's consent to officials of another school where the student seeks or intends to enroll (such as by transferring). E. Accrediting or Governmental Bodies. From time to time, Cooley may be required to disclose information from a student's educational records to the American Bar Association or the Higher Learning Commission, its accrediting bodies, or to the U.S. Department of Education, the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, or the Florida Commission on Independent Education, its regulating bodies. Cooley is not required to obtain a student's consent before disclosing information, including personally identifiable information, from student education records in these circumstances. F. Other FERPA Exceptions. In addition to the circumstances described above, Cooley may release personally identifiable information from education records in any of the other circumstances permitted by FERPA and the U.S. Department of Education's regulations for FERPA. All of the exceptions in which

5 disclosures from a student's education records are permitted without the student's consent are set forth in the FERPA regulations at 34 C.F.R. Part 99, Subpart D.