Navigating the Dartmouth College Student Directory and Information Privacy

Dartmouth College is dedicated to providing its students with a comprehensive educational experience, fostering a caring community, and upholding the privacy rights of its students. This article provides an overview of how to navigate the Dartmouth student directory and understand the college's policies regarding student information, particularly in light of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

Understanding FERPA and Student Rights

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that grants students specific rights regarding their education records. These rights include:

The right to review their education record and submit requests to amend their record.
The right to consent to disclosure of information from a student's education record and applicable exceptions to that right.

Dartmouth College complies with FERPA, ensuring that students have control over their educational records and the information contained within them.

Accessing and Reviewing Education Records

Dartmouth permits students to review their education records within 45 days of making a written request. To do so, students can submit a written request to the Dartmouth office responsible for maintaining those records. This allows students to inspect and ensure the accuracy of their records.

Amending Education Records

If a student believes that their education records are inaccurate or misleading, they can request to have the relevant portions corrected or deleted. The request must clearly identify the part of the record the student wants changed and specify why it should be changed.

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If Dartmouth denies the request, the student will be notified in writing and has the right to request a review of the decision by the Dean of their school (e.g., College, Geisel, Guarini, Thayer, or Tuck), or the Dean's designee. If the decision is upheld, the student may provide their version of the facts as a statement to be placed in their school's official academic record.

Directory Information: What is Publicly Available?

Student educational records are considered confidential and may not be released without the written consent of the student, except for certain information considered public, known as "Directory Information." This information can be released without the student's written permission. It is important to note that parents of students do not have the same rights to student information as they did in elementary and secondary school; however, if the student is a dependent, Dartmouth may release records information unless the student has indicated otherwise. Dartmouth College's policy is to view the student as an adult, and generally, information should not be released to any third party unless permission has been obtained from the student.

Updates to the categories of information constituting "directory information" will be included in a notification of rights under FERPA, which will be provided to current students at least annually.

Dartmouth Directories and Information Access

Dartmouth College offers several directories to locate students, faculty, staff, and alumni:

Dartmouth Name Directory (DND): Can be used to locate students, faculty, and staff.
Dartmouth Directory: Can be used to quickly locate contact information for current students, faculty, and staff, as well as Dartmouth departments and organizations.
Dartmouth Alumni Directory: Can be used by alumni to locate other alumni.
Name Lookup Tool: Allows faculty, staff, and students to verify the spelling of an alumnus's name and confirm their affiliations (school and class year). It also lists deceased alumni.

You have access to non-directory information educational records only for legitimate use to discharge your responsibilities as a College employee.

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Confidentiality Holds: Protecting Your Privacy

Students who wish to restrict the release of their Directory Information can request a confidential hold be placed on their account. A confidential hold applies to all elements of Directory Information in your record. Students are encouraged to contact the staff person above prior to submitting a confidentiality hold request so that the appropriate staff person can meet with each student to discuss the implementation of a confidentiality hold request.

With a confidential hold in place, Dartmouth will not release any Directory Information about the student, even to prospective employers, scholarship programs, the news media, or friends and family. The student will also not appear in the College's online directory, any other directory produced by Dartmouth, or the Commencement Program.

To determine whether the student has restricted release on directory information, check to see if there is a confidentiality indicator on the student’s record. Note that Banner, which includes rosters, does not include a confidentiality indicator.

To request a confidential hold or release a confidential hold, students must fill out the Confidential Hold Form or make a written request to the Undergraduate Deans Office, respectively.

Releasing Information to Third Parties

In some instances, students may wish to release their information from their education records to a third party. Students wishing to review the records kept in the Undergraduate Deans Office must fill out a form provided for this purpose. The requested records will be reviewed by a dean to confirm that they are subject to inspection.

Requested records subject to inspection will be made available to the student within two weeks of the date of the request. Records cannot be removed from the Undergraduate Deans Office and will not be sent to or copied for the student; therefore, the requesting student must make an appointment with the responding dean to inspect the records. The appointment must be made within four weeks from the date of the request; if an appointment is not made within four weeks, the record will be returned to the files and the student must submit a new request and schedule a new appointment.

School Officials and Legitimate Educational Interest

Dartmouth may disclose information to school officials who have a legitimate educational interest in the student's education record. A "school official" is defined as a person employed or appointed by Dartmouth in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position (including Department of Safety and Security and Dartmouth College Health Services personnel); a person or company with whom Dartmouth has contracted as its agent to provide a service instead of using Dartmouth employees or officials (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent); a person serving on the Board of Trustees; designated staff at an affiliated site; or a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing their tasks.

“University Official” is any individual employed by the University of Massachusetts’ (“System Office") or one of its campuses, (the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, including the Mount Ida Campus of UMass Amherst; the University of Massachusetts, Boston; the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, (including its school of law, University of Massachusetts School of Law, Dartmouth); the University of Massachusetts, Lowell; the University of Massachusetts Worcester, a/k/a the University of Massachusetts Medical School,) (individually a “Campus”) who has a legitimate educational interest in the student information.

Concerns and Compliance

If a student has a concern about Dartmouth's compliance with applicable federal laws concerning their education record, they should bring this to the attention of the Dean of their school (e.g., College, Geisel, Guarini, Thayer, or Tuck).

Policy Amendments

This policy may be revoked or amended by Dartmouth, in whole or in part, from time to time, via the Provost (or the Provost's designee), who is authorized to make revocations or amendments on behalf of Dartmouth, in consultation with Dartmouth's senior leadership group. Any such revocation or amendment shall become effective upon adoption by the Provost or the Provost's designee, or such other time as such person shall specify, and will be reflected in the current version of the policy posted within Dartmouth's policy portal.

Dartmouth's Commitment to Student Well-being

Beyond academics and privacy, Dartmouth College is committed to fostering a caring community that prioritizes mental health and well-being. The Division of Community and Campus Life is dedicated to building a strong, supportive campus community, offering resources and opportunities for students to connect, learn, and thrive. Dartmouth strives to make the full experience of a Dartmouth education affordable. Thayer School of Engineering prepares the next generation of leaders to solve problems through engineering thinking, research, and innovation with human-centered impact.

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