The University complies with the provisions of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 1974, as amended. This law maintains that the institution will provide for the confidentiality of medical student education records. No one outside the institution shall have access to, nor will LMU disclose any information from, medical students' education records without the written consent of medical students except to personnel within the institution, to officials of other institutions in which medical students seek enrollment, to persons or organizations providing medical students financial aid, to accrediting agencies carrying out their accreditation function, to persons in compliance with a judicial order, and to persons in an emergency in order to protect the health and safety of medical students or other persons.
Additionally, according to 1998 Higher Education Amendments, the University is authorized by law to contact parents or guardians when medical students under the age of 21 commit serious or repeated violations directly or indirectly involving our drug and alcohol policies. All the exceptions are permitted under the Act.
Medical students may not inspect and review 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 medical student, in which case LMU-DCOM will permit access only to that part of the record which pertains to the inquiring medical student.
Medical students can access their "medical student information" by using the Web Advisor account. Each medical student is given a secure personal identification number to access the following information: schedule, transcript, financial records, and financial aid.
Lincoln Memorial University maintains a list of all persons, except other college officials, who have received a copy of the medical student's education record.
Annual Notification of Rights under FERPA
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords eligible students certain rights with respect to their education records. (An "eligible student" under FERPA is a student who is 18 years of age or older or a student of any age who attends a postsecondary institution.) These rights include:
- The right to inspect and review the student's education records within 45 days after the day LMU receives a request for access. A student should submit to the Registrar a Request to Inspect and Review Education Records that identifies the record(s) the student wishes to inspect. The Registrar will make arrangements for access and notify the student via LMU email of time and place where the records may be inspected. If the records are not maintained by the Registrar, the student will be advised of the official to whom the request has been directed.
- The right to request the amendment of the student's education records which the student believes is inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student's privacy rights under FERPA.
A student who wishes to ask LMU to amend a record should submit to the Registrar a Request to Amend Education Records. This request should clearly identify the part of the record the student wants changed, and specify why it should be changed.
If LMU decides not to amend the record as requested, LMU will notify the student in writing of the decision, the student's right to appeal the decision denying the request for amendment, and information regarding the appeal process. A student seeking to appeal the decision must submit a Request for FERPA Hearing to the Registrar. - The right to provide written consent before LMU discloses personally identifiable information (PII) from the student's education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.
- The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by LMU 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 20202