With certain exceptions, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”) requires APU to receive your written consent prior to disclosing personally identifiable information from your education records. However, APU may disclose “directory information” (as defined below) without your prior written consent unless you opt-out (as described below). “Directory information” is information that under FERPA is not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed.
APU designates the following categories of information as “directory information”:
- Name
- Student identification (ID) number
- Major field of study
- Dates of attendance
- Level (undergraduate or graduate)
- Class standing/Classification (Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, or Senior)
- Registration Status (Full-time, Part-time, or Not Currently Enrolled)
- Participation in officially recognized activities
- Degrees, honors (including Dean's and President's Lists), and awards received
- Electronic-mail address
- City/State/Country of residence
- Most recent educational agency or institution attended
- Photographic or videotaped image
- Projected Conferral Date (if available)
If you do not want APU disclose directory information about you without your prior written consent, you must request a Directory Information Block as described below. You may request or rescind a DIB at any time.
When a DIB prohibits sharing of all categories of directory information:
- APU will be unable to list the student as having attending APU and from acknowledging that the student is currently enrolled (except with the student’s prior written consent or under another FERPA exception).
- APU will be unable to list the student in University publications, including the Commencement Book.
- APU will be unable to list the student as an alumnus/a.
No. Even if a student executes a DIB, APU may disclose directory information without consent consistent with its FERPA Policy, which you can access here. For example, a DIB will not restrict access by an APU school official with a legitimate educational interest in the information. As a further example, a DIB will not keep advisors from seeing your information or prevent your name and other personal information from appearing in online class tools (as long as use of such tools is restricted to members of the class).
If you wish to request a DIB, you should e-mail the request to [email protected]. Your e-mail should specify which category or categories of directory information you wish to prevent APU from disclosing. Once processed, a DIB will be placed in your account.
Once set, a DIB will remain in place until you authorize its removal. The e-mail requesting to rescind the DIB must be received by the Office of Student Records at [email protected].
Unless revoked, a DIB remains in effect throughout your enrollment at APU and following graduation or withdrawal. If you have a DIB in place but you want directory information disclosed to a particular party, you are solely responsible at all times for completing the necessary APU consent form and requesting APU to disclose directory information to the third party. With whom will APU share “directory information” and for what purposes?
APU reserves the right to share directory information with any individual or entity and for any purpose.
You are responsible for keeping your student account updated with your current contact information such as e-mail address(es) and phone number(s). APU uses that information as the primary means of identification for communication purposes.
You are responsible for safeguarding email account login information and your password. APU shall not be responsible for the misuse of passwords by any person.
Effective policy date: Sept. 12, 2016. (Current students have 30 days from this date to update any in place DIBs.)