2008 Woodie Awards
Privacy rights protect students
Whitney Gardner
Issue date: 10/18/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Privacy rights are essential in a society where information is exchanged, Linda Orth, registrar, said.
Laws put in place to protect students' rights include the Family Education Rights Privacy Act (FERPA), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Client/Therapist Privilege, she said.
According to Orth, students have almost complete control of anything regarding their records under FERPA. FERPA allows students to access their records and inspect them within 45 days of submitting a request, according to Orth.
FERPA also prevents anyone else from seeing a student's records without the student's consent, according to Orth.
If students sign a form allowing their parents to access their grades, a student can withdraw that access at any time, "without notifying parents," Orth said.
Another law protecting students is HIPAA, which protects student's medical records on campus.
Christine Smith, nursing school coordinator, emphasized that "your information goes nowhere."
Smith said that a copy of HIPAA is given to every student when they visit Student Health to inform them of their rights.
According to Smith, no one knows why a student is at Student Health, and all employees of Student Health sign a form that binds them to hold to HIPAA.
"We are very aware of confidentiality and protecting students at all costs," Smith said.
Garrett Wyatt, a Fayetteville, Tenn., junior, said that because he works at Blue Cross Blue Shield, he knows about the importance of privacy rights.
"People our age don't have any idea how important keeping information private can be," Wyatt said.
Nancy Badger, director of the counseling and career planning center, said that the Counseling Center is bound by client/therapist privilege.
According to Badger, the Counseling Center has its own server for scheduling and records to keep that information secure.
Badger said confidentiality can only be broken when a person says they are going to harm themselves or someone else, or abuse of a minor or elderly is occurring.
"Our mission is for student success. We take it very seriously," Badger said.
According to Badger, the Counseling Center must be a safe spot to be effective.
For more information on privacy rights, contact Linda Orth at (423) 425-4669.
Laws put in place to protect students' rights include the Family Education Rights Privacy Act (FERPA), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Client/Therapist Privilege, she said.
According to Orth, students have almost complete control of anything regarding their records under FERPA. FERPA allows students to access their records and inspect them within 45 days of submitting a request, according to Orth.
FERPA also prevents anyone else from seeing a student's records without the student's consent, according to Orth.
If students sign a form allowing their parents to access their grades, a student can withdraw that access at any time, "without notifying parents," Orth said.
Another law protecting students is HIPAA, which protects student's medical records on campus.
Christine Smith, nursing school coordinator, emphasized that "your information goes nowhere."
Smith said that a copy of HIPAA is given to every student when they visit Student Health to inform them of their rights.
According to Smith, no one knows why a student is at Student Health, and all employees of Student Health sign a form that binds them to hold to HIPAA.
"We are very aware of confidentiality and protecting students at all costs," Smith said.
Garrett Wyatt, a Fayetteville, Tenn., junior, said that because he works at Blue Cross Blue Shield, he knows about the importance of privacy rights.
"People our age don't have any idea how important keeping information private can be," Wyatt said.
Nancy Badger, director of the counseling and career planning center, said that the Counseling Center is bound by client/therapist privilege.
According to Badger, the Counseling Center has its own server for scheduling and records to keep that information secure.
Badger said confidentiality can only be broken when a person says they are going to harm themselves or someone else, or abuse of a minor or elderly is occurring.
"Our mission is for student success. We take it very seriously," Badger said.
According to Badger, the Counseling Center must be a safe spot to be effective.
For more information on privacy rights, contact Linda Orth at (423) 425-4669.
