Privacy Policies

California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) maintains student education records in compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974, Public Law 93-380, as amended. Under this law, you have the following rights as a CIIS student. CIIS defines a "student" as someone who is registered in at least one course after the Add/Drop Deadline of his or her first semester:

1. The right to inspect and review your education records within 45 days of the day CIIS receives a request for access.

You should submit a written request to the appropriate office identifying the records you wish to inspect. The office will make arrangements for access and notify you of the time and place where the records may be inspected. If the office to which you submitted your request does not maintain the records, that office will advise you of the correct office to which your request should be addressed. If you cannot come to the campus, copies of the records will be made available at the cost of $0.25 per page. If the records contain information on more than one student, you shall have the right to inspect and review only such part of the records as relates to you. You will not be permitted to inspect and review financial records of your parents, or confidential recommendations (regarding CIIS admission, application for employment, or receipt of an honor or honorary recognition) for which you have signed a waiver of your right of access.

2. The right to request the amendement of your education records that you believe are inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of your privacy rights under FERPA.

If you want to ask CIIS to amend a record, you should write to the Registrar, clearly identifying the part of the record you want changed, and specifying why it should be changed. If the Registrar decides to not amend the record as requested, CIIS will notify you in writing of the decision and of your right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to you when you are notified of the right to a hearing.

3. The right to provide written consent before CIIS discloses personally identifiable information from your education records, except to the extent FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.

Outside of the exceptions listed below, CIIS will not disclose your personally identifable information to a third party without your prior, written consent. This consent must include all of the following:

• the specific information to disclose
• the person or organization to whom the information is to be disclosed
• the purpose of the disclosure
• the student's signature and the date

FERPA permits an institution, for the purposes of conducting its function, to identify a subset of a student's personally identifiable information as "directory information." Directory information is information that is not generally considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed and is permissible to disclose without the student's prior written consent. CIIS designates only the following as a student's directory information:

• Full name
• Address
• Telephone number
• E-mail address
• Photograph
• Program of study
• Enrollment status (e.g., half-time, full-time, etc.)
• Dates of attendance
• Degrees awarded and received
• Participation in officially recognized activities

If you would like your directory information to not be disclosed, fill out a Directive to Prevent Disclosure of Directory Information and submit it to the Registar's Office. You may submit this directive at any time and it becomes effective the day it is received by the Registrar's Office and remains in effect until you revoke it with a signed, written request. This directive will not prevent the release of your directory information to school official or the agencies listed below.

Under FERPA, CIIS has the right to disclose both your directory and non-directory information without your prior written consent to school officials with a legitimate educational interest in the record. "Legitimate educational interest" means a need to see the record in order to fulfill a professional responsibility directly associated with CIIS. A "school official" is defined as:

• a person employed by CIIS in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position (including law enforcement unit personnel and health staff)
• a person or company with whom CIIS has contracted as its agent to provide a service instead of using CIIS employees or officials (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent);
• a person serving on the Board of Trustees
• a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance commitee, or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks

FERPA allows CIIS to disclose certain directory and non-directory information from your education record without your prior written consent to:

• Schools to which you are enrolled or intending to enroll
• Specified CIIS officials or contracted agents for audit or evaluation purposes
• Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid issued to you
• Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of CIIS
• Accrediting organizations fulfilling their accreditation functions
• Those who've submitted a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena
• Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies
• The Comptroller General of the U.S., the Secretary of Education, the U.S. Attorney General, the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Veterans Affairs

4. The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by CIIS to comply with the requirements of FERPA.

The name and address of the office that adminsters FERPA is:

The Family Policy Compliance Office

U.S. Department of Education

400 Maryland Avenue SW

Washington, DC 20202-5901

Further information about FERPA can be found on the web site of the Department of Education.