CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION
Unless specifically exempted from disclosure by the Attorney General
or made confidential by law, all documents collected, assembled or maintained
by UTSA in the regular course of business are available to the
public under the terms and conditions of the Texas Public Information
Act. Generally, documentation that is exempt from disclosure includes
certain personnel data, student information, health/patient information,
financial data, strategic plans, marketing strategies, employee lists and
data, supplier and subcontractor information, and proprietary
computer software. Requests for documents under the Texas Public
Information Act should be made in writing to the Vice President for
Business Affairs.
| Q: I received a phone call from someone who
asked me to send her copies of documents
that we keep on file in our office. Should I
make the copies and send them to her? |
A: No. This is considered a public information
request. Individuals verbally contacting you
should be advised to submit their request in
writing to the Office of the Vice President
for Business Affairs. Any public information
request must be sent in writing. |
| Q: A co-worker asked me if it was OK to release
a student’s Social Security number. I told them
not to release it, but I really wasn’t sure. Did I
do the right thing? |
A:Yes, you did the right thing! Since Social
Security numbers are not considered part
of directory information for students or staff,
they should not be released unless there is
a legitimate business reason for the request.
The University of Texas System Business
Procedures Memorandum 66 is a good
resource for information about protecting
the confidentiality of Social Security numbers.
You can find this information at http://www.utsystem.edu/policy/ov/uts166.html. |
FAMILY EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS AND PRIVACY ACT (FERPA)
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law
that protects the privacy of student education records. FERPA gives parents
certain rights with respect to their children’s education records. These rights
transfer to the student when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends
a school beyond the high school level. Students to whom the rights have
transferred are “eligible students.”
Under FERPA, students have the right to
• Inspect and review their education records
• Seek to amend their education records
• Exercise some control over the disclosure of
information from education records.
Generally, education records are defined as records that
• Contain information which is directly related to a student
• Are maintained by an educational agency or institution or
by a party acting for the agency or institution.
Schools may disclose, without consent, “directory” information such as
a student’s name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth,
honors and awards, and dates of attendance. However, schools must tell
parents and eligible students about directory information and allow parents
and eligible students a reasonable amount of time to request that the
school not disclose directory information about them.
For additional information or technical assistance, you may
call the Family Policy Compliance Office at (202) 260-3887 (voice).
Individuals who use TDD may call the Federal Information Relay
Service at (800) 877-8339.
Additional information may be found at
http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html.
| Q: A salesperson that I know asked me to
provide him with some information that is
contained in student records. Is he allowed
to have this information? |
| A: No. Student records can only be used
for university business, unless otherwise
specified under FERPA. We are responsible
for protecting the confidentiality of student
information from interested third parties as
well as from staff who have no “business”
reason for such information. Students are
entitled to expect confidentiality and the
protection of their privacy. Information must
be released to authorized parties only, and the
release of information must be in accordance
with applicable laws. |
ACCURACY OF RECORDS
Employees of UTSA are required to maintain the integrity
and accuracy of business documents and records for which
they are responsible. No one may enter false information
on a document; and no one without the authority to do
so may alter, destroy or expunge information on any
record or document.
| Q: My supervisor has asked me to change
the date on a receipt so that we can be
reimbursed. Am I allowed to do that? |
| A: No. Once a document has been completed
it may not be altered. An addendum may
be made, but the receipt should not be
changed, and the addendum must be dated
with the date it is written. |
RETENTION AND DISPOSAL OF RECORDS
UTSA recognizes the need for orderly management and retrieval of
all official records and a documented records retention and destruction
schedule that is consistent with state and federal laws and regulations.
The Records Management Program at UTSA covers all records
(written, computerized, photographic, and machine-readable or otherwise
recorded, that are created or received) that document activities
associated with university business. The university policy on Records
Retention and Disposal may be found in the Handbook of Operating
Procedures (HOP), Chapter 9.21: http://www.utsa.edu/hop/chapter9/
9-21.cfm.
Questions about specific records retention requirements for paper
documents should be directed to UTSA’s Office of Purchasing and
Distribution Services. Questions about specific records retention
requirements for electronic documents should be directed to the
Office of Information Technology, Information Security Officer.
Additional information may be found at http://www.utsa.edu/pds/records/index.cfm.
| Q: My department is very low on file space and I
need to throw away old files to make room for
new ones. May I throw away everything that
is greater than three years old? |
| A: No. UTSA has a formal Records Retention
Schedule that must be followed by all
employees. Each department has its own
schedule, which outlines the appropriate
time to destroy records, both electronic
and paper. You may arrange for storage
of departmental files by contacting the
Office of Materials Management. |
| Q: In response to an open records request, I am
in the process of reviewing documentation that
is in my office files, and I have discovered some
relevant documents that should have already
been destroyed. May I go ahead and destroy
these records? |
| A: No. If the information exists at the time
of the request, it must be reviewed.
Destruction of records is always halted in
cases of a pending audit, litigation, open
records request or administrative review. |
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