Privacy versus safety: Uses and interpretations of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act in the wake of campus violence

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act has sometimes caused confusion among higher education professionals since the legislation was introduced by Senator James Buckley in 1974. Reasons for this confusion range from the fact that it became a law without the usual congressional considerations to the belief that FERPA was never intended to cover colleges and universities. Regardless of the source of confusion, college administrators seem to have varying interpretations of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, and these varying interpretations can lead to flaws in communication.;Problems with communication became particularly salient after a Virginia Tech student named Seung Hui Cho shot and killed 32 students and faculty on April 16, 2007. After this tragic event, many began to question whether privacy laws such as FERPA prevented college administrators and faculty from clearly communicating their concerns about the mental stability of Seung Hui Cho prior to the shootings. More specifically, questions arose about whether higher education professionals were interpreting FERPA in a way that prevented them from communicating with parents and other administrators about students who may be a threat to the community. This concern was further punctuated after a former Northern Illinois student named Steven P. Kazmierczak shot and killed 5 students at Northern Illinois University on February 14, 2008.;The purpose of the study is to investigate the current uses and interpretations of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) among college administrators in the wake of recent campus violence. Four research questions were used to guide this study of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. The questions were derived from four major themes/constructs that are evident in the literature. The four questions include: (1) What training programs associated with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act are available? (2) How does the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act impact communication with parents and other college administrators? (3) What are the perceived consequences of violating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act? (4) How will the Virginia Tech shootings influence the uses and interpretations of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act?...