FERPA and coaches

Abstract

A college registrar recently posted on a professional discussion listserv that he had just found out a staff member had added a coach and the athletic director as academic advisors to student‐athletes in the college's student information system. The registrar was concerned that this meant that these two individuals would have “constant access” to the student‐athletes’ records which included updates on their current classes, grades, and ACT scores, plus most of the information the college had collected about the students from the time they submitted their college applications. So, the registrar wanted to know whether other colleges allowed similar access for their coaches and athletics departments.