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The District shall ensure that all student records are maintained in compliance with applicable federal and state laws and implement appropriate safeguards to assure that student records cannot be accessed or modified by any person not authorized to do so.

STUDENT RECORDS

1. Student Access

Any currently enrolled or former student of the District has the right to access any and all of their student records maintained by the District. Upon request by a student of the District, the District will update and reissue student records to include an updated legal name or gender. These documents include but are not limited to transcripts or a diploma.

2. Grades and Content

When grades are given for any course of instruction taught in a community college district, the grade given to each student shall be the grade determined by the instructor of the course and the determination of the student's grade by the instructor, in the absence of mistake, fraud, bad faith, or incompetency, shall be final (Education Code Section 76224). Students may challenge an assigned grade in accordance with Administrative Procedure 4231, Grade Changes.

Withdrawal “W” – A “W” shall not be assigned, or if assigned shall be removed, from a student’s academic record if a determination is made that the student withdrew from the course due to discriminatory treatment or retaliation for alleging discriminatory treatment (Cal. Code Regs. Title 5, § 59300 and 55024.8). Students may challenge a “W” in cases of alleged discrimination or retaliation in accordance with Administrative Procedure, AP 4231.1, Challenge Due to Alleged Discriminatory Treatment.

Students may challenge the content of their student record in accordance with Administrative Procedure, AP 5040, Student Records, Release, Correction and Challenge.

A graduating student may request the District to confer the diploma in the student’s preferred name. The District cannot require a graduating student to provide legal documentation to demonstrate a legal name or gender change in order to have the student’s preferred name listed on the student’s diploma.

PRIVACY

No District representative shall release the contents of a student record to any member of the public without the prior written consent of the student, other than directory information as defined in this policy and information sought pursuant to a court order or lawfully issued subpoena, or as otherwise authorized by applicable federal and state laws. Disciplinary action will be taken for any person found to have gained access to student records without proper authorization or to have changed student records, including grades, without proper authorization.

The District will report any and all illegal activity in accordance with Administrative Procedure, AP 5800, Prevention of Identity Theft in Student Financial Transactions, to the appropriate law enforcement agency. If a student record is found to be fraudulently changed, the record will be corrected immediately and written notification of the change will be sent to the faculty member who awarded the original grade, as well as all institutions where transcripts have been sent, accreditation agencies, and law enforcement, when appropriate. A corrected transcript will be issued without charge to the student.

The Vice Chancellor of Educational Services will implement procedures to limit access to student records in accordance with federal and state law, including grades, and ensure appropriate record maintenance and destruction systems are in place in accordance with Administrative Procedure, AP 5040, Student Records, Release, Correction and Challenge and Administrative Procedure, AP 6550.2, Storage and Disposition of Records.

Students shall be notified of their rights with respect to student records, including the definition of directory information as identified in Administrative Procedure, AP 5040, Student Records, Release, Correction and Challenge.