Records

Privacy Rights (FERPA, Buckley Amendment)

In compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA/ The Buckley Amendment), it is the policy of the College to protect the education records of its students, former students, and alumni. All personally identifiable information in an education record is considered confidential. Students have the right to inspect and review their education record, the right to seek to have the records amended, and the right to have some control over the disclosure of information from their records.

It is the College’s practice not to release any information other than directory to  non-institutional  persons  or  organizations,  except  as expressly allowed by this law. No one, other than third parties allowed by the Act, will have access to such records without the student’s written consent.

The rights guaranteed under this policy do not extend to those who have applied to the College but do not enroll in courses. Exceptions to the consent requirement are:

  1. Granite State College administrative employees who have legitimate educational interest in seeing the record.
  2. Authorized federal and state officials auditing or evaluating federally and/or state supported educational programs.
  3. Persons processing a student’s financial aid application.
  4. Recognized accrediting organizations carrying out their accrediting functions.
  5. Federal or state law enforcement officials pursuant to a lawfully- issued subpoena or court order or in response to a federal grand jury subpoena.
  6. In an emergency, other appropriate individuals (as determined by the keeper of the records), if that information is necessary to protect the health and safety of the student or other persons

Privacy Policy

Granite State College values the privacy of personal information. This policy outlines the College’s information gathering and dissemination practices.

Student Information

Student information is protected by the Federal Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA).

Personal Information

Personal information is unique information such as name, address, phone number, and email address. The College does not collect personal information unless a student voluntarily provides it by, for example, completing an application for admission or registering for a course. Once such information is collected, it is never sold to or shared with third parties unless:

  1. a student has given permission, or
  2. it is required in order to comply with state laws, federal law, or other legal processes.

Submitting a form on any Granite State College website constitutes express written consent to receive e-mails, texts, and phone messages from the College.

Non-Personal Information

Non-personal information is information generally associated with a computer, such as its IP address and location. This information may be collected for internal purposes such as analyzing website usage and effectiveness, demographic analysis, and market trends. Like personal information, this is never sold to or shared with third parties except in the circumstances described above.

Directory Information

Granite State College complies with the federal government’s Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. Granite State College does not sell or otherwise provide any information collected in its student information system  to  any  external  entity  except  as expressly allowed by this law. However, the following data is considered directory information by the College:

  • Name,
  • address,
  • telephone,
  • e-mail address,
  • dates of attendance,
  • concentration or major,
  • degrees and awards received,
  • film,
  • video, or
  • electronic images

Request for Confidentiality 

Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, students have the right to withhold disclosure of directory information. Should a student decide to withhold, any requests for such information from non-institutional persons or organizations will be refused, except as allowed by the law. In addition, the student’s name will not be published in the College’s official graduation program or other public graduation or honors announcements. Students who wish to withhold directory information must complete and submit the Confidentiality Request Form available at https://www.granite.edu/current-students/registrar/forms-faqs/.

Changing Legal Name

A legal name change must be brought to the attention of the Registrar’s Office. The student must provide a legal document with the new name. Acceptable legal documents include: Marriage License, Divorce Decree, Social Security Card or Valid Driver’s License.

Returning students with records under their former name must provide an acceptable legal document to update their record.

The legal name change request form is available at https://www.granite.edu/current-students/registrar/forms-faqs/.

Preferred First Name Policy

To foster a campus environment that is inclusive and that encourages self-expression, Granite State College has established a policy whereby any current student may use a preferred or chosen first name. We strive to have this name used wherever a legal name is not necessary. For more details, please visit the full policy at https://www.granite.edu/current-students/registrar/preferred-first-name/.

Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA)

Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) is a federal law which requires financial institutions to ensure the security and confidentiality of customer personal financial information. The University System of New Hampshire seeks to:

  • Ensure the security and confidentiality of customer records and information – in paper, electronic or other form, protect against any anticipated threats or hazards to security or integrity of such records; and
  • Protect against the unauthorized access to or use of any records or information which could result in substantial harm or inconvenience to any customer.

Granite State College complies with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.

Cookies

Cookies are small text files stored on a computer that maintain preferences between browsing sessions. The College uses information stored in cookies to enhance and improve the experience with the website. Cookies may also store any personal information provided to the College. Users may choose to adjust  or disable cookies on the web browser, or send notification when a Granite State College website attempts to send a cookie. This could, however, reduce the quality of the experience with the College’s website and student portal.

Google Adwords

The College uses the Google AdWords remarketing service to advertise on third party websites (including Google) to previous visitors to our site. It could mean that we advertise to previous visitors who haven’t completed a task on our site, for example using the contact form to make an inquiry. This could be in the form of an advertisement on the Google search results page, or a site in the Google Display Network. Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on someone’s past visits to the Granite State College website. Any data collected will be used in accordance with this privacy policy and Google’s privacy policy.

Security

Granite State College follows industry-standard security measures, to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control, including the use of encryption/security software. Please note that any emails sent to the College may not be secure or encrypted, so we recommend using caution when emailing sensitive information such as social security numbers.

Links to External Websites

The Granite State College website contains links to various third- party websites, such as the U.S. Department of Education. The College is not responsible for the privacy policies or practices of those websites.

Purging Paper Files

Paper files will be stored for a period of five years after last year of attendance or graduation and will then be destroyed. Official transcripts of all course work/learning experiences completed with Granite State College will be on file permanently.

Transcripts

Official academic records are maintained in the:

Office of the Registrar
Granite State College
25 Hall Street
Concord, NH 03301

All financial obligations to Granite State College must be met before an official transcript can be released.

Current enrolled students may request official transcripts by logging on to the College’s secure portal and entering their request through WebROCK. Alumni may request a transcript through Credentials Inc., the provider of the College’s authorized online transcript ordering system, at https://www.granite.edu/current-students/registrar/transcript-request-information/. Students must pay by credit or debit card to order online, and may choose one recipient per order (multiple copies may be sent to the same recipient, and multiple orders may be placed). The cost per electronic (official emailed copy) transcript is $3. The cost per paper transcript is $3 per copy, plus the $3 processing fee.

Students may choose expedited shipping for online orders, the price of which is subject to change depending on current rates offered by the U.S. Postal Service. There is no additional cost for Domestic U.S. First Class Mail (regular shipping).

For students who do not have the use of a credit or debit card, a paper form is available online at the webpage below. Completed request forms should be returned to the Office of the Registrar by mail or in person. Only one copy to one addressee may be requested per form using this method. The cost per official transcript is $6 with payment by check or money order only; Payment must be made before the transcript is released. Please note that walk-in requests brought directly to the College Administrative campus in Concord will be available for pick-up on the following business day.

For more information on the transcript request process, please see https://www.granite.edu/current-students/registrar/transcript-request-information/.

Institutional Name Change

In 1972, the Board of Trustees of the University System of New Hampshire established the School of Continuing Studies in order to extend the educational resources of the University System to all areas of the state. Seven years later in 1979, the name was changed to the School for Lifelong Learning. In 1993, the School became the College for Lifelong Learning. As a reflection of its expanded mission in providing statewide access to public higher education, on May 9, 2005, the name was changed to Granite State College. Transcripts are issued under the name of Granite State College. Diplomas and certificates awarded before the name change will be re-issued under the name of Granite State College for a $20.00 fee.