Office of the Registrar

Student records are treated with the highest regard at VCOM. Since students and alumni need documentation of their training beyond graduation, certain data to certify graduation and training requirements will be retained by the Office of the Registrar for this purpose.

Documentation from the admissions file is retained as a part of the permanent student record. Grades and other important documentation from training also become part of the permanent record. Once admitted, a student record is not subject to review outside of the college faculty, student services staff and administration, unless approval is provided by the student.

Students will receive documentation of grades and grade point average (GPA) on a periodic basis and may request in writing additional documentation on an "as-needed" basis. Student data is kept both on campus and also on a secure offsite network backup.

Student files are considered confidential except when used for administrative reasons such as by promotion boards and by those administrators (and their staff) who are responsible for arranging student academics and clinical experiences. Records are kept in a secure location and records are treated as professional documents with all the procedures common to most osteopathic medical colleges.

Rights Through the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA)

The College strives to uphold the rights of students and families set forth in the FERPA Act of 1974 and all current FERPA regulations. The act places certain restrictions and limitations on the disclosure of personal identifiable information maintained by the College with respect to students, and it limits access to educational records, including the right to access, the right to obtain copies, the right to seek correction of such records through informal and formal internal procedures, and the right to place a statement in such educational records explaining any information that the student believes to be inaccurate or misleading. The College has adopted a policy with respect to its student educational records consistent with the requirements of FERPA and regulations promulgated by the Act.

The College considers certain information to be "directory information" under FERPA and therefore subject to disclosure without prior consent from the student. Unless written objection is received no later than 30 days from the commencement of the academic year, the College will treat name, address (permanent and mailing), telephone (land and cell), VCOM e-mail address, date and place of birth, major field of study, dates of attendance, degrees and awards received, the name of the undergraduate college(s) attended, and marital status as directory information. Student social security numbers will be provided as requested in the registration process for the COMLEX and USMLE testing. For this purpose only, the social security number will be considered directory information, subject to disclosure without prior consent from the student.

Student concerns about the confidentiality of records at VCOM are requested to be first brought to the attention of the Office of Student Services. Complaints regarding alleged violations of rights accorded students by or regulations promulgated by the Act may be directed to: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Office, Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, 330 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC, 20201.