Students Can See Proctor Reports

A recent article ("Proctors Evaluate Students," news story, April 25, 1994) about evaluations of first-year students by proctors and seminar instructors may have left a misleading impression about who is entitled to look at these reports.

An assistant to the dean of freshmen stated that the senior tutor of the student's residential house is the only person who has access to these evaluations.

She neglected to mention that students are also entitled to see the reports about them. Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), also known as the Buckley Amendment, students have a right to see virtually any report placed in their files. The law has no provision for students to waive their rights to general evaluations made by proctors or professors.

In the past, Harvard has tried to narrowly interpret students' rights under FERPA. Students interested in examining or copying their evaluations should be aware that the U.S. Department of Education has rejected Harvard's position and ordered the University to comply with the law. Joshua A. Gerstein '91