This bill would authorize any person who pays all or part of a student's fees and tuition at any public or private college or university in Tennessee to have access to information regarding the student's well being, academic progress, or disciplinary status. This bill would not apply to medical information required to be kept confidential pursuant to the Health Insurance Accountability and Portability Act of 1996, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or any federal regulations enacted under either act. The information would be released to the person regardless of the person's relationship to the student. ON MAY 2, 2005, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 98, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 rewrites this bill to require institutions of higher education to inform parents and students of students' option to execute consent forms authorizing the institution to release confidential education records, as defined by federal law, to a designated parent upon request. This amendment would require Middle Tennessee State University to implement a pilot program to effectuate the provisions of this amendment for a one-year period. At the conclusion of the program, the program would be evaluated by a committee comprised of the sponsors of this bill and the chairs of the senate and house education committees. The committee would make its findings and recommendations public. At the commencement of the academic year following the committee's findings and recommendations, other institutions would implement equivalent programs in compliance with the committee's findings and recommendations. Other institutions would not be required to comply with this amendment until the pilot program and evaluation are complete.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 4-29-246(a), 4-29-246, 4-29-250(a), 4-29-250