[Oasfaa] FERPA question

[Jonna Raney]

I'm reviewing some of our processes and we have a few (less than 10) older endowed scholarships in which the donor has in the criteria that they be "consulted" in the selection process of awarding their scholarship. Typically, those conversations have been simply that we have a student from xyz, america who meets the criteria of your scholarship and they say great. However, we have one or two donors who ask questions such, as "what is their gpa? major? or other specifics about the student". 

We've looked at the federal handbook and fsa, etc and it really doesn't address donors specifically and what is acceptable to discuss with them. The closest thing is when it references "school officials who have a legitimate educational interest", but I think it's a huge stretch to say a donor meets that definition. 

I know we could get student authorization or applications for the specific scholarships giving authorization for us to give donors their information, but I'd like to keep our process more streamlined and automated and not put those types of barriers in place to slow the awarding process. 

What do you all do in these situations? This may be more of a private school issue. I'm not sure. However, I welcome any and all feedback. 

Thanks, 
Jonna 
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