Office of Information Practices

U Memo 25-21
June 25, 2025
Roster of Graduate Assistants

Requester made a record request to the University of Hawaii (UH) for a roster of graduate assistants.  UH partially granted the request but withheld information that would make it possible to personally identify the students in question.  Requester appealed the partial denial to OIP. 

Based on guidance from the United States Department of Education (U.S. DOE), OIP found that the U.S. DOE would likely consider the records withheld by UH to be students’ education records under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).  Because FERPA prohibits the release of such records without student consent and conditions federal funding on compliance, OIP concluded that disclosure of those records would jeopardize UH’s federal funding.  OIP therefore concluded that UH was authorized to withhold the records under section 92F-4, HRS.