Forms
There are two forms that all University entities need to be acquired in order to post information about an individual on our sites or use on any printable materials.
Why do we need photo releases?
Photo releases are especially important and necessary when photographing students and complying with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), the federal law that protects the privacy of student education records.
Photos are not considered directory information at the University of Houston. Only directory information can be released publicly by UH. Photographs/video taken by or on behalf of the university become university records. By making those records public, such as publishing it on uh.edu or social media, the university is making a disclosure of a student record not considered to be directory information. To comply with FERPA, UH must have a signed written consent for all students easily identified in UH-produced photos/video prior to making the content public. Passive consent is not in compliance with FERPA.
Photo release form
Do I need a photo release form? If the subject (an individual) is identifiable on the image you are planning to use you will need to have a photo release form on file.
If you answer yes to any of the following questions you probably need a photo release form:
- Is the primary focus of the photograph/video shot recognizable?
- Are each member of small group (eg. Small group of students studying in the library or congregate by the fountains) identifiable? If yes, a release should be obtained from each identifiable subject.
- Has the subject been recruited to serve as a model?
- Is the subject a minor (anyone under 18 years of age)? If yes, a parental release is required.
It is the responsibility of the person/department submitting the content to be posted/utilize to obtain all of the appropriate permissions. The permission should be kept on file indefinitely. The CLASS office of communications will ask you to confirm (via email) that you have obtained appropriate permissions.
FERPA Form
This applies to current and former students only.
When a CLASS entity is submitting a combination of a photo and other material (it can be written, verbal, or visual) that discloses information that is not part of a directory, the department should obtain a FERPA Release form in place of the Photo Release form.
For example: you are submitting information for a website that will contain photos and small written biography about a group students. Instead of each student submitting a photo release form each student should complete the FERPA release form. It can cover both the photo(s), and other FERPA protected information, so have the students submit one FERPA release form that specifies Photos and "Other", on the “Other” box they can write self-submitted biography.
This form too needs to be obtained by the person/department submitting the information to the office of communications. The permission should be kept on file indefinitely.