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student records are responsible for being aware of the APUS Student Records/FERPA Policy. The Student
Records/FERPA Policy is published on the APUS website, and staff training is held regularly to keep
employees current on student records and privacy law. Staff must sign a FERPA Confidentiality
statement annually as a condition of employment and/or as a condition of gaining access to student
educational records.

Violation of the policy and practices related to student records is grounds for rescinding the employees’
access to records or imposing disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal. Violations include the
following offenses and other comparable actions:

 accessing a student record outside of assigned duties;
 releasing suppressed or private information without authorization;
 publicly discussing a student record in a way that might personally identify that student;
 releasing non-directory information about students without obtaining proper authorization
(release, power of attorney, subpoena); or
 altering a student record without appropriate supporting documentation/authorization,
regardless of whether you benefit from this alteration.

Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
APUS is covered by the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Eligible employees are entitled to
take leave without pay for one or more of the following reasons:
• For the birth of a child or the placement of a child for adoption or foster care;
• In order to care for the spouse, or a son, daughter, or parent, of the employee, if such
spouse, son, daughter, or parent has a serious health condition;
• Because of a serious health condition that makes an employee unable to perform an
essential function of his or her position;
• Family members of covered service members will be able to take up to 26 work weeks of
leave in a “single 12-month period” to care for a covered service member with a serious
illness or injury incurred in the line of duty on active duty; and
• Family members of any branch of the military to manage their affairs while the member
is on active duty in support of a contingency operation. This provision makes the normal 12
work weeks of FMLA job-protected leave available to eligible employees with a covered
military member serving in the military to use for “any qualifying exigency” arising out of
the fact that a covered military member is on active duty or called to active duty status in
support of a contingency operation. The Department’s final rule defines qualifying exigency
by referring to a number of broad categories for which employees can use FML: (1) short-
notice deployment; (2) military events and related activities; (3) childcare and school
activities; (4) financial and legal arrangements; (5) counseling; (6) rest and recuperation; (7)
post-deployment activities; and (8) additional activities not encompassed in the other
categories, but agreed to by the employer and employee.

An eligible employee is one who has been employed for at least one year and has worked at least 1,250
hours over the 12-month period prior to the commencement of the leave. Eligible employees are
entitled to a total of 12 work weeks (or 480 hours) of leave per rolling calendar year. Entitlement will be
determined based on the amount of leave taken during the 12 months immediately preceding the leave.
Employees may take leave intermittently by taking leave in multiple blocks of time because of a single
qualifying reason or on a reduced leave schedule with the appropriate approvals/substantiation.
Employees should contact our absence management provider, York (formerly CareWorks Absence
Employee Handbook, Revised January 2019 17