George Mikulski PhD

All schools must use a preponderance of the evidence standard. That means that it is more likely than not that the alleged behavior happened. There are some schools that, given the nature of these allegations and given the repercussions of a finding of responsibility, have a higher standard-of-proof, which is clear-and-convincing evidence. To be clear, this is not as high a standard of beyond-a-reasonable-doubt. What the regulations make clear is that schools have the option to choose whether they use a clear-and-convincing-evidence standard or a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard.

Despite the risk of information security risks by hackers or other unauthorized access, today’s systems generally improve opportunities for institutions to share information directly with a student.

If a school is sold or goes through any change of ownership transition, the new ownership still has an obligation to provide historical records to students who attended under prior ownership. 

Students must be given the opportunity to request that Directory Information not be released.

Institutions are required to describe what they consider Directory Information and give students the right to opt out of releasing such information publicly.