Student Records Policies

Safeguarding Student Records in the Event of University Closure   

Student records are backed up nightly and sent to two offsite storage locations for safe keeping in event of emergency.  

In the event of institutional closure, Fitchburg State University will, at a minimum, observe the procedures stated in the New England Association of Schools and Institutions (NEASC) document entitled, “Considerations When Closing an Institution of Higher Education” available at https://www.neche.org/institution-relinquished-accreditation/ as well as the closure guidelines of the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education for Independent schools available at http://www.mass.edu/foradmin/closures/home.asp, including the identification of a back-up or other entity to safeguard student records in such a case.  

Both the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education and NECHE post information about obtaining access to records from closed institutions on their websites at http://www.mass.edu/forstufam/diplomas/closedinst.asp and https://www.neche.org/merged-closed-or-previously-accredited-institutions/ respectively.   

In the event that Fitchburg State University decides to discontinue a program before all enrolled students have completed their program of study, the University will implement a teach-out plan in accordance with the requirements of its accreditor, NECHE. NECHE’s policy on Teach-Out Plans and Teach-Out Agreements is also posted here: https://www.neche.org/institution-relinquished-accreditation/.