Content Disclaimer, Nondiscrimination Statement, Privacy Policy, FERPA and FOIA

Content Disclaimer

Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) provides its Web site, catalog, handbooks, printed and digital class schedules, and any other printed materials or electronic media for your general guidance. PVCC does not guarantee that the information contained within them includes, but is not limited to, any page that resides under the Domain Naming System (DNS) registrations of www.pvcc.edu, www.facebook.com/PiedmontVaCC, www.twitter.com/PiedmontVaCC, or www.youtube.com/PVCCVIRGINIA, are up to date, complete and accurate. Individuals assume any risks associated with relying upon such information without checking other credible sources, such as an advisor in PVCC's Admissions and Advising Center. Links to other materials and Web sites provided in these sources are also for information purposes only and do not constitute PVCC's endorsement of products or services referenced in such materials.

In addition, a student's or prospective student's reliance upon information contained within these sources, or individual program catalogs, handbooks, printed or digital class schedules, or other printed materials or electronic media, when making academic decisions does not constitute, and should not be construed as, a contract with PVCC. Further, PVCC reserves the right to make changes to any provision or requirement within these sources and any curriculum or program, whether during a student's enrollment or otherwise.

We strongly encourage current and prospective students to confer with an advisor in PVCC's Admissions and Advising Center for the most credible information about the College's programs and services.

Nondiscrimination Statement

Piedmont Virginia Community College is an equal opportunity institution providing educational and employment opportunities, programs, services, and activities. PVCC does not discriminate based on age, color, disability, family medical history or genetic information, military service, national origin, parental status, political affiliation, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), sexual orientation, or any other non-merit base factor. The College also prohibits sexual harassment, including sexual violence or misconduct. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding these policies: Human Resources Manager, 501 College Dr., Main Building, Room M810, Charlottesville, VA 22902; 434.961.6567.

Privacy Policy

It is the policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia and of Piedmont Virginia Community College that personal information about citizens will be collected only to the extent necessary to provide required services or benefits, that only appropriate information will be collected, and that citizens shall understand the reasons information is collected and be able to examine their records which are maintained by a public body.

Privacy Policy Procedures

This Website

Collects no personal information.  
Does not place a "cookie" on your computer.  
It will not track your movements through the website.  
Questions or comments concerning the content of this website may be directed to webmaster@pvcc.edu

Release of Information About Students (FERPA)

PVCC complies with FERPA, the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, when releasing information about students. FERPA permits the following directory information to be released: name, date of birth, dates of attendance, honors earned, programs of enrollment, and degrees and diplomas or certificates earned.

Pursuant to 34 C.F.R. §99.31(a)(11), Code of Virginia § 23.1-405(c), or the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§2.2-3700 et seq.), PVCC will not disclose the address, telephone number, or email address of a student unless the student has affirmatively consented in writing to such disclosure.   

Social Security Number 
To protect the integrity of our student's social security numbers, students are assigned a student EMPLID number when they submit a Piedmont Virginia Community College Application for Admission. You should use your EMPLID number to access your education records as needed.

As a PVCC student, you have the ability to maintain the privacy of your student record.  If you do not want PVCC to disclose information from your educational records without your prior written consent, you must log in to MyPVCC to restrict the information in your record. Instructions for restricting any or all of your information are below.

If you have any questions regarding the privacy of your student record or about FERPA, please contact the Admissions & Advising Center at 434.961.6581 or admissions@pvcc.edu.

Right to Consent to Disclosure  
One exception which permits disclosure without consent is disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is an individual employed by PVCC or the Virginia Community College System in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position. 

Another exception to the nonconsensual disclosure of information derived from education records under FERPA is to that student's parent if the student is a dependent for tax purposes. If a student is claimed as a dependent by either parent for tax purposes, then either parent may have access under this provision, absent a court order specifically prohibiting it.

If you have any questions regarding access to your dependent student's record, please contact the Admissions & Advising Center at 434.961.6581 or admissions@pvcc.edu.

Other typical FERPA exceptions include:

  • High school dual-enrolled or concurrently enrolled students
  • Specific official review for audits or evaluation
  • Financial Aid staff
  • Campus Security personnel
  • Accrediting bodies
  • Appropriate officials in cases of health or safety emergencies
  • PVCC or Virginia Community College System contracted individuals or companies
  • A student serving on an official committee at PVCC
  • A school official or faculty member who has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record to fulfill his or her professional responsibility
  • Federal Law, such as the Solomon Amendment

How Students Can Set Privacy on Their Student Records Through MyPVCC

  1. Navigate to the PVCC Web site at www.pvcc.edu.
  2. Click the MyPVCC link (yellow ribbon at the top right of the home page).
  3. Enter your username and password.
  4. Click the VCCS SIS Student Information link.
  5. Click the Student Center link. (FYI - This is where students update addresses and telephone numbers.)
  6. Click the User Preferences link.
  7. Click the FERPA RESTRICTIONS link.
  8. Click the green box labeled Edit FERPA/Directory Restrictions.
  9. You will see all types of student information -- email, address, etc. If there is any information that you wish to be withheld from any outside agency/organization, you must click the box beside that particular type of information.
  10. Once you have completed your privacy settings, click the SAVE button.
  11. NOTE! Once you save this information, PVCC will not release your restricted items unless you provide permission. Please keep this in mind if you know that someone/some agency will verify your educational information.

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

The Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), is located at §2.2-3700 et seq. FOIA guarantees citizens of the Commonwealth and representatives of the media access to public records held by public bodies, public officials, and public employees. 

The PVCC Policy on FOIA contains your FOIA rights and PVCC's responsibility to respond.

To request records from PVCC, you may direct your request to:

Karen Grunow, FOIA Officer  
kgrunow@pvcc.edu  
434.961.5208  
or at the main campus mailing address in the footer below. 

Requests for information from the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) can be sent to foia@vccs.edu.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act – Rights and Responsibilities 

(The Rights of Requestors and the Responsibilities of Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act).

The Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), located § 2.2-3700 et. seq. of the Code of Virginia, guarantees citizens of the Commonwealth and representatives of the media access to public records held by public bodies, public officials, and public employees.

A public record is any writing or recording — regardless of whether it is a paper record, an electronic file, an audio or video recording, or any other format — that is prepared or owned by, or in possession of a public body or its officers, employees or agents in the transaction of public business. All public records are presumed to be open and may only be withheld if a specific statutory exemption applies.

The policy of FOIA states that the purpose of FOIA is to promote increased awareness by all persons of governmental activities. In furthering this policy, FOIA requires that the law be interpreted liberally, in favor of access, and that any exemption allowing public records to be withheld must be interpreted narrowly.

Your FOIA Rights

  • You have the right to request to inspect or receive copies of public records or both.
  • You have the right to request that any charges for the requested records be estimated in advance. Public bodies must notify the requester in writing that the public body may make reasonable charges not to exceed its actual cost incurred in accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for requester records and inquire of the requester whether he would like to request a cost estimate in advance of the supplying of the requested records.
  • If you believe your FOIA rights have been violated, you may file a petition in district or circuit court to compel compliance with FOIA. Alternatively, you may contact the FOIA Council for a nonbinding advisory opinion.

Making a request for records from Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC)

  1. You may request records by U.S. Mail, fax, e-mail, in person, or over the phone. FOIA does not require that your request be in writing, nor do you need to specifically state that you are requesting records under FOIA. 
    • From a practical perspective, it may be helpful to both you and the person receiving your request to put your request in writing. This allows you to create a record of your request. It also gives us a clear statement of what records you are requesting so that there is no misunderstanding over a verbal request. However, we cannot refuse to respond to your FOIA request if you elect not to put it in writing.
  2. Your request must identify the records you seek with “reasonable specificity.” This is a common-sense standard. It does not refer to or limit the volume or number of records that you are requesting; instead, it requires that you be specific enough so that we can identify and locate the records that you are seeking.
  3. Your request must ask for existing records or documents. FOIA gives you a right to inspect or copy records; it does not apply to a situation where you ask general questions about the work of PVCC, nor does it require PVCC to create a record that does not exist.
  4. You may choose to receive electronic records in any format used by PVCC in the regular course of business. 
    • For example, if you are requesting records maintained in an Excel database, you may elect to receive those records electronically, via e-mail, on a computer disk, or to receive a printed copy of those records.
  5. If we have questions about your request, please cooperate with the staff’s efforts to clarify the type of records you are seeking or attempt to reach a reasonable agreement about a response to a large request. Making the FOIA request is not an adversarial process, but we may need to discuss your request to ensure that we understand what records you seek.

To request records from PVCC, you may direct your request to Karen Grunow, FOIA Officer, who can be reached at Piedmont Virginia Community College, 501 College Drive, Suite 241, Charlottesville, VA 22902. Email FOIA requests to: kgrunow@pvcc.edu. You may also contact (434) 961-5208 with questions you have concerning requesting records from PVCC. 

In addition, the Freedom of Information Advisory Council is available to answer any questions you may have about how FOIA works. The Council was created in the legislative branch of state government to issue opinions on the operation and application of FOIA, to publish educational materials, and to provide training about FOIA. However, please be aware that the Council is not a records repository and does not process records requests on behalf of other public bodies, nor is the Council; an investigative or enforcement agency. The Council may be contacted by email at the foiacouncil@dls.virginia.gov, or by phone at (804) 698-1810 or toll-free at (866-448-4100). 

PVCC's Responsibilities in Responding to Your Request

  • PVCC must respond to your request within five working days of receiving it.  “Day One” is considered the day after your request is received. The five-day period does not include weekends, holidays, or other days when PVCC is closed for business.
  • The reason behind your request for public records from PVCC is irrelevant, and you do not have to state why you want the records before we respond to your request. Nevertheless, FOIA allows PVCC to require you to provide your name and legal address. FOIA also allows PVCC to deny your request for public records if you are not a citizen of Virginia or a representative of media with circulation in Virginia.
  • FOIA requires that PVCC make one of the following responses to your request within the five-day time period:
    1. We provide you with the records that you have requested in their entirety.
    2. We withhold all the records that you have requested, because all of the records are subject to a specific statutory exemption. If all the records are being withheld, we must sWe must send you a written response if all the records are being withheld and you a written response. That writing must identify the volume and subject matter of the records being withheld and state the specific section of the Code of Virginia that allows us to withhold the records.
    3. We provide some of the records that you have requested but withhold other records. We cannot withhold an entire record if only a portion of it is subject to an exemption. In that instance, we may redact the portion of the record that may be withheld and must provide you with the remainder of the record. Again, we must identify in writing, the volume and subject matter of the withheld portions and state the specific section of the Code of Virginia that allows a portion of the requested records to be withheld.
    4. We inform you in writing that the requested records cannot be found or do not exist (we do not have the records you want). However, if we know that another public body has the requested records, we must include contact information for the public body in our response to you.
    5. If it is practically impossible for PVCC to respond to your request within the five days, we must state this in writing, explaining the conditions that make the response impossible. This will allow us seven (7) additional working days to respond to your request. In the case of criminal investigative files requested pursuant to § 2.2-3706.1 of the Code of Virginia, we are allowed an additional 60 working days to respond to your request, giving us a total of 65 working days to respond to your request.
  • If you make a request for a very large number of records, and we feel that we cannot provide the records to you within 12 working days without disrupting our other organizational responsibilities, we may petition the court for additional time to respond to your request. However, FOIA requires that we make a reasonable effort to reach an agreement with you concerning the production or the records before we go to court to ask for more time.

Virginia Freedom of Information Act – Fees/Cost

  1. A public body may make reasonable charges not to exceed its costs incurred in accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for the requested records and shall make all reasonable efforts to supply the requested records at the lowest possible cost. No public body shall impose any extraneous, intermediary, or surplus fees or expenses to recoup the general costs associated with creating or maintaining records or transacting the general business of the public body. Any duplicating fee charged by a public body shall not exceed the cost of duplication. Additionally, prior to conducting a search for records, the public body shall notify the requester in writing that the public body may make reasonable charges not to exceed its actual cost incurred in accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for requested records and inquiring about the requester whether he would like to request a cost estimate in advance of the supplying of the requested records as set for in subsection F of §2.2-3704 of the Code of Virginia. 
  2. You may have to pay for the records that you request from PVCC. FOIA always allows us to charge for the actual costs of responding to FOIA requests. This would include items like staff time spent searching for, reviewing, copying, scanning, and redacting the requested records, copying costs, or any other costs directly related to supplying the requested records. It cannot include general overhead costs.
  3. If we estimate that it will cost more than $200.00 to respond to your request, we may require you to pay a deposit, not to exceed the amount of the estimate, before proceeding with your request. The five (5) days we have to respond to your request does not include the time between when we ask for a deposit and when you respond.
  4. You may request that we estimate the charges for supplying the records you requested in advance. This will allow you to know about any costs upfront or allow you to modify your request to lower the estimated costs. The five (5) days that we have to respond to your request do not include the time between when we send you the estimate and when you respond. If you do not respond within 30 days, PVCC may require payment of the past-due bill before it will respond to your FOIA request. 
  5. Any costs incurred by the public body in estimating the cost of supplying the requested records must be applied toward the charges to be paid by the requester with a cost estimate if requested. Public bodies may not charge the actual cost of providing scholastic records to a student 18 years or older or a minor student's parent. When the public body may charge for the actual cost of providing other (non-scholastic) records, the public body must make all reasonable efforts to supply the requested records at the lowest possible cost.

Policy Regarding Fees

It is PVCC's policy to charge for the actual cost of responding to FOIA requests. We charge for staff time spent searching for, reviewing, copying, scanning, and redacting the requested records, copying costs, or any other costs directly related to supplying the requested records.

PVCC does not charge a fee to provide scholastic records that must be made available for inspection pursuant to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) if the request for scholastic records is made by a parent or legal guardian of a minor student or by a student 18 years old or older, or for the first hour of time to respond to a FOIA request.

Copying costs shall be assessed on public records that are printed, but not on public records that are provided electronically.

Public records are provided at the costs specified below:

  • Paper copies from the paper original (B&W) = $0.25 per page
  • Larger than legal size paper copies = $1.00 per page
  • Video, CD, DVD, etc. = Cost of reproduction
  • Staff time at a full-time hourly rate (average) = $25.00 per hour

PVCC also may charge for the actual cost of the medium by which the information is provided (e.g., CD, DVD, flash drive, etc.) if that minimum is requested, and for the actual cost of mailing the requested records if the cost is above the cost of the standard-sized flat rate envelope.

PVCC will apply any costs we incur in estimating the costs of providing the requested records toward the overall costs to be paid by the requester.

Types of Records

The public records PVCC maintains include, but are not limited to, personnel records, scholastic records, contracts, and records related to academic programs. The following is a general description of the types of records held by PVCC:

  • Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable
  • Accreditation
  • Admission and Enrollment
  • Athletic, including required NJCAA records
  • College reports and meeting minutes
  • Capital Project
  • Contracts
  • Emergency Operations Plan
  • Financial
  • Fundraising
  • Inventory
  • Parking/Transportation
  • Personnel
  • Procurement
  • Risk Management
  • Scholastic
  • Workers' Compensation

If you are unsure whether PVCC has the record(s) you seek, please contact the FOIA Officer directly.

Commonly Used Exemptions

The Code of Virginia allows any public body to withhold certain records from public disclosure. PVCC routinely withholds records subject to the following exemptions:

  1. Personnel records (§ 2.2-3705.1 (1) of the Code of Virginia).
  2. Scholastic records (VA. Code § 2.2-3705.4 (1)).
  3. Records subject to attorney-client privilege (VA. Code § 2.2-3705.1 (2)) or attorney work product (Va. Code § 2.2-3705.1 (3)).
  4. Records relating to the negotiation and award of a contract before a contract is awarded (Va. Code § 2.2-3705.1 (12)).
  5. Vendor propriety information (VA. Code § 2.2-3705.1 (6)).

Policy Regarding the Use of Exemptions

PVCC will invoke the personnel and scholastic records exemptions to protect the privacy of its employees and students.  PVCC will invoke the contract negotiations exemption whenever it applies to protect PVCC’s bargaining position and negotiating strategy.

FOIA Advisory Council

In addition, the Freedom of Information Advisory Council is available to answer any questions you may have about FOIA. The Council may be contacted by e-mail at foiacouncil@leg.state.va.us, by phone at (804) 225-3056, or toll-free at (866) 448-4100. If you would like to comment on the quality of assistance provided by PVCC, you may complete the Freedom of Information Advisory Council's public comment form, located here: Public Comment Form.