Overview
When a full-time employee terminates their position with Texas A&M University, their supervisor is advised via automated e-mail to transfer any documents from the former employee's OneDrive to their own that may be needed. The ability to do this can be affected by whether the former employee is an active student at the time of termination (FERPA). This article explains what circumstances will affect data transfer via FERPA.
Information
When a full-time employee is terminated, their former supervisor is permitted (and encouraged) to transfer documents from the employee's OneDrive account to their own. If the employee is an active student, however, then FERPA limits the supervisor's ability to do this.
A supervisor may not request access to transfer an employee's files until AFTER the employee's effective termination date. It is advised to obtain any work related documents or emails from an employee prior to their termination (especially employees that are enrolled as active students with the university). This will ensure that all necessary files, such as those from SharePoints, OneDrives, or Google Drives, are accounted for as soon as possible.
If a former employee is considered an active student, the supervisor will need to coordinate with them directly in order to obtain all necessary files (via email, Teams, etc.).
Below is a table that explains when a supervisor may and may not transfer documents from a former employee's account to their own:
| Terminated Employee? |
Active Student? |
Able to Transfer Files? |
| YES |
YES |
NO |
| YES |
NO |
YES |
| NO |
YES |
NO |
| NO |
NO |
NO |
NOTE: Former students are considered "active students" in the case of data transfer, which means that supervisors cannot transfer documents from their account.
Best Practices
To avoid situations in which important work documents cannot be obtained due to FERPA regulations, it is recommended to follow these best practices:
DO: Store work-related files in Shared Drives, Shared Folders, or SharePoint sites.
DON'T: Store work-related files in personal drives or personal OneDrives.
DO: Communicate with the employee and arrange document sharing prior to their employment termination/graduation.
DON'T: Wait for file transfer until after the employee has been terminated or has graduated.