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Access to student information
From the Orientation 2009 Parent Newsletter
Although parents of college students may have good reasons to want to see their
students' academic and financial records, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy
Act (FERPA) grants college students the right to determine who will receive academic
information about them. Under this federal act, students must authorize the release
of records before any third party—including parents—can
view them.
The University of Minnesota has made it easy for students to grant access to
parents through the One Stop Web site.
The "Parent/Guest Access"link at One Stop allows students to invite
a parent or other third party to be a guest viewer. The third party is asked
to accept the invitation before the student can designate what areas of the academic
record the student is granting:
- Enrollment summary
- Financial aid status
- Grades
- Holds on grades or records
- Student account
A student can cancel access at any time.
(But if a student refuses to release information about grades or billing and
is a dependent, parents may receive protected information by submitting to the
University a copy of the most recent year's federal tax form showing that they
claim the student as a dependent.)
Parent guest access covers only those records maintained by the University's
Academic Support Resources. Other records, such as mental and physical health
records, residence hall records, advising records, faculty records, and disciplinary
records, are covered by other University policies, federal and state laws, and
professional standards. Students can, however, release information from these
records to a third party on a case-by-case basis.
In most cases, the University will not contact parents or provide medical, academic,
or disciplinary information without the student's consent. In an emergency where
the student's health is in jeopardy or there is a concern that the student poses
a threat to himself or herself or to someone else, the University will contact
parents. As a general rule, if the student is able to communicate about the situation,
he or she is expected to decide whether and how to discuss
it with family members.
It may be frustrating for parents to have to work through their student to gain
access to records, but treating college students as adults is an important part
of students developmental process. Moreover, it is part of the process that will
establish family relationships as students move into adulthood.
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