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Handling Parent Requests for Confidential
Information from Student Records
Occasionally, a faculty member receives a request from
a parent of a student asking for information about the
student's progress or grades in a class, financial status,
or other information from student records. Parents believe
they are entitled to the information because they are
paying the son or daughter's tuition and perhaps other
expenses.
Federal law broadly prohibits the disclosure of confidential
information from student records, even to parents, unless
the University first obtains the student's written consent
to disclose the information to the individual seeking
the information. Exceptions are provided for certain
"official" requests such as subpoenas or certain State
or government agencies. But there is no special exception
in favor of disclosure to parents.
Parents paying the bill are not happy to learn that
the son or daughter has the right to avoid disclosing
to the parent information such as that student's class
attendance record or grades. On occasion, they become
very upset at the faculty member. It is therefore useful
to have some strategies for avoiding unpleasantness
when the parent calls the faculty member to obtain the
information. We suggest the following:
1. Find
out exactly what information the parent is seeking.
If it is information recorded on the student's transcript,
such as final course grades, class schedule, total quality
points, and the like, refer the parent to the Registrar's
office. In this case, you should explain that the official
University records of such information are maintained
on the student's transcript, which is in the Registrar's
Office. The Registrar's Office is in the King Building
on campus, and that office may be reached by telephone
at (704) 687-5505. Explain to the parent that the Registrar
will not be able to release information from those records
unless the student signs a written consent. That should
end your involvement in the matter. However, if the
parent is seeking information about the student's attendance
in a course you are teaching or have taught, or wants
information about the student's academic work other
than the final course grade and you have the information,
proceed to step '2'.
2. Instead
of saying, "No, I cannot release the information," say
"Yes, we will be happy to release the information you
request. All you (the parent) need to do is have the
student stop by and fill out a consent form, which is
required by federal law. As soon as the student signs,
we will provide the information. The form will be waiting
for the student at the desk of the departmental secretary.
Give me your telephone number and I'll call you when
I receive the signed form."
The form you will need, "Consent
for Disclosure of Confidential Information from Student
Records," is available by clicking the link. Print
off the form and fill in the information requested other
than the student's signature. You will need to specify
(1) the records that the parents wants to discuss or
have disclosed (something like "all records maintained
by [you] for the course [e.g. Eng 2002, Spring semester,
2000]); (2) the purpose of the disclosure (e.g., "to
discuss student's academic progress in course XXXX with
parent"); (3) the name or names of the persons to whom
you are authorized to disclose the information.
Give
the partially completed form to the departmental secretary.
The student must sign and date the form before the consent
is valid. If (but only if) the student signs and dates
the form, call the parent and provide the information.
Maintain the signed consent form in the student's record
in the department, or, if such records are not maintained,
put it in the student's permanent file in the Registrar's
Office.
3.
Usually, that will solve the problem. If the parent
protests that s/he won't be able to get the student
to sign, or if the student refuses to sign, point out
that without the signature it will be much more difficult
to provide the information requested. However, the law
does permit the University to release the information
on one other basis: If the parent submits documentation
to the University establishing that the student is a
dependent of the parent for federal income tax purposes,
we can release the information to the parent without
the student's written consent. If the parent knows that
the student is a dependent for tax purposes, having
this information gives the parent a tool to use to get
the son/daughter to sign the form: "You might as well
go ahead and sign the consent because I will be able
to get the information anyway." If the student then
signs the written consent, nothing further is required
and the parent can have the information requested.
4.
If the student still refuses to sign the consent, and
the parent wishes to receive the information by proving
that the son or daughter is a dependent for tax purposes,
refer the parent to the Office of Legal Affairs, which
will explain the documentation needed to establish tax
dependency. We'll take over from there.
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