For students entering college life for the first time, a new sense of independence can be one of the appeals of higher education. But for parents who have been heavily involved in their children’s lives, college means having to cut some of the strings they have been accustomed to.
“Helicopter parents” and events such as the shootings at Virginia Tech have brought attention to student privacy and whether universities should share student information.
At Texas A&M University-Commerce, parents who still want to know everything about their children’s lives have some options – if they ask permission.
Students have the option to fill out the Student Consent for Release of Non-Directory Information form to allow a third party access to their records on a per instance basis, according to Assistant Registrar Molly Baur.
“The student would have to fill out the form each time the registrar would release the information,” Baur said.
At issue is the student’s right to privacy.
According to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), educational institutions must maintain students’ rights to privacy with regard to educational records with few exceptions. Because of this, it is the student who must give permission to the university to release his or her records.
“It’s up to them if they want the parent to know – if they want to release that information to a parent,” Baur said.
The University offers an orientation class for new students’ parents to share information about the school’s policies. During the session, the parents are given a pamphlet explaining the FERPA law and why the school sticks to the policy.
But why can’t the parents have access to their child’s records if they pay for the education?
“If a parent calls us and asks us that they will have to call and get the student’s permission. There’s a lot of students who are paying for it on their own,” Baur said. “We don’t know who’s calling and who’s on the other end of that telephone.”
Like the registrar’s office, the counseling center also maintains records on students using their services. The center helps students in a variety of ways including academic counseling, career counseling and personal counseling to help students deal with relationship issues or mental health concerns.
Although the University’s policy states educational records do not include student counseling records, these are covered by state and federal law, according to Dr. Linda Clinton, counseling center director.
Students can request the counseling center release information such as medical records to parents or other individuals or agencies with a consent form that is good for 90 days, Clinton said.
“There is a form that we use if we feel that we need to get records that the student has that are out there somewhere else or we need to release records or we need to just notify somebody or we need to share information,” Clinton said. “It’s a send-to or get-from type of form.”
Clinton also said privacy is a high concern and the center does not discuss their records except in rare circumstances.
“The release is very important,” she said. “The only time that information would be shared is through a court order … or if a student was a danger to self or others. Then we have a responsibility to report that.”
Clinton said students often are open to the idea of contacting parents or other loved ones as a means of getting “the supportive help that they need and get the student at that time to involve their parents.”
According to Baur, few parents call curious about their son’s or daughter’s records. But no matter how many or few call, parents will still have to get permission from their child.
“It’s all about privacy, and that’s all there is,” Baur said.
The University’s policy on student records and FERPA can be found by clicking “Current Students” on the main page of the school’s Web site, www.tamu-commerce.edu, then go to “Registrar” and “Confidentiality of Student Records and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act” under “Other Items of Interest.”