Posted on 08/18/2009 8:29:56 AM PDT by SpeakToPower
FERPA is certainly not new, nor is some prohibition of access to undergrads educational info. However, in this particular case, this University’s “former policy ... of sending grade reports and notices of preliminary disciplinary action to parents and guardians of dependent students” is changing from a situation where the school “routinely answered parent inquiries regarding a ... student’s academic progress” to a situation where no information is available to parent without express authorizataion from student.
One other thing, just as a warning. This came from one of the more difficult discussions I had with a grandparent.
The grandfather had paid tuition for the semester (a couple of thousand dollars.) His grandson did everything he could to get thrown out of my class. I finally kicked him out after two weeks. About a month and a half later, the grandfather dropped by to ask how his grandson was doing.
It turns out the kid had only registered in order to get kicked out so he could take the refund and pocket it. He never told his grandfather he’d been kicked out of class, and the only question he asked me when I was checking him out was how soon the refund would be available.
Legally, the money belongs to the student for refunds. There are different rules for financial aid and loans, but if an individual pays for another individual’s classes, that money is a gift. The refund will go to the student, not the person who paid.
Just an FYI.
My guess is a lawyer reviewed their policy. There’s a disconnect in whether a student is a child or adult. They can be listed as a dependent until age 25, and parental income is listed for financial aid, but the student is considered an adult in terms of privacy.
Ping. All my kids understood that if I didn’t see the grades their education was on them.
That’s not a college rule, that’s federal law. Your college age kid is an adult, if they want you to see their grades they can show them to you, but the college is not allowed to distribute their personal information to ANYBODY but them. No grades, no address, NOTHING.
That’s HIPAA regulations, medical information can’t be distributed without patient permission. Whether or not the person is even a patient is privileged information. The same law that keeps you from finding out if your kid is receiving psychiatric care also keeps your boss from finding out if you’re seeing a shrink.
Darn! Just a little too far from VA to go get a photo. Oh well....
Even outside of the college realm, I cannot see my daughter’s medical records, although she is on my health insurance, and I pay the co-pays and deductibles. All the insurance explanation of benefits are mailed to her.
The real translation of that message is: we found out our old policy and actions were in direct violation of federal law, so we stopped.
I don’t have a problem with this. They are adults and entitled to show their records to whoever they want. If parents are paying for it, they are entitled to demand to see the records, from the kids, not the school.
Were you able to fully inform the grandfather of what was transpiring at that point or were your hands still tied?
I am happy to report that my daughter who graduated from college in May got a manager trainnee job with benefits at Abercrombe.
They signed a waiver and we had total access. This was at least 6 years ago to current.
we have been forbidden for some time, due to Federal Privacy Laws (no doubt having genesis with Bill Ayers and the SDS). In my daughter’s freshman orientation they drilled this point home to parents over and over and over again...
Oh, and I guess under S-CHIP we also now have the right to pay for their health care until they are thirty
My kids handed over the password or we didn’t hand over the check.
End of story.
I believe the primarily aspect of responsibility is the ability to not present a monetary burden to others?
If an employer pays someone to perform work, the employer has the right, nay, responsibility, to review the work.
It is the responsibility of a teacher teaching a student a subject to review the test results.
It is the responsibility of a parent paying a school to teach their child to review the progress.
All I could tell him was that his grandson was not one of my students and that the tuition refund check had already been picked up.
It’s easy to connect the dots from that, but I had to let him connect them. When he walked out of my office, he looked like he’d been shot. He could not believe that a family member would con him like that.
Most of the colleges don’t mind it that much. For me, I teach firefighting, and have prospects come in in their mid twenties with their parents, and bring their parents with them for grade disputes. If the student consents, I can discuss anything. The first thing I ask the student is, “So, you’re ready to be a firefighter, but you need your mom for a grade dispute?”
That’s terrible. A tough situation for both of you.
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