Universities in other parts of the country have been experiencing parental involvement in their sons or daughters college education for several years. Until this summer, I have not had to deal with a parent requesting information about a students academic record. Over the past two months I have had phone calls from three parents demanding information on their son or daughter and I have had two parents come to my office. Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), once a student reaches 18 years of age, they control access to their educational records and their parents cannot be given any information without the students consent. I have attached a short explanation of FERPA from the Department of Education website (http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html). You can visit the website for more detailed information.
In order that we comply with FERPA, we must get written permission from a student before we can share academic record information, written or verbal, with a parent. I have created a very simple form (attached) that we can use to get the students authorization to release academic record information to a parent, spouse, or anyone else. Please remember to use this form to get a students permission to release academic record information.
Walt
Walter W. Fisher
Phelps Dodge Professor
Associate Dean of Engineering
The University of Texas at El Paso
El Paso, Texas 79968
915-747-6935