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 “ "... Gee Mrs. _______, it is always wonderful to hear that students consider me to be helpful and available and it it great to meet a parent who seems interested in their child's progress. I'm glad you came here today." <insert some shmooze and ask questions about what George tells her his experience has been like ... how did he seem at midterms and what did she think of his progress at that time ... etc.> "Along the lines of being available, I would just love it if you and George would set up an appointment to sit down with me so we can talk about George's experience here and where he is going. I have a slot open at ____; can you and George make it?" (If George can't, I would tell the mother how sorry I was to hear that because unless he is there, or has signed a waiver, or she can produce the tax return, yada yada yada ... we can't talk and this would have been a wonderful opportunity.)I would try to get the two to come in together. Then, when I had them both in the room, I would turn to George and explain his FERPA rights and inform him that by bringing his parent in, am I quite clear and correct in assuming that I am free to talk about his academic progress and the contents of his file? If he said "yes," I would go for it and try to map out an appropriate plan based on where we were in the semester – either way it would include personal counseling. If he said "no," then mom will have just received the gift-of-the-red-flag, and it is now up to her to fly it. George has clear and distinct rights as a student ... including the right to fail, but the "sullen" behavior, the drinking, acting out, etc. cannot be ignored. If this were all known to me, I would have taken some steps already. For example, I would surely have contacted a professional in Residence Life to inform them of what we were seeing. I might have tried to coordinate a meeting that included this person and George, but was mandated based on the violation (otherwise George would not show up). It is also tough to respond in an "institutionless" way as I always rely on whatever "rule-book" comes with the College to use in a fair and creative manner ... maybe the alcohol violation is reportable on campus X. Maybe there are midterm grades that Mom can be tipped off to ask for ... etc. While I protect myself and my institution, the student has to come first and George is a time bomb with more at stake than whether he graduates from university X or Y. I will read these with great curiosity!” ~ Robin Diller Torres, Marist College, August 10 “I'd love to discuss George with you, ma'am, but I am bound by FERPA [here I explain FERPA] not to discuss the details of a student's case with anyone without the student's permission. George tells you he's doing fine. If after grades come out you have specific questions, please get George's permission to speak with me and I'll be more than happy to share specific details with you.”~ Christopher Gregory, State University of New York - New Paltz, August 10 “My response would be that I'd be glad to discuss her son's situation and progress with her but that FERPA (and in our case, university policy even for minors) doesn't allow me to do so unless her son gives me permission. I'd tell her that she could ask him to give me that permission and I'd also follow up with George if I didn't hear from him soon.”~ Dan Freidus, University of Michigan, August 10 The Mentor is published by Penn State's Division of Undergraduate Studies Available online at www.psu.edu/dus/mentor/ Privacy and Legal Statements | Copyright | © The Pennsylvania State University | All rights reserved | |
