Do I Need Written Consent for Releasing Information to Parents?
Unless the student is confirmed to be of dependent status, then the student’s consent must be given in order to release information to parents.
Students may now directly provide that permission through the PAWS Auxiliary Access. The Auxiliary Access model was designed to facilitate faculty/staff members in the authenticating of consent process. For instructions on how to authenticate consent, refer here.
Should a student not give their parents access to view their education records, the faculty/staff member can still talk to the parent in limited terms. Parent expectations can be addressed without violating FERPA. Although you may not be able to provide specific answers about a student’s situation, you can talk about the policy as it pertains to their questions. For example, academic probation or dismissal – essentially, any information that can be found on the TCNJ website. You are free to discuss “what usually happens in this situation” even as you clarify that you cannot say that the student is in that situation.