Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

As part of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), information about student educational records cannot be shared with any 3rd parties, including parents, underscoring the fact that students have complete ownership of and responsibility for their college experience.

It is standard policy for Engineering advisors to verify FERPA permissions prior to speaking to any third party, and to also request that the student be involved in the conversation, if permission is given. Students will be asked to be a part of any parent conversation with advising because fundamentally, advisors believe that this experience at UConn is about the student and that their voice is critically important in the advising relationship.

If a student’s community of support includes their parents and they would like to bring them in to an advising conversation, or any conversation with other campus personnel, a student will need to give them permission at ferpa.uconn.edu under “Share my Information.”

 

Pro-tips:

• It is respectful to give the advisor a heads up if you’re joining a virtual meeting with your child.
• Support your engineering student and encourage them to advocate for themselves, talk to their advisor if they have questions or are struggling.  This is THEIR journey.