College privacy waivers keep parents in the loop -- sort of

For parents hoping to keep tabs on their college kids this fall, schools have this advice: Get it in writing -- if you can.

Under federal law, colleges are barred from releasing information in a student's record, including grades or disciplinary actions, without the student's permission. There are certain exceptions, including a health emergency. But parents are often dismayed to find that schools tend to err on the side of preserving a student's privacy.

The issue of student privacy is getting increased attention in the wake of recent high-profile campus incidents, including the massacre at Virginia Tech in April in which a student killed 32 people.

In that case, school officials believed privacy laws prevented them from reaching out to either the gunman's parents or the authorities, despite noticing signs of disturbing behavior.

One potential approach to the issue is something called student privacy waivers. By signing such a document, students waive certain privacy protections so that schools may share their records with parents.

A number of colleges and universities offer privacy waivers for students to sign, in an effort to simplify decisions about when to release information, protect the colleges legally and help parents get information about their kids. College-privacy experts say that more schools have begun offering waivers in recent years, prompted by the growing ranks of "helicopter" parents. Today's hovering parents are accustomed to micro-managing their kids' lives and they expect schools to cooperate, especially if they're footing the bill for tuition.

Typically, colleges that have waivers inform parents of them in the fall. Administrators explain that parents have no right to their child's academic record under law, even if they are paying the tuition. Many also explain their philosophy that college is a place for young people to become independent. They then ask parents to have a discussion with their child about the waiver.

"If we ask students to waive their right to privacy, it's more effective if the conversation starts with the parents and students," says Ainsley Carry, dean of students at Temple University in Philadelphia, which began offering its waiver four years ago.

Last year, more than 5,000 undergraduates at Temple signed a waiver, out of a total student body of about 23,000.

Not all schools offer waivers. And even for those that do, the document allows a school to share information, but doesn't require it to.

The waivers are the result of the 1974 law known as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or Ferpa. The law covers all information in a student's educational record, including grades and disciplinary action.

Ferpa has several exceptions that allow colleges to share information with parents or authorities without a student's written permission. These include when the school deems there is a "health or safety" emergency; if the parents declare the student a dependent on their taxes; or if the student gets a drug or alcohol violation and is under 21 years of age.

Because Ferpa allows schools to share information in certain situations but doesn't require them to, many schools interpret the law differently. Some schools, such University of Tampa, in Tampa, Fla., agree to share information, even without a waiver, if parents claim their child as a tax dependent. Others -- the University of Wisconsin in Madison -- give parents information without a waiver only in a "health or safety" emergency.

"Ferpa is about judgment," says Joanne Berg, registrar and vice president of enrollment management of the University of Wisconsin. "And the bottom line is that students are building a trust relationship with the university -- they are trusting us to keep their information private."

Elizabeth Montgomery Heinz confronted the issue this month when she dropped her 19-year-old son off at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore to start his freshman year. Heinz asked her son, Alexander, if he would cooperate with his parents to draft a letter that would waive his privacy rights. (The university doesn't offer its own preformatted waiver.) Her son said he would think about it, saying it felt like a violation of his independence.

"I emphasized that I do trust him to make responsible decisions on his own," says Heinz, of Berkeley, Calif. "But it's an issue of what can I do as a parent to help him long distance."

Privacy experts say that it's best for parents to have these discussions before a problem arises. "A meaningful conversation that takes place before junior packs the station wagon can be very edifying," says Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.