Charity,
I think your solution makes sense as long as you ensure the student will be held at “no fault” should the parent be trying to overstate the student’s intent (probably noted in SPACMNT and as advising note in DegreeWorks). I would probably also send the student an email or text stating what we had done on their behalf and asking them to indicate that they approve of that approach and then archive that response as well.
The challenge is to be treating this as a one off and ensuring that you aren’t setting a new precedent or expectation.
T
From: MACRAO Listserv <MACRAO@LISTSERV.GFCMSU.EDU> On Behalf Of Charity Walters
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2022 9:48 AM
To: MACRAO@LISTSERV.GFCMSU.EDU
Subject: Parents registering for students
**External Sender**
Hi all;
I’ve seen an increase to the following types of calls lately and was curious how your campus is handling these registration requests. The following is an example of the types of calls that have been slowly increasing lately
Yesterday I received a call from a father of a current student describing the following situation. The student did not register before leaving campus because they weren’t sure if they were able to return due to finances. The student is now in Alaska working on a fishing boat which is going to give them the funding to return to campus in the fall. However they have extremely limited access to email and to the phone and the student is wanting the father to meet with the advisor and select their classes for them and register on their behalf. However this is all coming from the person on the phone and we have had no official contact from the student. I’ve sent the student an email to verify, but if this story is accurate it will be unlikely I would get confirmation in the coming week. The father does have a FERPA release on file.
I’ve found a middle ground by doing my own reach out to the student for a verification process and only working with the person claiming to be their father over the phone rather than releasing any registration or scheduling information to the person claiming to be her father but I’m curious to know if you’ve had similar situations increasing where parents are requesting to register for their students, rather in extreme situations or not, and how you are responding/handling the scenarios.
Charity
Charity Walters| Registrar and Director of Institutional Research | The University of Montana Western | 710 South Atlantic Street | Dillon, Montana 59725 |
Phone 406.683.7471
“Start by doing what is necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” St. Francis of Assisi
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