The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a U.S. federal law that protects the privacy of student educational records. FERPA protects your student’s rights by ensuring we don’t release any information to anyone without their consent; that includes you, as parents and family. In accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, students’ academic records, including but not limited to: transcripts, class schedules, grades, and discipline records, are confidential. Parents or guardians may have access to the information in these records ONLY if their student signs and dates a consent waiver (Proxy Form) that specifies which records may be disclosed.

Students at the University of New Mexico are treated as adults and are expected to assume responsibility for their own actions. This includes keeping family members informed of their concerns and issues. Read below for more information about FERPA and how to stay informed about your student’s educational experience.

 

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act protects the privacy of student records. It was designed to:

- Allow students who are at least 18 or attend postsecondary institution access to their educational records.
- Limit the transferability of a student’s records without the individual’s consent.

When your student turned 18 or enrolled at UNM, control of the rights granted under FERPA transferred to your student. Because your student controls these rights, UNM will only release a student’s educational records with the consent of the student. Some examples of educational records include transcripts, judicial records, grades, and roommate information.

This means, unlike high school, you will not have direct access to the above records without your student’s consent. Your student may grant third-party access to their educational records by completing a Student Information Proxy Release Form (Proxy Form) available from the Office of the Registrar. Proxy forms must be renewed annually.

As a family member, not having direct access to information about your student can feel very frustrating. To help balance between helping your student develop independence and following their progress at UNM, it’s often best to regularly engage your student in conversations such as:

- Tell me about your roommate…
- Have you met your professors and gone to their office hours?
- How are classes going?
- Who do you hang out with?
- Are you meeting with your advisor?

Remember to set some realistic expectations for your student. By maintaining an active dialogue with your student, you play an important role in providing support during a challenging time of transition.
Public Information includes name, major field of study, enrollment status, attendance dates, degrees, sports, and athletic information. Student directory information available to the general public is: student name, Title: Organization/College, and contact information if employed by the university. Additional student information available with a UNM login includes: name, email, college, academic program, year, campus location and Net ID. Students may request that even public information remain private in the online directory by filling out a Confidentiality Change Form from the Office of the Registrar.
The best way is to ask your student. Your student will begin to develop more independence, but it is important that they regularly communicate with you. Remember that the University of New Mexico does not email grades. Your student may access their grades through LoboWeb, at my.unm.edu. You can ask them to print out their grades for you to review.
If your student is under 21 and is found responsible for violating an alcohol or controlled substance policy, UNM may send a letter to the parents, depending upon the conditions.
FERPA allows for releasing applicable records in a serious health or safety threat. If your student experiences any emergency situation, the University will attempt to contact the appropriate parties, such as parents, in order to inform them of the situation.
Student records stored by Residence Life & Student Housing are also protected by FERPA and fall under the same protection as academic records. If your student has a conflict with their roommate, the best thing to do is make sure they have spoken with their Resident Advisor (RA). RAs are trained to help roommates communicate and work out problems. If a solution cannot be agreed upon, the student may request a room change. For more questions, you can contact Residence Life & Student Housing at (505) 277-2606; Lobo Village at (505) 925-5575; or Casas del Rio at (505) 277-1619.
Because of student record protections, Residence Life & Student Housing is unable to notify parents in the event of a room change whether it is due to a roommate conflict or any other reason. If you are receiving the housing bill and see a sudden change in it, make sure to talk to your student as a room change may cause a change in housing rates.
Please visit the Registrar's website for additional information about FERPA.