With a majority of the students in college currently a part of Generation Z (born between 1995 and 2010), the family-to-student relationship has drastically changed. GenZ students are more likely to rely on their families for emotional and financial support (Seemiller & Grace, 2015). Furthermore, 88% of GenZs describe themselves as extremely close to their parents, and more than half consider their family's opinions and perspectives in their decision-making (Seemiller & Grace, 2015). This shift demonstrates how GenZ has come to rely on their familial support throughout their collegiate experience.
Parent and Family Misconceptions
There are some misconceptions related to what you, as a faculty or staff member at Texas A&M, can and cannot communicate with parents and family members. This often results in faculty or staff members saying they cannot communicate with parents or family members due to FERPA or the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974.
While FERPA is clear in what it DOES NOT allow for communicating information about the student’s educational records with individuals or organizations other than the student, sometimes it’s not as clear for what it DOES allow.
As a faculty or staff member, you have likely received a communication from a parent or family member asking for information about their student’s experience (grades, attendance, student organization involvement, on-campus jobs, etc.). While a best practice is for students to communicate with you directly, know that the family member is likely contacting you from a place of concern.
As FERPA states you can not provide information about the student’s experience to someone other the student, you are likely restricted from answer specific questions, including confirming if the student is or is not in your class, showing up to student organization meetings, etc.
However, here’s what you CAN do:
- Respond to the family member stating that due to FERPA, you are unable to confirm if their student is in your class or visited/involved in your office. If the family member has questions related to access to their student’s records, refer them to Aggie One Stop.
- Answer questions with general information, such as highlights of resources available or your office hours for the student to follow up. Often, students will express they have a concern or issue to their family member first and not know of the resources, services, or processes available to assist them.
- Encourage the family member to have their student reach out directly.
- If you are willing, you are able to have the student set up a meeting in which the family member is able to be present. Before the meeting, the student must provide prior written consent to allow disclosure of education records to the individuals invited to the meeting. The prior, written consent must be identity verified (such as an email from the student’s official TAMU account or a hard copy that has written, signed consent) and include: 1) what student education record information is allowable for disclosure, 2) to whom, 3) for what purpose, 4) date. You should retain the consent documents per the approved records retention schedule.
For example, if you have a student who expressed they would appreciate having their parent present at their next academic advising meeting and/or brings a parent or other third party support person with them to their appointment, if you, as the academic advisor, are okay with this, you would need to either confirm the parent as an individual upon whom the student is dependent or have the student submit written consent prior to initiating the appointment.
To verify Certification of Dependency, you can view the Howdy dashboard (Overview ->Biographic Information) or review the Compass form SOAFOLK (look for the X code with the description of Registrar Certified Dependency).
If there is no certification of dependency on file or the document on file does not include the third party attendee, the student must provide prior, written consent. The consent form should include what specific information is allowable for release, to whom, for what purpose and should include the student’s name, signature and date. In lieu of a hard copy signed release, this information via their Texas A&M email is acceptable, as it verifies the student identity. The Texas A&M University employee should maintain the consent to release documents, following the TAMUS Records Retention Policy to document the student approval of the education record release. A sample student consent form is available for use on the Office of the Registrar website under FERPA Forms & Resources.
Concerning Behavior
If the family member or legal gaurdian expresses that their student has been displaying concerning behavior, there are resources to help:
- If their student is in immediate harm or danger, tell them to call 9-11.
- If their student is not in immediate harm or danger, but there is a concern (i.e., they have not heard from their student in an extended period of time, their student showed signs of distress or depression while home, etc.), submit a TellSomebody report.
Student Life Resources
A lot of the times, family members would like additional information about their student’s experience at Texas A&M. Feel free to connect them to some of the resources that our department provides for Family Members of Texas A&M students. Note: These resources are primarily focused on family members of undergraduate students.
Aggie Parent and Family Connection Portal
A portal for parents and family members of undergraduate students to get timely and relevant updates about their student’s experience. After creating an account, family members can get regular communication from Texas A&M tailored to their student’s experience.
Family Weekend
Family Weekend is a tradition that has existed at Texas A&M University since 1919. It is held in the Spring every year and it is a weekend of events and programming designed specifically for families to experience Aggieland.
New Student Conferences
The family programs team provides family-specific sessions for families with information about resources and the best way to support their student.
Aggie Parent and Family Advisory Council
The Aggie Parent and Family Advisory Council is a collection of parents and family members of current Texas A&M students who assist our team in developing resources for families.