Reviewing the Holds on Records policy

The Holds on Records and Registration policy is due for comprehensive review. If you have feedback about this policy, please share it with Stacey Tidball (tidball@umn.edu) before the end of January.

Policy updates

The updated Grading and Transcripts policy is now published. The policy was reorganized for clarity and changed the deadline for resolving incomplete grades for undergraduates.

The Using Email as Official Communications policy was recently reviewed by the Senate Committee on Educational Policy and the Policy Advisory Committee. Look for this policy to be published for 30-day review soon at policy.umn.edu.

Degree clearances and diplomas

Fall 2018 degree clearances are due from colleges by January 17. All degrees will be posted by the Office of the Registrar (OTR) by January 18. As a reminder, diplomas will be ordered every Monday. If a student needs their diploma expedited, FedEx shipping is available for an additional charge. Other options for confirming graduation include enrollment verification, a letter of certification, an unofficial transcript (no cost), or an official transcript (for a fee). Enrollment verifications and letters of certification are processed daily.

SAP reminder

We will be running the next Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) check on January 7, 2019. We will place the “P3” suspension hold from colleges on January 10. Students who don’t meet SAP criteria and are suspended can submit an appeal form.

FERPA Q&A

Q: What are the FERPA guidelines for distributing grades to students?

A: Grades should be communicated to students securely so that students are not able to see each others’ grades, for assignments or final grades. Communicating grades using Moodle or Canvas provides a secure method. Students can view their final grades that have been posted by using MyU > Academics tab. Posting grades publicly cannot be done in a way that might identify the student. They should not be posted by student ID number or social security number (full or partial), date of birth, or other identifiers. Additionally, if graded assignments are left for student pick up in an office or other setting, students should only be able to gain access to their own graded material.

Entering final grades for fall 2018

Grades for fall 2018 full semester classes are due on December 27 by 11:59 p.m. (See a full list of grade due dates.) Instructors and proxies who have grading responsibilities will receive a message from ASR in early December with instructions and how-to guides about entering grades.

Please note that grades downloaded from Canvas can be uploaded to PeopleSoft (see instructions). More grading resources and due dates are available on the ASR website.

Compliance with Dept. of Ed. on federal aid

Starting in fall 2019, undergraduate students who have completed all their degree requirements but have not had the degree awarded will not be able to receive any further federal student aid (FSA) funds for that program. This has been long-standing federal stipulation but we have not had the ability to enforce it until now. This process will be limited to undergraduate students at the Twin Cities and Rochester campuses. Based on historical data, it will impact fewer than 100 students per year. An appeal process will be available for students with extenuating circumstances.

We anticipate sending further communications about this change prior to its initiation in fall 2019. State and institutional aid will continue to follow regulations.

*Correction: This story previously stated students would not be able to receive any further flexible spending arrangement (FSA) funds, but that was incorrect. It should have been federal student aid (FSA).

NameCoach implementation

ASR recently purchased name pronunciation software from NameCoach. This software will allow students and staff to record their name so others may know the correct pronunciation, fostering inclusion in the classroom and beyond. It will help strengthen relationships between students and faculty, advisors, and other student services staff, and provide accurate pronunciations for events like commencement. Julie Selander, One Stop Student Services director, will serve as project manager on this system-wide initiative. We will share more as the project kicks off.

Directed Study

The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), OUE, and ASR are collaborating on a structured, University-wide student experience for requesting Directed Research, Study, & Readings. The project will require input from across the University community. It will also include a user-friendly intake mechanism to request Directed Research, Study, & Readings for students and faculty mentors to review and approve proposals. The project will result in the ability to analyze data for purposes of strategic decision-making, policy review, and curricular recommendations.

Upcoming adjustments to One Stop hours

Some One Stop Student Services locations will have adjusted hours during the month of December:

• Thursday, December 13: St. Paul, West Bank, and University Veterans Services offices open from 8:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, December 26: St. Paul and West Bank locations closed all day
• Monday, December 31: St. Paul and West Bank locations closed all day

Service will continue to be provided at the East Bank One Stop location (333 Bruininks Hall). Service will also be available by email (onestop@umn.edu) and phone (612-624-1111). Graduate Student Services and Progress will remain open.

FERPA Q&A

Q: Is it ok for a staff member to provide a list of student names and University email addresses to a group of students seeking to promote a social or professional development opportunity to their peers?

A: It depends! A list of students’ directory information can be provided to anyone, but you must remove all students with suppression from the list and the list can’t be sorted or limited based on non-directory information. For example, majors are directory information so it is allowable to share a list of students by major (excluding students with suppression, of course). Gender is not directory information, so a list that provides gender information, or is limited by gender, can only be given to a school official with a legitimate educational interest. The Office of Institutional Research can help fulfill requests for lists of students’ directory information. Also, students are encouraged to use other means of promoting events such as relevant e-newsletters.

Midterm alerts project

The midterm alerts project has kicked off with these objectives:

• Increase the number of mid-term grades that are reported by UMN faculty at the 1000-level
• Improve communications, how-to guides, and related processes
• Consider and make recommendations related to the use of Canvas data for mid-term alerts, or other ways to alert students and advisors of academic challenges

Feedback on midterm alerts has been collected at SCEP and the Strategic Enrollment Management Committee and will be requested at the November RAC meeting. 

The project team will next focus on exploring alternate ways to collect academic alerts and will work on helping faculty to see the benefit to students when advisors are empowered with this information. If you have questions or feedback on this effort, please contact Adrienne Bricker (abricker@umn.edu).

TADA project updates

Since last month’s update:

• Outreach for establishing best practices as started. Representatives for the Twin Cities were identified by the Advising Steering Committee
• The project team began testing and the core processing is performing well so far
• The analysis of progress to degree encoding for majors with required minors has started.
• Progress has been made on “rapid prototyping” usability study with students in Duluth, designing the display of the grading basis for in-progress and registered future courses, and continuing to prioritize and update PeopleSoft data on the degree audit.

For more updates, see the project status on TADA website or review October RAC minutes.

New GPAS exceptions system live

An online Graduate Planning and Audit System (GPAS) exceptions system became available October 29, 2018. The new system was built to better support timely degree progress and graduation for graduate students enrolled in GPAS-implemented programs/colleges. The following benefits showcase why we have transitioned from the solely paper-based exception form to online:

• All within PeopleSoft
• Flexible setup and system access for programs/colleges
• Automated communication notifications 
• Quicker turnaround time
• Ability to reassign or delegate exceptions

If you have questions, please contact Stacia Madsen at mads0066@umn.edu.

Veterans appreciation events

University Veterans Services is hosting two events for campus veterans, military members, and their families in November. The events are free and open to the public.

1. Thanking Student Veterans boothNovember 7, 2018 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
   Washington Avenue Bridge (east)
   
2. 12th Annual Student Veterans Appreciation Day event
   November 14, 2018 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
   Great Hall in Coffman Memorial Union

FERPA Q&A

Q: Should we periodically examine our practices, policies, procedures and forms to ensure they are FERPA compliant?

A: Absolutely! Conducting a periodic review of how you work with student education records, including who can access what information under what circumstances is always a good idea. It’s important to pay particular attention to how various forms of student data is stored and whether or not your area is following the University’s retention and destruction policies.


Ask a FERPA question | View previous FERPA Q&As

EGTs added for students admitted for fall 2018

On September 18, 2018, we entered an Expected Graduation Term (EGT) into the Student Program/Plan for all new Twin Cities undergraduate admits. Both New High School (NHS) and New Advanced Standing (NAS) students now have an EGT applied to their records.

On November 12, 2018, we will add the degree checkout status of “applied” to the Student Program/Plan for any Twin Cities undergraduate who has achieved 75% progress toward their degree.

• Several reports were updated to add the degree checkout status data:
• Major/minor roster
• Student group roster
• Student roster detail list
• My advisees with confirmed education abroad programs
• Education abroad confirmed students by college

We are developing a query to help identify students who have a missing EGT. It is currently in the testing phase and in the future will be available in Reporting Center.

TADA project updates

The Transfer Articulation and Degree Audit (TADA) project is still in the technical phase, but there is progress to report:

• The integration of PeopleSoft to Dars has been updated
• The plan for legacy data has been vetted by the vendor
• An APAS report has been run in uAchieve! (an internal milestone, but exciting nonetheless)

For more updates, visit the TADA project site or review September RAC minutes.

2018 election - campaign activities

The University encourages students, faculty, and staff to engage and vote. However, be reminded that federal and state laws prohibit the use of University resources to support specific candidates, ballot initiatives, or referenda. University of Minnesota political engagement policies reflect these legal regulations. More information is available via the 2018 guidelines for political campaign related activities.

FERPA Q&A

Q: Can one graduate program share a list of denied applicants with another program at the University that may want to recruit the students?

A: No, the applicant information should not be shared. Application information is private educational information under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act and is later protected by FERPA for anyone that attends the institution. An alternative method would be for the graduate program to forward information on behalf of other programs, or request the applicants’ permission to share their contact or application information.

Communications for the start of fall term

The start of term is a busy time for everyone, including for our systems and websites. Targeted communications have been sent out to help reduce online traffic (such as to MyU) and provide back up plans should issues arise. Students have been encouraged to print or take a screenshot of their class schedule. Instructors and departments have been asked to minimize changes to classes and to send an email to affected students when a change is necessary. Please keep these things in mind as we move into the first week of classes.

Complete drop initiative

Starting fall 2018, undergraduate students will be prevented from dropping all of their classes without speaking to an advisor. This will be achieved by applying a six-credit minimum threshold to their records (the day after the 100% refund deadline, fall and spring semesters only). If they attempt to drop below this threshold, they will receive an error message directing them to contact their advisor or college office. Each college/academic area can have their own business process for how they handle it.

This process does not apply to international students and athletes as there are different processes that apply to them. For more information about this initiative, review the August RAC minutes.

NameCoach software

NameCoach is a student-recorded name pronunciation software that is under consideration for purchase for the University. While there is not an official implementation plan, attaching it to Canvas would be the first goal. Learn more about NameCoach from the company.

Policy updates

Two policies are currently posted for 30-day review prior to changes becoming effective: Credit & Grade Point Requirements for an Undergraduate Degree: Twin Cities, Crookston, Morris, Rochester and Grading & Transcripts Twin Cities, Crookston, Morris, Rochester. For more information or to submit your comments, visit the Policy Library.

FERPA Q&A

Q: You have been contacted by a student who wants review their entire file at the University of Minnesota. What should you do?

A: Students have a right to inspect and review nearly everything that the University maintains on them; the two exceptions are parents financial records and letters of recommendation that the student has waived the rights to access. Any request to review an entire file must be made in writing through the Office of the General Counsel.

PeopleSoft Campus Solutions 9.2 Upgrade wrap up

The PeopleSoft Campus Solutions 9.2 Upgrade Project officially concluded on June 30. This project kicked off in April 2017 and was completed in two phases. The first phase—a technical upgrade of Campus Solutions from version 9.0 to 9.2—was delivered in September 2017. The second phase delivered functional improvements over several months. This included 16 individual initiatives focused on leveraging delivered functionality not already in use.

In summary: the University is now the most current it has ever been with PeopleSoft Campus Solutions releases and is positioned to take advantage of new functionality. Project teams explored the application of delivered functionality to meet business needs and deliver service improvements for students, faculty, and staff.

For more detail, see the CS 9.2 Completion Report.

Transfer Articulation and Degree Audit project

The Transfer Articulation and Degree Audit project officially kicked off on July 2. The purpose of the project is to implement the newest version of the system that provides the University with transfer articulation and degree audits (DARS).

The first year of the project includes a vendor services contract with College Source, the parent company of DARS, TES, and Transferology. They will be performing much of the technical work to switch the University over to their new platform, uAchieve. Project team members will be consulting with subject matter experts and system campus partners to make sure the University’s business needs are met. More details are available on the project status dashboard.

Last Date of Participation (LDoP) field in Canvas

With the transition from Moodle to Canvas there are changes to the display of the Last Date of Participation (LDoP) field. When courses convert to Canvas, the LDoP field will no longer fill in automatically. This is due to the fact that the LDoP defaults to the last time a student logged into the course, not the last time a student engaged in a significant educational activity.

Courses that remain in Moodle for the 2018-19 academic year will still have the LDoP field auto-filled with the last date a student logged into the course. Staff are working with OIT and the Canvas/Moodle teams to have a way to check if the faculty member simply left the field as is or if there are other data points available to verify that the student did engage in an educational activity. This field is very important in helping calculate Return of Title IV (R2T4) funds for students who earn all F, N or W grades in a term. Please remind your faculty members of this, specifically those who need to determine the last date a student engaged in an education-related activity in a class including those still using Moodle.

FERPA Q&A

Q: Can college or department staff communicate with students who have a directory or full suppression of their record?

A: It depends. College staff, including those in a marketing department, can send college-related communication to students, including those who have suppressions on their records, if the information pertains to their role as a student. University staff who have a "need-to-know" may access student contact information, regardless of suppression level. The information of students with address or full suppressions, however, cannot be given to individuals or organizations outside of the University. Colleges should, of course, be respectful of any student's desire to "opt out" of marketing-type communications.

Personal pronouns and gender identity in MyU

Students and staff on all campuses are now able to share personal pronouns and/or a gender identity through the My Info tab of MyU. Sharing personal pronouns and/or a gender identity is optional. Here are some resources for additional information to share with students when needed:

• How-to guide on One Stop website - z.umn.edu/genderidpronoun_howto (navigate onestop.umn.edu > How-to guides > My info > Set personal pronouns and/or gender identity)
• Additional information on One Stop website (navigate onestop.umn.edu > Personal information > Pronouns and gender identity) 
• Additional information in MyU - z.umn.edu/genderpronounmyu

Emails to students, sent from PeopleSoft

Starting July 1, emails sent to students, faculty, and staff directly from PeopleSoft related to financial aid, student finances, and student records will have a new look and feel. This is the result of an effort to have these important communications follow University email requirements. The new features include the use of a University of Minnesota header, a footer describing the sender and recipients of the email, and a more consistent format.

Sometimes students receive emails that ask them to complete a task related to their business at the University and they question if it is legitimate. This may happen as a result of this change as the emails will look significantly different from what they are used to. There are a few things students can do if they would like to verify the legitimacy of the email:

• The majority of emails regarding registration, financial aid, and billing are sent directly from PeopleSoft. Copies of such emails are kept in the “Communication Center” within their “Student Center.” Students can access their student center by using the “Key Links” menu in MyU.
• The majority of business students conduct related to registration, financial aid, and billing is done within MyU. If they are suspicious of an email’s contents and do not want to use a link within the email, they can type “myu.umn.edu” directly into their web browser.
• The One Stop website is a good resource for common tasks and my validate the information they receive in an email.

Students currently have a story in MyU alerting them to the upcoming changes. If you hear concerns from students as a result of this change, we appreciate your help in reassuring them and providing suggestions from the list above to verify the legitimacy of an email.

Changes to cost of attendance website content

The cost of attendance page on the One Stop website has some changes to note:

• A new estimated cost of attendance chart for 2018-19
• A simplified cost of attendance chart for undergraduates (with actual COA figures)
• A new page dedicated to COA for graduate students

These changes are the result of feedback from students and staff, with an effort to make cost of attendance information easier to find and use.

Resident tuition increase for FY 2019

In June, the U of M Board of Regents approved the FY 2019 operating budget which includes a 2% tuition increase for resident undergraduate on the Twin Cities campus. Tuition will be held flat for resident undergraduates on the Crookston, Duluth, and Rochester campuses. For more details read the original news story.

Academic calendar changes

The Faculty Senate has approved moving spring break forward one week starting March 2020. This was the best solution to get the majority of A term before spring break and to equalize meeting patterns for classes scheduled once per week. Syllabi may need to be reviewed due to this adjustment, so please communicate these changes to those within your departments.

As a reminder, spring 2019 will change from 74 instructional days to 70. Fall and spring semesters will have the same length going forward, and there is room for an additional study day for students in the spring term. The full calendars for 2018-22 can be viewed on the University Senate page.

FERPA Q&A

Q: How can I recruit more potentially qualified students for a competitive scholarship if it has a GPA and need-based component?

A: Since GPA and financial need are not directory information at the University of Minnesota, you can't just request and receive a list of students who meet the criteria for the scholarship. Academic Support Resources (ASR) can write a query to identify students who might qualify and send the information to the students on your behalf. When doing so, ASR will inform the students that their non-directory information has not been shared with a third party and if they are interested in learning more about the scholarship to contact the office sponsoring it.

Personal pronouns and gender identity in MyU

This summer, the University will begin offering students and staff the option to share their personal pronouns and gender identity through the My Info tab of MyU. Sharing personal pronouns and/or a gender identity will be optional. Students’ pronouns will be available in PeopleSoft Campus Solutions (dependent on access) and in APLUS.

Gender identity information will not be shared at this time, though authorized University staff with access to private information may view it when performing their job duties. A fact sheet with more information is available.

Directory suppression communication to students

Starting in June, students with first-time enrollment for fall 2018 will receive a communication to let them know about the University’s policy surrounding how their student information appears in public directories such as search.umn.edu. The communication states that their information will be listed in the directory within 30 days of the start of term (or first registration, whichever comes last) and directions on how they can suppress their information through MyU. If you have questions about the message or information, contact asrcomm@umn.edu.

Implementing uAchieve

The University of Minnesota is starting a project this July to implement uAchieve, the most recent version of DARS (the system that delivers our students and advisors the APAS report). DARS has become outdated and this project is an opportunity to improve the student-facing degree audit as well as business processes for DARS users.

What does the system do?

• Holds transfer credit rules.
• Shows students how their transfer credits map to our degree programs.
• Holds undergraduate degree requirements and sub-requirements.
• Shows students and advisors how completed credits meet degree requirements.
• Allows staff to make exceptions to degree requirements.

What’s the big picture timeline?

• July 2018-July 2019: Technical implementation with the vendor
• July 2019-July 2020: Update configurations and integrations to reap business benefits

Staff have worked on preliminary items such as the project charter, planning, governance, discovery, and staffing, but the project does not begin until July. You can learn more about the project at asr.umn.edu/uachieve.

No RAC in June or July

There will be no Registrar’s Advisory Committee (RAC) meetings in June or July; they will resume in August. You can access previous meeting minutes at asr.umn.edu/rac.

FERPA Q&A

Q: Can a student challenge a grade by using their FERPA right to request an amendment to their student record?

A: No. The right to amend a student record is for information that is inaccurate or misleading due to a recording error; it does not apply to a substantive decision such as what grade was awarded. Students do have the right to receive an explanation for their grades under University policy, and can seek assistance from the Student Conflict Resolution Center if needed.

Commencement on events calendar

University commencement event information is available online. For colleges, if you have not done so already, add your commencement information to the University events calendar so that the latest information is available to students and parents.

Grades due soon

Grades for most sessions are due on Wednesday, May 16, 2018 by 11:59 p.m. Visit the ASR website for grade due dates by term and other grading resources.

Note that a grade of “NR” (Not Reported) will be given to students who are not assigned a grade by the grading due date. Once NR grades are posted, grades cannot be uploaded or imported from Moodle/Canvas. The Request grade change process must be used to enter earned grades.

For more information on grading including when incompletes, K, or X symbols should be used, see the Grading & Transcripts policy.

9.2 updates

Several items related to the PeopleSoft Campus Solutions 9.2 Upgrade were released on April 22. New navigation and an improved look and feel for parents/guests went live. You can see these changes by viewing the how to guides for parents/guests. Many items allowing future improvements also went into place. More detail on these can be found on the project website.

Community outreach continues on the gender identity, personal pronouns, and preferred name initiative.

Tuition refund appeals—new form

A new workflow for Tuition Refund Appeals (TRA) is available for Twin Cities students on the One Stop website, Forms page. It was previously available in PDF form only. The new workflow will enable the committee that reviews the appeals to process them faster, as well as improve data validation.

Information about tuition refund appeals has also been updated on the One Stop website, Refunds page. If you have questions about appeals or the form, contact Richard Campo (campo035@umn.edu).

ULearn to Training Hub transition

5 things you need to know

1. ULearn access will close beginning Thursday, May 31, 2018. 
2. Any in-progress training will not transfer into the Training Hub.
3. Any online training you begin before the transition must be completed before May 31.
4. Registration for summer training sessions will transfer into the Training Hub. 
5. The Training Hub will be available to you beginning Monday, June 4, 2018.

For ongoing updates about this transition, visit it.umn.edu/training-system-transition.

Upcoming One Stop closures

One Stop Student Services will have limited hours and availability on two Wednesdays in May.

• May 16: The St. Paul and West Bank One Stop offices and University Veterans Services will be closed until 1:00 p.m. Service will continue to be provided at the East Bank location (333 Bruininks Hall) and by phone, including normal hours for Graduate Student Services and Progress.
• May 23: One Stop Student Services (including Graduate Student Services and Progress, and University Veterans Services) will close at 11:30 a.m. Normal service will resume at 8:00 am. on Thursday, May 24. Staff and students can email onestop@umn.edu, gssp@umn.edu, or veterans@umn.edu during that time.

Summer building updates

The Office of Classroom Management is working on a variety of projects this summer across Minneapolis and St Paul classrooms. The extent of the work may limit OCM’s ability to relocate classes and events. While OCM cannot control the progress of these projects, they will make every effort to minimize disruptions. They appreciate your patience as we navigate the upcoming summer together.

• Ruttan Hall B35 renovation
• Willey hall 125 seating replacement
• CSOM 1-147 and 1-149 renovation
• Mondale Hall subplaza, Phase 3
• Bruininks Hall technology updates
• Video conferencing upgrades in various locations
• Mechanical Engineering infrastructure update, Phase 3

There are also many exterior construction projects occurring around campus which will impact the use of OCM classrooms. These include:

• Ruttan Hall exterior repairs and window/skylight replacement
• Willey Hall roof and skylight replacement
• Solar panel installation in various locations
• Church Street reconstruction

FERPA Q&A

Q: Does the University need to comply with the new European Union privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)?

A: While this isn’t a FERPA question, there is overlap with FERPA and the GDPR. This new law protects personal information of people when they are physically present in an EU country. The University may be impacted by the GDPR in several ways, such as when prospective students in EU countries apply to the University or when we work with visiting scholars before they come to the US. The University is reviewing what processes and procedures should be adjusted to comply with these new requirements. However, because this is a new law it will take some time for all of the compliance impacts to be litigated and more fully explained. There is more information in this article about how the law might apply to US higher education institutions.

Upcoming Policy change for Twin Cities S/N grades

The Senate Committee on Educational Policy has approved a change to the Credit Requirements policy to change the limit on S/N credits from 25% to a 20 credit total. The credit limit will make our policy more consistent with peer institutions and also be easier for students and staff to calculate. The policy change will be reviewed by PAC and PPC before being posted for 30-day review and comment.

Complete drop initiative

Starting in fall 2018, Twin Cities and Rochester degree-seeking students who attempt to drop below 6 credits will get an error message preventing the drop and prompting them to meet with their advisor. The minimum credit threshold of 6 credits will be applied the day after the 100% refund date and remain indefinitely. (Athletes and international students will be excluded.) After an advisor or other staff has contact with student, the minimum threshold can be reduced or removed so the student can complete the drop.

This project is still in progress; a communications plan will roll out when the work is completed. For questions, contact Nate Peterson (pete2787@umn.edu) or Cathy Schuster (heuer001@umn.edu).

Faculty Center class roster related content

The related content on the class roster page in faculty center has been adjusted so that the related content will be moved to the bottom of the page (from the upper right) and will default to collapsed. The areas have been renamed to Photos, FERPA, Assoc. Classes, and Emails to display more clearly. These changes make the descriptions of the pages more visible and work better on smaller screens. Updated how-to guides will be available on the ASR website early next week.

System campus courses in TES

System campus courses can now be submitted for Twin Cities course equivalency review through the TES process (Transfer Evaluation System). On the Office of Admissions’ Transfer Credit Evaluation page, use the Current Students tab under the "Submitting a Course for Review" section. As this process begins, the courses will not be searchable in Transferology, but we expect them to be available within the year.

Note: “Submitting a Course for Review” is not the correct process for Liberal Education Requirement petitions or international coursework reviews. Refer to the instructions and links available in the "How courses are evaluated" section near the top of that page.

Transferology and Transferology Lab trainings will continue to be offered through the spring 2018 semester. You can find more information about the sessions and instructions on how to sign-up here. Upcoming sessions will be held on April 23 and May 7.

Direct deposit message now runs hourly

The frequency of the direct deposit email message to alert students when there are changes to their account has been increased. Previously this communication ran nightly on the batch schedule. The process now runs hourly.

FERPA Q&A

Q: I am excited to recruit a student to our program and the parents are very involved. Can I speak to the parents about available scholarships and what the student will receive?

A: While you can talk generally about the scholarships available to students, but you cannot tell the parents specifically what scholarships the student has been awarded. The award to the student is private student information under FERPA and should only be shared with the student. The student can choose to share the information with their parents.

Student athletic enrollment reminder

Any change to a student athlete’s academic record that reduces credit load, like dropping a course or a course cancellation, must first be verified with the student’s athletic advisor. Approval will be documented via APLUS notes. If a change is made that does not meet compliance regulations set in place by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the student’s athletic eligibility will be impacted. Please contact the Lindahl Academic Center at gophacad@umn.edu with any questions regarding these rules.

New student data and reports available in UM Analytics

The Course Enrollment Long-Term Trends Dashboard and Course Statistics Report are now available on the reporting center. These are designed to be able to answer a broad range of enrollment questions without having to write custom queries. They are built off of the new Enterprise Data Warehouse and conform to standard Academic Support Resource (ASR) business logic. For questions about this information, contact John Vlk (jvlk@umn.edu).

Transfer credit forms - new!

As of January 2018, newly-admitted, prospective, and current students at the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus use Transferology to explore transfer options. If a student finds that one of their courses hasn’t been evaluated in the past, they can submit that course for review using an online form on the Office of Admissions website.

In addition to the online from from the Office of Admissions, there are two new supplemental forms for requesting evaluation of credits:

• Request for Reevaluation of Transfer Credits
• Replaces the “Evaluation of Credit” form
• Used by student to petition a previous decision and provide additional information about a transfer course
• Request for Evaluation of International Credits
• Used by student to have their college evaluate how an international course fits their degree program

Both forms are available at advisor.umn.edu/advisor-tools.

FERPA Q&A

Q: I am an advisor and an instructor is asking me questions about one of my students. What information can I release to an instructor?

A: It depends on the instructors “legitimate educational interest” in the information. The instructor may, or may not, have a business need for the student’s prior course history, grades, or other information.

For example, if an instructor is teaching an upper-level course and is asking about a student's ability to successfully complete the course, or asking about the student's performance in a prerequisite to the course the instructor is teaching, the instructor has a legitimate need to know. Conversely, if the instructor is asking about performance in a course unrelated to the course they are teaching, that information should not be released as the instructor does not have a true need to know.

Except in specific, identified situations, instructors are not entitled to a full list of grades or a transcript of a student without that student's written consent. When in doubt about what information can be shared, ask why the instructor needs the private student data.

Expected graduation term reminder

New high school (NHS) and new advanced standing (NAS) students for spring 2018 will have an Expected Graduation Term (EGT) added to their program/plan records during the week of January 29. We will communicate this to collegiate staff once it has happened. Questions about the EGT project can be sent to Adrienne Bricker (abricker@umn.edu).

Caucus night

Tuesday, February 6, 2018 is caucus night. Per Board of Regents resolution, the University may schedule classes or events on caucus night with the Board’s authorization, however students and/or instructors are permitted to attend their party’s caucus night if they wish. Students must notify their instructor in advance, and instructors are expected to accommodate their requests. If enough students indicate that they will be attending their caucus so that holding class becomes impractical, instructors may cancel the class or make alternative arrangements.

Earlier summer registration

For summer 2018, degree-seeking students at the Twin Cities campus will be able to register on March 1, 2018. Open registration for non-degree and visiting students starts one week later on March 8.

Earlier registration before spring break extends the regular registration period one and half months, which gives students more time to plan and spreads out appointment times for advisors. The change could help increase classroom utilization and enrollment during the summer term. In turn, a higher enrollment rate during summer may help students with timely degree progress.

Transfer Evaluation System (TES)

Newly-admitted, prospective and current students at the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus can now use Transferology to explore transfer options. Behind that public-facing database is a new, electronic Transfer Evaluation System (TES) that facilitates direct communication between Academic Support Resources, the Office of Admissions, and the departmental course evaluators. Since its launch on January 8, TES has helped students make timely decisions about their transfer options.

Between January 8 and January 23, 46 courses were submitted for evaluation through the new system and website. Courses have been evaluated for CCAPS, CLA, CBS, CSOM, CEHD, CFANS, and CSE. Of the submissions, 22 of them received decisions within 2 days or less. This is a much-improved turnaround time from the previous paper/email-based process.

With TES, students receive quick communications that include evaluation decisions, details about transferability, and a point of contact for further questions. As staff/faculty, if you have questions about TES, contact tes@umn.edu.

OUE staff changes, new name for OFYP

OUE staff changes
A few staffing changes have been made in the administrative Office of Undergraduate Education (OUE):

• Beth Lingren Clark has been serving as assistant dean for Orientation & First-Year Programs and will now serve as the associate vice provost for strategic enrollment initiatives. 
• LeeAnn Melin has been serving as assistant dean for undergraduate student initiatives and will now serve as the associate vice provost for student success. 
• Heidi Meyer was named executive director of admissions for the Twin Cities campus, effective December 2017.

These changes came about following the resignation of the associate vice provost for enrollment management last summer, and Robert McMaster, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education, is confident that this restructuring will best serve students moving forward.

New name for OFYPIn the coming months, the office of Orientation and First-Year Programs (OFYP) will be renamed to Orientation & Transition Experiences (OTE). This change reflects the office’s work involving student experiences for first-year, second-year, and transfer students. The mission and goals will remain the same.

FERPA Q&A

Q: What should I do if I accidentally share a student’s private information with another student?

A: Unfortunately, even when we are careful, privacy breaches happen. For example, mis-typing a student’s email address can result in inadvertently sharing private data. If this happens, you should promptly email abuse@umn.edu to report the incident. For more information, see the Information Security policy on reporting incidents.