ASR website update

The ASR website has migrated from Drupal Lite 7 to Drupal Lite 9. You may notice some differences with the look and feel because of switching to the Folwell design theme, but the content has stayed the same. The Folwell design is used by many University websites and helps ensure accessibility, consistency, and usability. If you have any comments or issues with the website, please feel free to submit a website feedback form. Thank you!

One Stop Student Services hours

One Stop Student Services will be providing limited in-person services over the upcoming dates in December:

• West Bank and St. Paul locations will be closed Wednesday, December 22, 2021. Bruininks Hall will remain open for in-person services.
• All in-person locations (Bruininks Hall, Coffey Hall, and West Bank Skyway) will be closed from December 27, 2021 to December 29, 2021.

Services will continue to be provided via phone, email, and chat from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday (except when the University is closed). For our most up to date contact information, please see our Contact us page.

CARES update

The University has distributed Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF) for CARES I, CARES II, and CARES III in a variety of formats to students, including block grants, degree completion grants, and emergency grants. The remaining balance for CARES II is currently in the process of being expended before December 31, 2021. CARES III funds will continue into spring 2022. For more information about the various funding details, see the Federal Coronavirus Relief Funds page. 

FERPA Q&A

Q: We set our students up into groups for various cohorts. We would like to provide contact information for each student in the group so the students and instructors can communicate with each other. What are the FERPA rules regarding this information?

A: For students that are registered in the same class section, the information can be shared as long as it is done securely. If the information is shared more broadly, such as with an entire cohort, the information is more limited. The access to student information must be limited to only those who need it and should exclude students with full suppression, as well as exclude suppressed address, phone, and email information unless you have their written permission to include it. For example, you could send a Google form to everyone in the group to get their permission.

Additionally with the new "limited directory" policy for student contact info, students' home addresses, phone numbers, and emails are not shared with other students unless it is part of a student group or similar activity.

One Stop office closures

One Stop Student Services will be providing limited in-person services over the upcoming breaks:

• West Bank and St. Paul locations will be closed Wednesday, November 24, 2021 and Wednesday, December 22, 2021. Bruininks Hall will remain open for in-person services.
• All in-person locations (Bruininks Hall, Coffey Hall, and West Bank Skyway) will be closed from December 27, 2021 to December 29, 2021.

Services will continue to be provided via phone, email, and chat from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday (except when the University is closed). For our most up to date contact information, please see our Contact us page.

Spring 2022 appointment times

On Monday, October 25, registration appointment times were posted for students in MyU, with spring 2022 registration beginning on Tuesday, November 9. Students can find their appointment time by logging into MyU and selecting the "Academics" tab, then selecting the "Registration" sub-tab (how-to instructions are available). The registration times are available on One Stop.

If a student needs their appointment time adjusted because of a system error, contact One Stop Student Services (onestop@umn.edu). Include the student's internet ID, student ID, and name.

Vax 2.0 update

As a reminder, all students enrolled online or in-person must complete the Student COVID-19 Immunization Vaccination form. Students who do not complete the Vaccination form are out of compliance with the University's vaccination requirement and have a service indicator on their student record, which will prevent them from registering for spring 2022 classes and future terms. An automated process runs each night to remove holds for students who have completed their form or who have an approved exemption. For more information, see the Get the Vax 2.0 website.

CARES III update

The University is in the process of distributing Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF) allocated to the University through the American Rescue Plan (ARP, otherwise known as CARES III). Block grants have already been distributed to undergraduate students. Emergency grants are now available. We are currently working on distributing degree completion grants, and graduate block grants will soon be posted to student accounts. For more information about the various funding details, see the Federal Coronavirus Relief Funds page.

One Stop Website Upgrade Project: User experience research overview

The One Stop Website Upgrade project, which will move the website from Drupal 7 to Drupal 9, recently completed its user experience (UX) research. The research helped the project team better understand the website’s audience and their needs. They discovered the following insights:

• Students want to have control and quickly find support.
• Students and staff expect timely and accurate information.
• Students and staff identified issues with the navigation on the site.

The project team concluded there should be a focus on experience design of content for users and their decisions should be supported in the editorial strategy. The research also led to the expansion of the existing site audience, including a primary audience of students, a secondary audience of parents and guardians, and an indirect audience of student-support staff. This new audience will ensure that staff users will be involved in testing and reviewing changes. For more information about the project, visit the One Stop Website Upgrade project page.

FERPA Q&A

Q: I accidentally emailed a student another student’s information. I notified the recipient and asked them to disregard and delete the email. Do I need to do anything else?

A: First, thank you for reporting it and notifying the incorrect recipient of the error. You should still email Information Security (security@umn.edu), and they will be able to help you properly notify the student whose data was shared.

Spring 2022 appointment times

Registration appointment times will be posted for students in MyU on Monday, October 25, 2021. Spring 2022 registration will then begin on Tuesday, November 9. Students can find their appointment time by logging into MyU and selecting the "Academics" tab, then selecting the "Registration" sub-tab (how-to instructions are available). The registration times will also be available on One Stop.

To adjust an appointment time for a particular student, contact One Stop Student Services (onestop@umn.edu). Include the student's internet ID, student ID, name, and campus.

Vax 2.0

In early August, the University announced it would mandate vaccines after the FDA approval, which included an employee and student requirement. ASR is collaborating with Health Sciences Technology (HST) and other campus partners to support the University’s COVID vaccine mandate. ASR’s role is focused on ensuring our student records reflect compliance with the requirement through the use of a student group and the appropriate application and removal of a service indicator that will hold students’ spring 2022 registration if they have not completed their attestation. This will affect all currently enrolled students on all campuses and careers.

Students have until October 8, 2021 to complete their attestation. Afterwards, a hold will be applied to their spring 2022 registration. We are working on an automated process to check for compliance daily and remove holds as students complete their required attestation. More information is available on the Get the Vax 2.0 website.

One Stop Student Services Zoom appointments

Starting Monday, October 4, One Stop Student Services will be pausing the Zoom appointment option for meeting with a One Stop Counselor for the foreseeable future. One Stop Counselors will still be available via email, in-person drop-in meeting, and phone to assist students. Please see the contact us page for the most up to date contact information.

Collaborative Class Scheduling and Astra Academics training update

Academic Support Resources staff have turned the instructor-led Collaborative Class Scheduling (CCS) and Astra Academics training into online, asynchronous courses in Canvas. The new format allows learners to complete it at their own pace and gain access sooner. It also shortens the length of the training and allows for easy course updates to be made when needed.

The updated course continues to provide an introduction to CCS scheduling processes, including adding, changing, and canceling class and section data. New class schedulers must complete this training to gain access to the CCS scheduling pages for Twin Cities or Rochester classes. Schedulers who need Astra training will also need to complete the updated Astra Academics course.

Only new CCS schedulers are required to take the course. Current schedules are welcome to enroll in the new CCS course to use as a resource. Note that Student Data Inquiry (SDI) training is a prerequisite.

CARES funding update

The University is currently distributing the last of the CARES II funding. About 40 Twin Cities students have not cashed checks for CARES II money that was awarded in April despite multiple messages. Those funds will be returned to the overall CARES II fund to be awarded to other students. As the rest of the CARES II funds are resolved, the University has started preparing to distribute CARES III funds to eligible students. The funds will focus primarily on block grants.

DegreeCat town hall

The DegreeCat Project will be holding its first town hall meeting on Tuesday, October 12 at 1:00 p.m. The town hall will be held exclusively on Zoom and is open to all University community members on all campuses who are interested in the project’s efforts to replace Graduation Planner, Schedule Builder, ECAS, and PCAS. Those who attend will hear from project leadership and team members who will provide updates, give demonstrations, and answer questions.

Join the DegreeCat Google group to be added to the calendar invitation and to have access to the video after the event. Just click the "joining the group" link on the group page.

FERPA Q&A

Q: Are recordings of meetings “student education records” according to FERPA?

A: If a meeting recording, such as a Zoom recording, contains personally identifiable information about a student (i.e., student ID number, student name, or other information sufficient to identify a student) and the recording is maintained by the University, yes. Recordings stored and accessible via Zoom, on a University google, or other networked drive all are “maintained by the university.” Such records must be kept confidential, and are subject to students requesting to review the recordings as part of their educational records.

Policy reminders

As we near the start of the term, we wanted to share a few policy reminders. The Mandatory Attendance policy requires students to attend the first class meetings for all classes in which they are enrolled unless they have prior approval from their instructor to be absent. Please consult the policy FAQ for more details on how this policy applies to online classes or when students register after the first day of classes.

Please also consult the updated Makeup Work for Legitimate Absences policy and the Makeup Work FAQ for COVID-19. Questions in the FAQ have been added to specifically address scenarios you may encounter this academic year as a result of COVID-19. Reasonable accommodations must be made for students who have legitimate absences, including:

• Illness
• Religious holiday observance
• Pre-approved first-day absence
• Late registration

FERPA training revision

As many of you are aware, the Board of Regents policy on Student Education Records regarding private student data under FERPA changed as of August 1, 2021. Since federal law, state law, and regents' policy govern access to student records, ASR has updated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) training for University of Minnesota employees.

This training reflects the recent changes made to the Student Education Records policy:

1. Students’ contact information (addresses, phone numbers, and university email address) are now in a new category called “limited directory information” and will be classified as private-restricted according to the University’s data classification table. The Managing Student Records policy and appendices are also being reviewed to be updated.
2. The University and its members will no longer share students’ contact information for public data requests or other third parties unless we have student consent.

The U of M is not requiring employees to retake the FERPA training. However, it is recommended if you would like a refresher, or if you are responsible for supervising employees who also take the FERPA training. You can access the FERPA training in the training hub.

Student Data Update course revision completed

Academic Support Resources staff have revised the Student Data Update (SDU) training course. The updated course reflects current PeopleSoft Campus Solutions navigation. The new format provides a better user experience and shortens the time required to complete the course. It also allows us to more easily make edits to the course in the future.

The new SDU course will continue to provide staff with initial training on how to make updates in Campus Solutions, specifically to the Student Advisor, Term Activation, Service Indicators, and Student Groups pages. SDU will remain a prerequisite for the SDU Add-on training courses. Staff with existing SDU-level access to Campus Solutions will not need to take the new course.

Keep in touch with the DegreeCat project

The DegreeCat project is the University’s multi-year effort to replace its custom-built tools related to degree planning and catalog and curriculum management. During the course of the project, Graduation Planner, Scheduler Builder, ECAS, and PCAS will be replaced by vendor solutions that provide better service than our homegrown solutions. Stay in touch with the project progress by joining the DegreeCat Google group. Just click the “joining the group” link in the middle of the group page to get monthly status updates and invitations to town hall meetings.

FERPA Q&A

Q: With the updated Student Education Records policy, can I still share a list of student emails?

A: It depends! If someone is a school official with a legitimate educational interest, they can have the information. If they are not a school official with legitimate educational interest, you still may be able to share under our limited directory policy. Student emails are no longer fully public information, but you can share that information with school officials or student groups unless a student has suppressed their information. A definition of “school official” and more information is available in the policy.

Remember, directory and limited directory information doesn’t start for new students until the first day of the first term of their enrollment.

Student Education Records policy changes

The Board of Regents policy on Student Education Records is changing as of August 1, 2021. The new language can be reviewed as part of the June Board of Regents meeting docket materials (see pages 5-7). The policy changes create a clear point in time when new students’ public/directory information becomes available. It helps us protect student information privacy and avoid problems such as phishing scams. There are two significant changes:

1. For the purposes of this policy, it adds a definition of “student” that clarifies students are those enrolled in for-credit academic courses. It also addresses the timing of when someone first becomes a student, which is the start-of-term in their first term of enrollment.
2. Students' contact information (addresses, phone numbers, and university email address) are no longer “directory information” and are in a new category called “limited directory information.” This means that the University will no longer share students’ contact information for public data requests or other third parties unless we have student consent. Students’ contact information can be shared with school officials and student groups.

To prepare for these changes, review and update your department’s practices about releasing directory information. Additionally, if your department maintains any public-facing listings of student contact information, they need to be updated to comply with the new policy.

One Stop Student Services reopening plan

One Stop Student Services will be reopening all locations on August 2, 2021. Their Contact Us page will be kept up to date with hours, contact methods, and information about their updated availability.

Summer 2021 grading basis reminder

As a reminder, students will have until the second to last day of instruction for summer classes to change their grade basis in MyU. Once their class has ended and their grades have been posted, students will have to use the form on the One Stop website to request a grade basis change. The form will be available until August 24, 2021 for all summer sessions.

If students wish to change their grade basis for any previous term, they must fill out an Academic Policy Petition. More information is available in the Fall 2020, Spring 2021, and Summer 2021 S/N Fact Sheet.

Student Data Update course revision

Academic Support Resources staff are working to revise the current Student Data Update (SDU) training course. The revised course will reflect current PeopleSoft Campus Solutions navigation. Its new format will provide a better user experience and will allow us to more easily make updates to the course in the future.

The new SDU course will continue to provide staff with initial training on how to make updates in Campus Solutions, specifically to the Student Advisor, Term Activation, Service Indicators, and Student Groups pages. SDU will remain a prerequisite for the SDU Add-on training courses. Staff with existing SDU-level access to Campus Solutions will not need to take the new course. We expect to release the revised SDU course in the coming months.

One Stop Student Services reopening plan

One Stop Student Services will be reopening all locations on August 2, 2021. We will keep our Contact Us page up to date with hours, contact methods, and information about our availability.

Summer 2021 grading basis reminder

As a reminder, students will have until the second to last day of instruction for summer classes to change their grade basis in MyU. Once their class has ended and their grades have been posted, students will have to use the form on the One Stop website to request a grade basis change. The form will be available until August 24, 2021 for all summer sessions.

If students wish to change their grade basis for any previous term, they must fill out an Academic Policy Petition. More information is available in the Fall 2020, Spring 2021, and Summer 2021 S/N Fact Sheet.

Fall 2021 classroom updates

As of May 28, all physical distancing requirements have been lifted for classrooms, and the University will be at standard physical distancing for fall 2021. This means room capacities have also been updated to their prior standard capacities, which can be found using the Room Search tool.

With this update, OCM will be working to assign all general purpose classrooms for fall 2021 earlier than expected, so incoming freshmen can make more informed scheduling decisions while attending orientation. This will also allow currently enrolled students to have ample time to make decisions on their schedules once classrooms are assigned.

Grading basis updates

For summer 2021, students will have until the second to last day of instruction for summer classes to change their grade basis in MyU. Starting June 2, a form will be available on the One Stop website until August 24, 2021 for all summer sessions. As a reminder, students can only use the form if their grades have been posted. If students wish to change their grade basis for any previous term, they must fill out an Academic Policy Petition. More information is available in the Fall 2020, Spring 2021, and Summer 2021 S/N Fact Sheet.

One Stop website upgrade

Sara Cokl has been hired as the new project & change manager for the One Stop Website Upgrade project, which will move the website from Drupal 7 to Drupal 9. Currently, ASR’s UX and Content Strategy team is collaborating with the One Stop Web Steering Committee to conduct user research and update the current website’s content strategy to better reflect how technology and students’ needs have evolved since the last upgrade five years ago.

Once this user research and an updated content strategy has been completed, the existing One Stop content for all campuses will be moved onto the upgraded content management system. Due to the preparation and heavy lifting required for the website upgrade, the current projected completion date is summer 2022.

A communication strategy will be developed to ensure staff have an opportunity to provide feedback and are updated on the progress of the website. If you have any questions or insights regarding the One Stop website upgrade, please reach out to Sara Cokl (saracokl@umn.edu) or Jabra Kawas (kawa0003@umn.edu), the Twin Cities One Stop Web Steering Committee representative.

International diplomas

Students sending diplomas to international addresses should be advised to update both their diploma address and their preferred phone number. All international diplomas are sent via FedEx and no longer require student payment. This change was made after the implementation of the Academic Records Fee. More diploma information can be found on the One Stop website.

FERPA Q&A

Q: Sometimes student groups want to host a panel of alumni for an event. Are staff permitted to share email addresses of our alumni with the student groups? If not, what way is best to connect alumni and student officers/leaders?

A: If you are sharing email addresses of our alumni that were collected after the alumni graduated, the email address can be shared, such as an email address posted on their employer’s website. Similarly, we can share an email address for an alumni still using their umn.edu email address, assuming they have not suppressed it. That being said, it is always a good idea to give alumni advance notice when we plan to share their emails to best prepare them for how to assist our students.

Stellic selected as new degree planning tool

The Request for Proposals (RFP) for degree planning tools (i.e., Graduation Planner and Schedule Builder) is complete, and a contract has been signed with Stellic. This represents the end of a thorough evaluation of all possible options for degree planning tools. Stellic scored highly in usability and accessibility and promises to handle the complexity of the University system. The tool has both degree and semester planning functionality and includes features not available in our current systems. The first set of students should be using the platform within 9 months with a phased rollout to the entire system over 2 years.

The implementation of Stellic, which kicked off in mid-April, is one component of the DegreeCat Project. Also underway is the RFP process for a course management and curricular program management tool that meets or exceeds the current needs being met by ECAS and PCAS. The project structure has system-wide representation that spans many roles and perspectives.

Spring 2021 grade basis changes

For spring 2021, One Stop Student Services is providing a form for undergraduate students to request changes to their grade basis once final grades are submitted. The form is currently available on the One Stop Student Services website and will close on May 24, 2021. After the form closes, undergraduate students must use the Academic Policy Petition for grade basis change requests for any term. For more information about grade basis changes, please see the fall 2020 & spring 2021 S/N fact sheet.

Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds

The University has started distributing Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF II), which includes the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA, often referred to as CARES II), to students this spring. This round of funding includes:

• Block grants for undergraduate students with varying amounts of need demonstrated by Expected Family Contribution (EFC),
• Block grants for graduate and professional students who could not finish their program due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
• Funds to support undergraduate student success/degree completion, and
• Emergency Grant funds.

More information about Federal Coronavirus Relief Funds can be found on the One Stop website.

FERPA Q&A

Q: Your college wants to show a slideshow of student photos prior to commencement. An email was sent to students who indicated they were participating in the ceremony, requesting they provide a photo for the slideshow. The college is requesting to use University ID photos for students who don't provide a photo. Is this acceptable?

A: Yes and no. At the University of Minnesota, photos are not directory information, so students must grant permission for them to be publicly displayed (or shared). If students opt to provide a photo, those can be used for the slideshow, but the college can't simply insert a University ID picture for students who didn't provide one.

Academic Alerts reminder

As a reminder, instructors can use the Academic Alert system at any time during the semester to notify advisors that a student is struggling, which is not limited to midterm. In addition, APLUS now allows instructors to upload a spreadsheet to provide feedback to multiple students at once. A guide for academic alerts and using APLUS for instructors is available on the ASR website.

Fall 2021 appointment times

On Monday, March 22, registration appointment times were posted for students in MyU, with fall 2021 registration beginning on Monday, April 12. Students can find their appointment time by logging into MyU and selecting the "Academics" tab, then selecting the "Registration" sub-tab (how-to instructions are available). The registration times are available on One Stop.

To adjust an appointment time for a particular student, contact One Stop Student Services (onestop@umn.edu) with the student's internet ID, student ID, name, and campus.

Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds

The University continues to move forward with plans to distribute Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF), which includes the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA), to students this spring. This round of funding includes:

• Block grants for undergraduate students with varying amounts of need demonstrated by Expected Family Contribution (EFC),
• Block grants for graduate and professional students who could not finish their program due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
• Funds to support undergraduate student success/degree completion, and
• Emergency Grant funds.

More information about CRRSAA can be found on the One Stop website.

Auto-enrolling from waitlists starts in April

On April 12, the process will begin for auto-enrolling students into classes for which they are on the waitlist. If you encounter any issues with waitlisting or the auto-enroll process, contact the ASR Office of Classroom Management at ocmsched@umn.edu. More information on how students can add themselves to a waitlist is available.

Emergency grant funds

We are continuing to accept emergency grant applications for the spring 2021 term. Students can email onestop@umn.edu with a request for emergency funds, and we will send the student an application. More information about emergency funds including eligibility criteria, as well as other helpful resources for students, can be found at Student emergency funds.

FERPA Q&A

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

A: An instructor's "need to know" the information they are requesting must be assessed when determining what student information can be shared. For example, if an instructor is teaching an upper-level course and is asking about a student's ability to successfully complete their course, or the student's performance in a prerequisite to the course they are 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. Likewise, 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, don't be afraid to ask why the instructor needs the private student data.

Academic Policy Petition

The Academic Policy Petition is now available on the One Stop Website. The form is accessible to any active undergraduate student and can be entirely filled, submitted, routed, and approved online. Since its launch, the form has received 233 submitted petitions. An Academic Policy Petition Advising Guide is also available. If you have any feedback or questions about the form, contact oue@umn.edu.

Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds and Emergency Grant funding

The University continues to move forward with plans to distribute Higher Education Emergency Funds (HEERF), or CARES II, to students this spring. This round of funding will include:

• Block grants for undergraduate students with varying amounts of need demonstrated by Expected Family Contribution (EFC),
• Block grants for graduate and professional students in research based programs,
• Funds to support undergraduate student success/degree completion, and
• Emergency Grant funds.

Additional information regarding CARES II will be shared as it becomes available. 

We are continuing to accept emergency grant applications for the spring 2021 term. Students can email onestop@umn.edu with a request for emergency funds, and we will send the student an application. More information about emergency funds including eligibility criteria, as well as other helpful resources for students, can be found at Student emergency funds.

FERPA Q&A

Q: Is it okay to email a student at a personal email address instead of their umn.edu email address?

A: If you are sending any private student information in the message, you need to use the umn.edu email account. This is consistent with the FERPA requirement that schools use reasonable methods to identify and authenticate the identity of a student when disclosing student education records. Because of the authentication on umn.edu accounts, plus our policy language on not sharing login credentials, we can be assured that we are communicating directly with the student when sending information to a umn.edu email account.

While students provide us with personal email accounts, we lack assurances that the account is still theirs or have kept that information up to date in our systems.

However, if you are having trouble reaching a student and have sent multiple emails, it can be a good idea to send a message to a personal email address letting them know more specific details have been sent to their umn.edu account. The message to the personal email account can’t contain any private student information though.

Academic Alerts update

Since its launch in October 2020, system updates have been made to Academic Alerts based on instructor and advisor feedback. Instructors can now log in without having to use VPN. Instructors were notified of this change in the recent start of term policy reminder email.

New External Credit Interface

Launched on January 24, the External Credit Interface (ECI) is a new connection between uAchieve (the parent system of APAS) and PeopleSoft. While the previous connection brought transfer credit totals into PeopleSoft, ECI brings in greater detail of external transfer, test, and other credit equivalencies that can be used in PeopleSoft processes more effectively.

There will also be a change to student transcripts: all external credit will appear at the top of the transcript (before University enrollment information). This includes Special Exam credits, which previously displayed with enrollment per term. If you have any questions about what you see on an updated transcript, contact SRHELP@umn.edu.

Though external credit will now be available in PeopleSoft, APAS is still the recommended source for looking at individual undergraduate student transfer credit information.

CARES Act

There will be another round of CARES funding (now called CARES II, but actually part of Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act) available spring 2021. The actual date of availability is still undetermined, but information will be sent to advisers, students, and the University community as we learn more.

Like the first round of CARES funds, these funds are only available to students who have been determined to be Title IV eligible, so international, DACA and undocumented students cannot receive these funds. We are hopeful that there will be institutional emergency funds to help support these students. If you have questions, please contact Julie Selander (goode021@umn.edu) or Tina Falkner (rovic001@umn.edu).

Academic Policy Petition update

We are excited to announce the electronic Academic Policy Petition form will be available February 1, 2021. The form will be accessible to any active undergraduate student. As of now, an Advisor Guide is available, which can be used as a reference for anyone who may receive student questions about the form. Long term, the guide will be available on the Advisor Toolkit page. Please send feedback regarding the Advisor Guide to Katie Russell (russellk@umn.edu).

If you have feedback about the form as students begin using it, please email oue@umn.edu.

Emergency grant funds

We want to remind advisers and student services staff that the University of Minnesota has emergency funds to assist and support students who experience an unforeseen financial emergency that may negatively and severely impact their academic success. Emergency funds can be used for groceries/food, housing/rent, medical, transportation, technology, or other expenses that may be experienced during a financial crisis.

To request student emergency funds, contact One Stop Student Services at onestop@umn.edu. More information about emergency funds including eligibility criteria, as well as other helpful resources for students, can be found at Student emergency funds.

Class Permission insights

With all of the virtual classrooms for spring 2021, we expect some instructors to give permission to students to register for a full class. Permission numbers, however, do not override a closed class unless they have been modified to do so. Here are some helpful tips and reminders regarding Class Permissions:

• Permission numbers are created to override Requisites, Consent, and Time Frame (to register during the 2nd week of term).
• Individual permission numbers can be modified to override a Closed Class.
• Instructors do not have access to modify permission numbers.
• Department schedulers and some student services staff do have access to make these updates on the Class Permissions page in PeopleSoft.

For more information, check out these user guides from SRHelp@umn.edu.

FERPA Q&A

Q: I’m an advisor and an instructor is asking for background on one of my student advisees. What can I share?

A: Our favorite FERPA answer applies -- it depends! The instructor’s “need to know” or “legitimate educational interest” governs what you are able to share. If they are teaching an upper division class and need to know if the student has met the prerequisites, you can share that information. If the instructor wants to see a student’s full transcript to see if they are usually a good student, they don’t have a true need to know that information, and it can’t be shared. When in doubt, ask the instructor for more information about why they need the private information and feel free to ask for FERPA advice by contacting tidball@umn.edu.