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.