Academic Policy Petition and One Time Only Drop update

The undergraduate Academic Policy Petition and One Time Drop processes will be changing this year. In the past, colleges required different documentation and routing processes, causing students to secure signatures and hand deliver forms to advising offices or One Stop Student Services in order to request exceptions or accommodations to policy.

Later this term, we will be moving the process to an electronic form where it can be filled, submitted, routed, and approved entirely online. This will reduce the need for collecting signatures in person and imaging the documentation for our records. Ultimately, this will improve the student petition experience when necessary. Additionally, the One Time Drop process will be a separate online form, distinct from the Academic Policy Petition process.

Leave of Absence reminder

As a reminder, processing a Leave of Absence always begins with Term Activation.

The first step to processing a Leave of Absence is to check the Term Activation page to see if a student is currently enrolled. The student must not be actively enrolled for any classes for the term(s) for which they request a leave. Classes must be in dropped or withdrawn status before you can proceed.

On the Term Activation page there are a few things you must watch for:

• If the Academic Load field indicates enrollment, assist the student with dropping all classes.
• If the Academic Load field is blank, attempt to remove that term row from the page.
• If, when you attempt to save, you receive an error message that “enrollment records exist.” Do not remove the row. Click OK and do not save.
  
• Then, uncheck the Eligible to Enroll checkbox for that term and save.
  

Processing a Leave without these first steps can “orphan” enrollment records and cause the student undue financial distress. Please refer to the Effective Date Chart for details, including how to add a leave row on the Student Program/Plan page.

If you have any questions or need assistance, contact OTR Training and Support at SRHelp@umn.edu.

FERPA Q&A

Q: We have recorded several class sessions that were held over Zoom. Can those recordings be shared with students that were absent from that class meeting? Can the recordings be shared with students taking a different course, but where the content would be helpful to them?

A: Any recording that is saved and captures students in an identifiable way, such as their images or names being shown in the recording, is a private education record under FERPA. The recordings can still be shared with students in that class section because they are enrolled together and are aware of each other's presence in the (virtual) classroom. However, the recordings cannot be shared with other people, unless the identified students give permission. For more information, consult the FERPA resources for COVID-19 document linked from the ASR website.

Academic Alert project update

Academic Alerts, a process to replace the mid-term grades process, will be available to instructors in APLUS by early October. So far, usability testing was conducted, and the project team is making final changes based on this feedback. The team is also working on a training guide for instructors and final communication plans. Instructors will be asked to have enough grading events before the middle of the term so that they can properly evaluate students’ academic performance and inform those who are not meeting class requirements, consistent with University policy on “in-progress notifications.”

Instructors will also be encouraged to provide feedback early and often as this system allows instructors to send as many updates as necessary so advisors can assess how students are doing across multiple classes and what services might be the most beneficial to keeping students on track. We will send out communications and resources after the start of the term. Instructors will receive reminders to add grades in APLUS and comments at midterm per usual. For other programs that depend on mid-term rosters, mid-term rosters will still be made available.

Address project update

A few weeks ago, all TC students received a short Qualtrics survey regarding their mailing and home addresses. The form asked them to verify if their current addresses are correct and to make any needed updates via MyU. So far over 19,000 students have responded to the survey, which will make sure that these students receive important documents in the future as well as allow the university to accurately plan for on campus resources. Reminder emails will be sent out to students who have not yet completed the survey.

Wait list changes for fall 2020

As a reminder, the wait list process is changing slightly starting fall 2020. Going forward, the auto enroll process will run for the last time the day before a session begins, and the wait lists will be deleted the first day of the session. For fall, the auto enroll process will run for the final time on September 7, 2020 for all regular sessions and 1st half of term classes. The wait lists will be deleted on September 8, 2020.

FERPA Q&A

Q: We grade an activity in our course where the students state their name and then give an oral presentation. If this is done via Zoom, can we record these sessions and still comply with FERPA?

A: The recordings will be student education records under FERPA and therefore must be kept properly private. If the recordings are only accessible to and shared with school officials with a legitimate educational interest, such as an instructor grading the activity, it is permissible under FERPA. We also recommend having a process to delete recordings once they are no longer needed. Consult the Maintaining Records of Student Work policy for more information.