May a faculty member discuss a students grades and academic progress with a students parent?
A parent is not automatically enabled to see his childs college grades. The rights that a parent had in the elementary and secondary school context are automatically transferred to a student once a student turns eighteen years of age or is attending a postsecondary education institution. An educational institution may exercise its own discretion and provide access to a parent of a college student if his child is a dependant under the Internal Revenue Code; however, an institution is not required to disclose information from the students educational record to the parents of a dependent student. To avoid determining dependency, it is usually easier for the student to complete a consent form authorizing the release of this information to his parent.
