Last week, the Daily reported on nationwide privacy policy changes in the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy. This is the second in a two-part series in which the Daily examines students' privacy rights, school confidentiality policies and the relationship between universities, students and their parents.
Despite the fact that college undergraduates are legal adults, it is largely the case that Mom and Dad foot the tuition bill and provide emotional support. But to what extent should parents be permitted to access private information regarding their child's health and academic life?
Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman said that while most students remain under the care and guidance of their parents throughout college, the university treats students independently.
"We try to treat students as adults because that's our relationship with students," he said.
As a parent himself, Reitman said not contacting students' parents can be difficult. "We're very protective about a student's rights to privacy, and sometimes that's counterintuitive to families who see themselves still very involved in the lives of their sons or daughters," he said.
Reitman said that in dealing with parents, the issue of tuition is often brought up. "Some [parents] say, 'I'm paying the bill, you need to talk with me about this.' And what we say is, 'You're paying the bill, and you can say to your son or daughter, you know if you want me to keep paying this bill, you better talk to me about your academics, your grades, your social life, where you're living.'"
Confidentiality becomes especially tricky when students seek medical help at the university. Director of Health Services Dr. Margaret Higham, who is required to follow the privacy standards of medical practitioners everywhere, said parents often call with concerns about their children. "Parents often want me to be talking to them regularly," she said.
In order for Higham to share most information regarding a student's medical visit, however, she must obtain the consent of the student first.
But, as with alcohol violations, Higham said emergency situations warrant contacting a parent or another university authority.
"[If a student is] feeling like, 'I want to harm myself, I don't feel safe,' I'm usually going to get the mental health people involved. That would be a safety concern. [Or] if the student has a bad eating disorder and gets to a really dangerous weight," she said. "That's going to be a judgment call on my part. But it has to be pretty significant or severe."
Sophomore Samantha Connell said she recognized the difficulty in deciding when to contact parents. "We should be responsible adults and be able to handle that on our own without them contacting our parents," she said. "[But] it's tough. Where do you draw the line? I guess if you have serious medical issues, it's something that your parents should know about."
As with behavioral matters in the Office of Student Affairs, Higham said that Health Services is generally hesitant to have ongoing correspondences with parents. "We try not to spend too much time talking to parents because we actually don't have the time to do that," she said.
Higham explained that students are often concerned with what information Health Services is allowed to communicate with an academic dean.
"The only thing we would communicate to the dean's office would be concerns about safety. [If students'] friends report they've been acting erratically and that they haven't been seen in three days ... if the friends haven't contacted the dean, we would," Higham said. "[But] if a student comes in and says, 'I was arrested last week and I was injured,' I'm not going to contact the dean's office."
When it comes to sexual health, matters that students are especially eager to keep private, Higham said she will almost never contact a parent. Reitman agreed, saying that the university will never speak about a "medical elective procedure."
Sophomore Rebecca Thrower said that a weak privacy policy would discourage students from seeking the help they need out of fear their parents will be alerted. "I actually do have a friend whose parents found out about some STD test because it was on the insurance," she said. "You don't want your parents to find out about something like that ... you would not get that done because it's going to show up [on the insurance]."
The privacy of academic records is also a point of contention for parents and students. Under the protection of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) students must first give consent before parents can have access to grades and records.
Associate Dean for the School of Arts and Sciences Jeanne Dillon said parents sometimes contact her office with requests for grades.
"They're disappointed that I can't just tell them what the grades are," she said. "But I usually just say, 'Your son or daughter knows what the grades are, so why don't you just ask them?'"
As a method of facilitating a more efficient way of allowing students to give their parents access to their records, Tufts implemented the Web service MyJumbo in spring of 2007. Using this Web site, parents can have access to their children's academic records if student consent is given.
But Reitman said students have been hesitant to give their parents access, stating that a "vast majority" of students haven't registered their parents for MyJumbo.
"It hasn't been well-utilized," he said. "And I have no idea whether that is a general lack of interest or tension to it, or whether most of you [students] really don't want your parents to know your grades."
But while the lack of participation in MyJumbo may signify lacking student-parent communication, some students said otherwise. Thrower, who gave her parents access to her records via My Jumbo, said they simply don't use the site. "My parents know it exists and I signed up for it, but I think generally they still go through me," she said. "Certainly, with my grades, I'm the one who tells them when they come out ... I don't really hide anything from them."
Tufts officials who were interviewed agreed that students are generally open to letting their parents know what is happening in their lives. "I think, my hunch is that most students and parents have a pretty open relationship," Reitman said.
