Parents

Since I am paying for my daughter’s tuition, I want to see her grades. One of my friends told me PSC sent her son’s grades directly to him. Is that right? It makes no sense to me.

It is hard for parents to understand this, but the Federal Right to Privacy Act makes it illegal for all colleges and universities to share their records with anyone other than the student if he/she is 18 years old or older. If your daughter wants you to see her records, she can provide that information in writing to the College. Otherwise, all communication, including grade reports, will go directly to her. In the same way, if a student wishes to contest a grade, she needs to talk directly with the professor. By law, neither the professor nor the dean can discuss the matter with a parent without the student’s written consent. Taking this kind of responsibility is an important part of your daughter’s learning how to be a successful college student. Sometimes it’s hard for parents not to intervene, but it is important for our children to learn how to handle college by themselves.

My daughter told me that since she will be in college, she can attend class whenever she wants to. She claims there are no attendance rules at PSC.

Technically she’s right. There is no college-wide attendance rule, no parent needs to send a note of explanation for a child’s absence, no professor will notify the parents if their child has been absent, and there are no truant officers to round up students who don’t attend class. However, all college professors expect their students to attend every class. Some professors have strict attendance policies and students who miss more than a specified number of class sessions will automatically fail the course. Not surprisingly, there is a very high correlation between student attendance and success. Immature students who abuse their newfound freedom generally don’t last long in college.