Release of Education Records for Faculty & Staff

A student may choose to release some or all of their education records to a third-party. The “third-party” is referred to as a “relation,” for they must have a defined relationship to the student in order for the student to authorize their access to his or her education records.

Before communicating data from a student’s education records with any third-party (including parents), it is very important for faculty and staff to ensure that the student has approved the release of their data to this requester; otherwise we will be in violation of FERPA. SMU faculty and staff are responsible for confirming the identity of the relation with whom they are communicating. Through my.SMU, you may view which areas, if any, have been granted by the student to that third-party.

Within the Faculty Center via my.SMU, you may view:

  1. Students‘ consent to the release of their education records and,
  2. Students’ request to restrict the release of their Directory Information data.

This information can be accessed through a Class Roster Class Roster, View My Advisees and/or New Drop-in Advisees.

Class RosterClass Roster

New ClipRelease Records

In the “Release Records” column, next to each student listed in the class roster will be the “View Releases” link. Click this link to view any release of education records the student has granted and/ or denied.

  • If the page displays one or more relations, then for every person listed there will be either:

    • A list of the areas of access the student has granted to this relation. Areas of access that a student can grant include Financial Aid, Holds, All Disciplinary Records, Student Financials, and Academic Records. If “Academic Records” is listed then you may discuss this student’s academic record and performance with this person.

    • Or, Do Not Release in which case you may not discuss this student’s record with this relation.

  • If the page says “No student authorized accounts” then the student has not granted or denied any relation access to his/her education records, in which case you may not discuss this student’s records with any third party.

New ClipDirectory Restrict

The “Directory Restrict” column only appears when at least one student on the class roster has a submitted a request to restrict the release of their directory information.

  • If you don’t see the column on your class roster, then no student in the class has a directory restriction.

  • If at least one student has restricted the release of their directory information, then a blue shade icon will be visible next to the student with a directory restriction. You may click the blue shade icon Blue Shade for further details on directory information.
Click on the Search button to look up a specific student. The student’s name will appear next to the search button.

  • For any student with a directory restriction, a blue shade Blue Shade icon will appear under the student’s name. If the blue shade icon is not visible for a student, then that student does not have a directory restriction. You may click the blue shade Blue Shade icon for further details.

  • To view a student’s Release of Education Records:

    • In the “Student Details” drop-down box, select item “Release of Education Records” and click the “change” button.

    • If the page displays one or more relations, then for every person listed there will be either:

      • A list of the areas of access the student has granted to this relation. Areas of access that a student can grant include Financial Aid, Holds, All Disciplinary Records, Student Financials, and Academic Records. If “Academic Records” is listed then you may discuss this student’s academic record and performance with this person.

      • Or, Do Not Release in which case you may not discuss this student’s record with this relation.

    • If the page says “No student authorized accounts” then no relation of the student has been granted access, in which case you may not discuss this student’s records with any third party.

For “Faculty Center” tutorials including class rosters and New/Drop-in Advisees, please click here.



There are three different locations where you can now find details of the Release of Education Records.

1. Relationships

Campus Community > Personal Information > Biographical > Relationships> Relationships

  • You may search by Student ID or Student First Name and Last Name

  • Or you may search by the Relation ID or Relation First Name and Last Name

In the results page, you will get a list of all relations defined for the student. Clicking on each individual relation will open up that specific relation’s page. Towards the bottom of the "Relationships" page, you will find “Release Type” field which will indicate the kind of release the student has on file regarding his or her education records. This field can have the following values:

    The student has released some of their education records to this relation. You must click on the “View Student Authorized Access” link (under the “Stdnt Rec Release Type” field) to be able to see the areas authorized by student for this relation. This is the default value. Do not release student data to this relation. No value is the same as “Not Declared – Do Not Release”. This can be a default value. Do not release student data to this relation. The student has specifically stated not to release data to this relation.
2. Release of Education Records – By Relation

my.SMU > SMU Custom Programs > SMU Student Life > Release of Education Records > Inquire > View Releases by Relation

  • You may search by Relation ID, Relation First Name, and Relation Last Name

  • Or you can search by the Student’s ID

    The results page will show the relation’s name along the top, the student ID and name, and list the areas of access granted to that specific relation. If the search yields no results, then no areas of access have been authorized to that specific relation and hence no information should be released.

3. Release of Education Records – By Student

my.SMU > SMU Custom Programs > SMU Student Life > Release of Education Records > Inquire > View Releases by Relation

  • You may search by Student ID, Student First Name, and Student Last Name

  • Or you can search by the Relation’s ID

    The results page will show the student’s name along the top, and a list of the relations that the student has granted access to for their education records. Clicking on each relation in the list will display the Relation ID and name, and list the areas of access granted. If the search yields no results, then no areas of access have been authorized to that specific relation and hence no information should be released.

4. Understanding Areas of Access

A student may grant one or all areas of access, which grant the following to the relation:

Financial Aid

  1. View financial aid awarded and accepted within my.SMU,

  2. Discuss financial aid situation with SMU Officials.

Holds

  1. View all holds applied to student within my.SMU,

  2. Discuss Holds, including why the Hold was placed and how to remove it, with the administering Southern Methodist University business office.

All Disciplinary Records

  1. Discuss all of your Disciplinary Records/Information with the Student Conduct and Community Standards Office.

  2. You may choose to grant partial access to your Disciplinary Records, by not selecting the All Disciplinary check box but instead by submitting a form to the Student Conduct and Community Standards Office in Hughes Trigg Student Center room 302. See student Instructions page on the FERPA website.

Student Financials

  1. View account balances and Campus Essentials selections within my.SMU,

  2. Discuss account balances and Campus Essentials with SMU Officials.

Academic Records

  1. View class enrollments, grades, and unofficial transcript within my.SMU,

  2. Discuss student Academic Records (including class enrollments, grades, degree progress, class performance, and academic advising) with Southern Methodist University faculty, staff, and academic advisors.

To learn more about these areas of access please consult the owning office, listed here:
www.smu.edu/LegalDisclosures/FERPA/EduRecords

If you still have questions, please forward them to Enrollment Services at enrol_serv@smu.edu or call 214-768-3417 or 800-323-0672.