Further Information for Parents/Guardians

Many parents/guardians of current and upcoming My Place students have a lot of questions, and that's okay! College is a time of transition for the support systems of students, as well. Here you can find some commonly asked questions regarding the My Place Program, including the specific types of supports that we are able to provide.

• Can you help me check my student's grades?

  No. It is their own responsibility to check their grades on D2L, where grades are posted by most professors; it is also their responsibility to share them with you, if they choose to do so. If you have delegated access on MyKu, grades are not posted there until they are finalized, about a week after the semester is over. We will work with your student to make sure that they know how to check their grades, as well as making sure they know how and where to hand in assignments and access their exams.  

• Can I be included in emails sent to my student?

  No, this is a breach of FERPA. It is between you and your student to discuss how much information, if any, they want to share with you. It is not appropriate for us to include outside recipients for messages regarding students that we work with, plus sending FERPA-related information to non-KU email addresses goes against campus policy. Offices outside of the DSO, professors, academic advisors, etc., are also not going to include you in their emails. This should be a conversation between you and your student, deciding if there are emails that need to be shared with you.  

• Should I reach out to my student’s professor/advisor if I think there is a problem?

  No. Faculty are less likely to respond to a parent email, and they need to hear the concern from the student in order to discuss it. They adhere to the same FERPA laws as the rest of the college and will also not share grades or course information with outside recipients. If your student has a concern with a class, either help them write an email to their faculty from their KU email, or have them bring the concern to their mentor and write the email there.  

• Can I (the parent) contact my student’s mentor?

  No. All of our mentors are graduate students who are still working to earn their degrees. It is inappropriate for them to be in contact with student parents since they are not university staff. They are trained to work with the students as mentors, discussing academics, social skills, and executive functioning skills. If you have something that you want your student to share with their mentor, it is the responsibility of the student to bring it up during a meeting. The mentors should also not be asked to contact doctors, therapists, counselors, etc., as that is also not appropriate given their job description and student status.  

• Can you tell me if my student is attending My Place activities?

  No, this is also their responsibility, as it is their responsibility to remember to attend them. With the number of ways that students can supplement their hours and different ways that students can check in with us, we do not have a final attendance count until it’s time to put together progress reports at midterms and finals. If we notice a decrease in a student’s participation, it becomes a topic of discussion for their next one-on-one meeting.  

  However, if we notice that we have not heard from a student or seen them at any of our events, we will do our best to contact them and make sure that they are doing okay.  

• Can you tell me if my student is attending class?

  No, I do not have access to this information beyond what your student is sharing with us. If they are missing a lot of classes, there is a chance that some professors will give them a flag on Starfish, a new student tracking portal, but that does not happen automatically.  

• When should I reach out to you?

  There are a few different scenarios where it’s appropriate to reach out to me, especially if your student is worried/anxious about bringing up a concern with their mentor. Some of these situations include: 

  • If you or your student feel as if they are not receiving their approved accommodations in a class 

  • If your student is uncomfortable with their assigned mentor / does not feel comfortable working with them  
  • If your student has expressed a concern about another student in the program that is affecting their ability or desire to attend our activities  
  • If they are home sick or in the hospital and have not been well enough to check their email to fill us in on their situation, then please let us know so we can outreach to professors. 

  Lastly, if there is a concern regarding your student’s safety or wellbeing, please let us know about it. If you are worried about their mental health or wellbeing, or have not heard from them for a few days and it concerns you for their safety, feel free to let us know. In this case, we will reach out to housing to conduct a “welfare check” on the student in their dorm room. For more urgent mental health concerns, while we would also like to be notified so we can be aware, your first call should be to KU’s Public Safety, since that would be who we would call anyway. Their emergency number is 610-683-4001.