MANKATO, Minn.
State law prevents college and university officials from telling parents when their children get into minor trouble with drugs and alcohol on campus. After several deaths in 2007, those officials want to change the law.
“When the families don’t know about it and we can’t tell them about it, they can’t be part of the solution,” said Minnesota State University, Mankato, President Richard Davenport.
There have been unsuccessful attempts in the past to loosen the Data Practices Act to allow for parental notification, but the push this year comes with an urgency brought on by the four alcohol-related deaths on Minnesota campuses of current of former students.
Under the current law, school officials cannot notify parents when their child is caught with beer in a dorm room, or cited for underage drinking or possession of marijuana. Such information is considered “educational data” and protected from disclosure.
Currently, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, or MnSCU, schools are allowed to contact parents only in cases where there is a health or safety emergency or if students have signed a waiver.
However, many college students, who are nearly all legally adults, prefer the law as it is. The Minnesota State University Student Association doesn’t have a formal position on the proposed change.
