Online Parent/Guest Access to Student Records: Putting Students in Charge

1. Online Parent/Guest Access to Student Records:Putting Students in Charge Angela Lynn Western Illinois University 2011 IACRAO Conference

2. Options for Accessing Student Records • STARS: Students access their University records online using their WIU ID number and password. • Affidavit of Dependency: Taxpayer submits affidavit along with proof showing student was claimed as a dependent on most recent tax forms. Valid for one year. • Authorization to Release Information: Student identifies the information to be released and to whom it may be released. Student’s signature must be notarized.

3. Need for a Better Option • There was a significant increase in the use of the Student Authorization to Release Information Form. • University wanted a more user-friendly way for parents/guests to have access to authorized student records. • Major Goals • Students – To authorize access to their records. • Parents – To have access to the records in an easy format. • University – To provide a mechanism for access with limited intervention by officials.

4. Development Process • Registrar’s Office coordinated with Billing and Receivables and Financial Aid to create a system that covered the primary screens of each office. • Access to the student’s records would be completely controlled by the student. • No administrative mechanism to allow offices to confirm whether or not the student had set up or activated an account. • Implemented in Summer 2007.

5. Details of the System • Student may grant online access to records to multiple guests (maximum of 5) by selecting Parent and Guest Account Management from the STARS menu. • Student may provide different levels of access to STARS account information for each guest. • Student identifies “name” for guest.

6. Details of the System • When student creates a guest account, a WIU ID Number and Password is assigned. • The student is responsible for communicating the login information to the guest. • Parent and Guest Access to STARS is the University’s preferred method for parents to access information about their students.

7. Problem Statement • Growing interest in tuition-and-fee stability in an unpredictable economic environment, more colleges and universities are implementing cost guarantees (FinAid, 2007; Kim, 2004). • Concerns were expressed regarding the values and merits of a cost guarantee (Morphew, 2007). • No study has attempted to examine the impact of a cost guarantee.

8. Purpose of the Study • The primary purpose of this study is to investigate how the Cost Guarantee program impacts student enrollment, retention, and graduation in a comprehensive public university. • This study also examined how the Cost Guarantee influenced annual college attendance cost.

9. Purpose of the Study

10. Research Questions 1. Did the Cost Guarantee policy make the university competitive in attendance cost, compared to other public universities in the state? 2. Did the Cost Guarantee policy increase student enrollment? 3. Did the Cost Guarantee policy improve student outcomes, particularly retention and graduation rates?

11. Methodology • Data Collection • Secondary data set • Trends data for cost of attendance, new freshmen enrollment, retention, and graduation rates of 12 Illinois public universities • From IBHE Data Book and IPEDS Peer Analysis System and CSRDE reports • Data Analysis • Descriptive statistics

12. Question 1. Did the Cost Guarantee policy make the university competitive in attendance cost, compared to other public universities in the state?

13. Table 1-2 Room & Board-Illinois Public Universities

14. Table 1-3 Total Tuition, Fees, Room & Board

15. Table 1-3 Total Tuition, Fees, Room & Board

16. Results and Findings: (Question 1) • Results confirmed that the cost guarantee program helped the university become more competitive in attendance cost compared to other public universities within the same state after the policy implementation. • FY2004 and FY2005, the university’s second, third and fourth year students were paying the lowest tuition rates of Illinois public universities.

17. Question 2. Did the Cost Guarantee policy increase student enrollment?

18. Additional Handouts • Table 2-1. Number of Enrollments at Illinois Public Universities: Fall 1992-Fall 2006 (in Handout) • Table 2-2. Annual Enrollment Change (%) (in Handout) • Table 2-3. Annual Enrollment Change Rank (in Handout)

19. Lessons Learned • There was a stronger demand for the system than expected. • In Fall 2007, there were 1,734 active guest accounts set up by 1,417 students. • By Fall 2010, there were 6,484 active guest accounts. • There are currently 8,443 active guest accounts for 6,740 students. • Over 53% of our current student population has set up at least one guest account.

20. Lessons Learned • Offices could not verify if student had provided access to specific records and had no information on the guest. • If there were problems with an account, we could not see a history of what occurred. • The system was not as user-friendly as it could be, especially the add/update process. • Parents thought they needed both STARS access and an authorization form signed by the student to speak with offices.

21. Lessons Learned • Despite the new system, there continued to be an increase in the use of the Student Authorization to Release Information form.

22. Determining Revisions • Coordinated with the same offices again. • Decided to not create changes so significant that current users would be required to reactivate their guest accounts. • Moved the “Add” function to the end of the screen selection process. • Added a disclosure statement. • Organized selections by functional area. • Built in an audit trail.

23. Question 3. Did the Cost Guarantee policy improve student outcomes, particularly retention and graduation rates?

24. Conclusions • Changes are in the programming queue. • Goal is to implement by Summer 2012. • Will notify users of changes through email, news release, and message on STARS. • Re-evaluate revisions again after the new screen has been rolled out.