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.