Comments presented in this section of WebHopper will generally be viewable by all members of the faculty and staff community, so the comments should be used to record information and interactions that would be appropriate for the AC community to see and help provide a more global view of this student’s interactions with the AC community. This is also a FERPA-protected record, but students and government officials can ask to see or subpoena this information, so only factual information, actions taken, referrals, etc. related to helping a student maintain attendance and graduate from Austin College should be recorded here.
WHAT TO DO:
- Record the facts only. Do not record your interpretation of a situation but rather what the student said…what you said…referrals you made to what department or person…instructions you gave (you can speak generally like, “Explained to the student how to drop this class”)…what documents were turned…actions you took as a result of the conversation, etc.
- Be concise. You do not have create a lengthy account or transcript of everything that occurred in a given encounter with a student unless it was a difficult encounter and the detail may be important for potential future review. For instance, if you referred the student to the Health Center and Student Life you could type, “Referrals – Health Center, Student Life.” If you explained to a student the steps for declaring a major and minor, you could type, “explained how to declare major and minor,” rather than each of the steps individually.
- Fill in all fields on the screen to meet proper reporting standards.
- Record parent conversations here to document that you spoke with a parent related to this student, that you generally shared the FERPA regulations in what you can and cannot share, and the general procedure or policy related to the situation or how to continue the conversation meeting FERPA guidelines and waivers.
e.g., parent calls to ask why her student is enrolled in a particular course and has concerns if it is the proper course. Comments would reflect the interaction in this manner:
Katherine Kangaroo – mother of Katie – called to ask why student was enrolled in BIOL 115, because WebHopper says that it will not count as a science breadth requirement. Explained FERPA and that cannot share specific information about the student. Explained generally that BIOL 115 is a course taken by pre-med students and biology majors and that notation was so that students did not get it confused with other types of science courses. Encouraged parent to talk with student and how to obtain a FERPA Release of Information at the Registrar’s Office if needed further information. Encouraged parent to recommend that student talk with mentor if concerned.
WHAT NOT TO DO:
- Do not share overly personal information. If a student discloses a highly personal issue such as a sexual assault, mental and medical disorders (HIPPAA protected), mom and dad divorcing, etc., document generalities, such as “student shared highly personal information to contextualize the stress he is experiencing,” or “student reported having an illness” followed by the appropriate referrals made, appropriate college contacts that you reported the need-to-know details to, etc.
- Do not document your “impressions” of their behavior. If a student comes to you with obvious emotional displays that you may interpret as “anger” or “being upset,” indicate instead the behavioral markers that the student is expressing, such as “the student was crying,” “the student raised his voice,” “the student was red in the face, “ etc. If the student appeared to be under the influence of intoxicating or illegal substances, you can share the “student’s eyes were glassy,” “the student smelled of alcohol,” “the student was slow to comprehend,” etc.
- Do not enter a record for another person and enter that person as the author in the Author field. The person entering the material into WebHopper must be documented as the “Author.” If instructed to enter the record on behalf of someone else like your supervisor, enter your name as the author in the Author field and make a comment in the text field that, “this record was submitted on behalf of….”
- Do not use abbreviations that members of the AC community will not understand.
- Do not record the name of any other students in your comments. Any other students mentioned in comments should be referred to in generalities like, “a friend” “a CI” “tutor”, etc.
Instructor/Professor Comments: Further Considerations
Student Remarks provides functionality that allows the faculty to record comments related to the students in their courses, mentees, and advisees. You should be aware that these remarks are considered a part of the students’ official academic records and other faculty and selected staff will be able to view these comments for years to come. More consideration would need to be taken in the comments made in the Student Remarks record in comparison to the Midterm Concern Reports which are not a part of students’ official records. Comments made in the Student Remarks section should be used to document facts and directives.
The Midterm Concern Report is not part of the official record, and in Midterm Concern Reports, it is important to provide all information including your sense of issues that may be affecting a student’s performance. For instance, in the Midterm Concern Report, you do want to comment on the fact that a particular student is not attending class or turning in homework in their freshman class as those comments help a select few campus professionals provide immediate interventions and are not a part of the student’s permanent academic record. However, a comment like that in the Student Remarks may bias future faculty teaching this student. That is not to say that Student Remarks does not have an important role to play in documenting interactions with a student. Student Remarks is an excellent place to record that you referred a student to a service on campus to help with an academic skill related to your class or requirements for completion of an incomplete, or other agreements with the student that are factual and situation-specific in nature and could serve to hold you and the student accountable to a verbal agreement.