The right to know

Most parents of college students get plenty of campus-related information -- newsletters, solicitations, the inevitable bills. But if the student fails a slew of courses, attempts suicide or is hospitalized after a drinking binge, mom and dad may be kept in the dark.

A case in point is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, target of a $27 million lawsuit by parents who say they should have been warned of their daughter's worsening mental health before she committed suicide in 2000.

Charles Vest, MIT president, said the school felt obligated to protect the confidentiality of the student's medical records.

Other schools, like the University of Delaware, notify parents of every alcohol and drug infraction, and administrators there say violations have dropped markedly.

Dr. Irene Ferguson, dean of students at Southeast Missouri State, said Southeast does not practice parent notification of any type unless there are unusual circumstances where a student is in physical danger.

"It's a tough call when students come to college," Ferguson said. "It's the beginning of your adult years and adult experience. But unless the student gives us authorization, we do not disclose their records. We encourage the students to take responsibility for themselves."

Who's paying the bills

Some Southeast students said they believe parents have a right to know about grades as long as they're paying tuition.

"I think if the parents are paying the bills, they have a right to know," said Eric Niswonger, a freshman. "If the student is paying the bills, I don't think it's the parents' business then. I think they have a right to know how their kid is doing and should be able to access grades and stuff like that."

Jessica Braddock, a sophomore, agreed almost to a word.

Freshman Erin Gryzmala said she thought midterm grades should be sent to parents.

"At least if they know by then, they'll have time to act," Gryzmala said. "I guess if the student is putting himself or herself through college, I think they're responsible for their own actions."

Gryzmala said she wouldn't be in favor of notifying parents for discipline reasons on the first offense.

"But if it's going to jeopardize a scholarship of if you're about to get kicked out of school, your parents should be notified of that," she said.

Marla Gianino, a freshman, had a slightly different take.

She said she thought parents should be notified of discipline or academic problems the first year of college.

"But once you're past your freshman year and you know how things work and you know what responsibilities you have, I think you should be on your own," she said. "A lot of people make mistakes their freshmen year."

Law amended in 1998

Under a 1974 federal privacy act, most colleges stopped notifying parents about the academic, disciplinary and health problems of their children.

Congress amended the law in 1998 to specify that administrators could tell parents about alcohol and drug offenses committed by students under 21. Since then, scores of colleges have adopted notification policies, often despite opposition from student government bodies.

While some colleges' notification policies seem aimed at reducing vulnerability to lawsuits, Delaware's motivation was to curb heavy drinking, said John Bishop, Delaware's vice president for counseling and student development.

"Our students now tell anyone who asks that the 'party school' reputation no longer applies," Bishop said. "Some are mourning the loss ... but we're getting more applications from better students than ever before."

Delaware is praised as an exception to the norm by Jeffrey Levy, who became an advocate for parental notification after his son, Jonathan, died in a 1997 drunk-driving accident while attending Radford University in Virginia. Levy learned only after the crash that Jonathan had several run-ins with school officials for drinking violations.

Though pleased that notification policies are spreading, Levy says implementation is often halfhearted. "It's a sham," he said. "The students are confident no one will call their parents."

While Delaware made about 1,400 notifications in the first year of its policy, other schools consider notification a last resort.

Bill Riley, dean of students at the University of Illinois, said only about 10 families were contacted during the first year of a new policy calling for notification if an infraction jeopardizes someone's health or safety. The policy is designed as a tool to combat substance abuse, not as a punitive measure, Riley said.

'Resist this urge'

Critics of parental notification include the Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. Its executive director, Thor Halvorssen, says colleges have been too hasty in undermining student privacy.

"Notification policies send a message that infantilizes young adults," Halvorssen said. "Their contemporaries in the military or in factories, they're adults, but students aren't? We've got to resist this urge that students must be supervised."

Montana State University is among the still-sizable group of schools without a notification policy.

"Individual autonomy rules here," said Jim Mitchell, student health director at the Bozeman, Mont., campus. "Students are held accountable, but they're treated as adults."

Mitchell also said colleges may misunderstand family dynamics.

"You can't assume the relationship is always wonderful," he said.

Staff writer Bob Miller contributed to this report.