Student Record Services for Family Members

Office of the University Registrar (“OUR”) adheres to high standards to safeguard student records governed under applicable privacy laws, including the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (“FERPA”) (also known as “the Buckley Amendment”). FERPA is a federal law that protects the privacy of, and access to, student education records.

Students' parents, guardian, or support system (family members) play such an important role in our students’ success. We want you to know that we value your partnership and that we look forward to working together to help your student succeed. Temple University expects all students to follow the Student Code of Conduct, adhere to academic policies and process, and be respectful and truthful in their engagement with the University staff.

Extenuating Circumstances

If you become aware that your student is experiencing extenuating circumstances, please contact the CARE Team immediately. Temple University’s CARE Team is a multidisciplinary body of stakeholders from across the university which receives referrals pertaining to students exhibiting behaviors that arouse concern, collects additional information, and then identifies and enacts appropriate strategies for addressing the situation.

Policies and Process

Most, if not all, university policies and processes exist to satisfy regulatory requirements emanating from numerous state, federal, and accreditation agencies. In some cases, this places significant restrictions on our ability to be flexible. If your student is requesting a policy exception, here is a general expectation:

The request for a policy exception should be based on an extenuating circumstance.
Documentary evidence should be provided to support the extenuating circumstance.
The argument for considering an exception should explain why the normal process was not followed.
Submitting a petition does not imply a favorable outcome.

Privacy and Confidentiality

As required by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974, Temple University cannot disclose a student's non-directory education records without the written consent of a student or without proof that the student is the tax dependent of the parent. A student must designate a parent or family member as a FERPA-waived contact for a University official to disclose academic information. To designate a FERPA-wavied contact, your student should follow these steps:

Log into TUportal.
Click on the Student Tools tab..
In the Records Channel, click on FERPA Waiver Menu.
Click on FERPA Contacts to add or remove a contact.

Requesting student records or documents

If academic records or related documents for your students are required for legal reasons, you may consult the Office of University Counsel. For all other reasons, please have your student request their records to be sent to you directly.

Communication from the University

Your student will receive many emails from the University with information that may be of interest. Regardless, we suggest paying very close attention to emails because it is our official method of communication. We hold students accountable for reading the important emails and taking action as required.

Student Financial Services

Pay attention to emails from Student Financial Services. They will communicate very important information about financial aid, scholarships, work-study, filing deadlines, and workshop or other events.

Bursar

The Office of the Bursar will communicate when bills are available, late payment details, and other information related to billing.

Registrar and Advising

The Office of the University Registrar and your student's academic advisor will communicate information related registration, grading, graduation, petition decisions, and other information relevant to enrollment at the University.

What is some basic information I should know about my student's enrollment at Temple University?

Registration

Undergradaue and graduate students can register for courses using the self-service method or with assistance from an advisor or program coordinator.

Students may not attend a course section for which they are not officially registered.
Students have access to their roster in TUportal and are responsible for making sure they are in the correct course section.
Your student must drop or withdraw from a course if they do not intend to complete the course. If not, they will earn a final grade that will remain on their transcript.
Your student may contact their academic advisor for assiatance if they are not able to add, drop, or withdraw from a course on their own.
Your student may submit an excused withdrawal petition if the term could not be completed due to an extenuating circumstances.

Grades

Final grades are reported for your student within 72 hours after the last day of courses or final exams at the University.

For a course that is not graded within 72 hour, the course will be marked with a MG (Missing Grade) notion which will be updated by the course instructor at a later time.
As members of the community, your student is responsible for adhering to the principles of academic honesty and integrity.
Your student may request an Incomplete for a course if they have completed the majority of the work for the course at a passing level and other conditions are met.
If your student would like to contest a final grade reported for the course, the academic advising office can assist with the grade grievance process.

Academic Plans

Each student pursing a degree program will have to meet the requirements for that degree program as outlined in the Bulletin.

Academic plans are tied to the academic year for which the requirements were established. For example, if your student was first enrolled at Temple in Fall 2018, then your student will have to follow the program requirements effective Fall 2018.
If your student cannot meet the academic program requirements, they may be required to change to another program.
Upon changing programs, your student will follow the most current program requirements. For example, if your student was originally enrolled in program A under Fall 2019 requirements but switched to program B in Fall 2021, your student would follow the requirements effective Fall 2021 for the new program. All earned credits from the previous program will remain on the transcript, but some may not be applicable to the new program.

Graduation

Students enrolled in a degree-program, such as a Certificate, Bachelor, Master, Doctoral or professional degree, should apply to graduate when they become degree-eligible. Your student should regularly meet with their academic advisors to ensure academic program requirements are being met.

Temple University issues digital diplomas to all graduates. Print diplomas are delivered when requested.
The name appearing on the diploma will be your student's legal name.
Latin Honors are an indication of high academic acheivement and are awarded at graduation based on estimation procedures that are intended to yield 2% Summa Cum Laude ("with highest distinction"), 5% Magna Cum Laude ("with great distinction"), and 9% Cum Laude ("with distinction") awards for baccalaureate recipients from each Temple University school and college.
Graduates and their family and friends are invited to participate in all Commencement and school/college graduation activities. Commencement signifies the culmination of a student's academic achievement.

How do I contact the Office of the University Registrar?

We eliminated direct email contact because of excessive spam and the need to validate the identity of the person contacting. Before contacting us, please know the following.

Review the topics posted on our website to learn how your student can access record services.
Your student can view the Activity Log which contains a history of selected academic record transactions.
If inquiring about access to academic records, ask your student to setup Proxy Access for you.
Be sure to have your student's 9-digit TUid (e.g., 912345678). It will be required to review your student's record and to validate your identity.
Temple University should have your email address in our records for verification purpose.
Check with your student to confirm your information we have in our records.
You must be listed as FERPA waived contact in our records.

Family members can connect with the Office of the University Registrar using the online contact form.

Other Information

Stay involved with your student’s Temple experience by joining the Parent & Family Experience Portal. You’ll receive access to essential campus news and deadlines through personalized newsletters and announcements via email.

The Parent & Family Experience Portal is separate from Proxy Access and FERPA-waived contacts.

Office of the University Registrar