Parental Notification Policy

Federal law protects the confidentiality of student records and specifies the limited situations in which information from educational records may be given out without a student’s prior consent. Yale regards its students as responsible adults, capable of managing their own lives and seeking guidance when necessary. Thus, Yale’s policy is that disclosure of information to parents except in extraordinary circumstances is limited to information concerning a student’s enrollment at the University. See the website of the Yale University Registrar’s Office for additional information.

Cases in which Yale would, in extraordinary circumstances, notify parents or guardians cannot in the nature of things be completely enumerated or described, but it is, for example, the judgment of Yale Summer Session that a serious injury to a student, or a violent crime committed upon a student, is a sufficiently grave occurrence as to constitute extraordinary circumstances. Yale Summer Session, therefore, as a matter of general policy, may notify parents or guardians of such events. In addition, Yale Summer Session may judge that parents or guardians should be notified concerning the existence of serious concerns about or threats to a student’s health, either physical or emotional. Although in most such instances students will be encouraged themselves to inform their parents or guardians, the University reserves the right to notify parents or guardians directly and/or to ensure that they have been satisfactorily informed. Yale Summer Session will notify parents or guardians if a student living in the Yale Summer Session Summer Colleges is involuntarily removed from campus housing for disciplinary or other reasons. Similarly, Yale Summer Session will notify parents or guardians if a student on a Yale Summer Session Program Abroad is involuntarily removed from the program. For students under the age of 18, Yale Summer Session reserves the right to notify parents or guardians of concerns about a student’s behavior, conduct, or well-being generally or as related to the Yale Summer Session academic, residential, or disciplinary regulations.

Yale Summer Session recognizes, however, that special circumstances might cause a student to believe that notification of parents or guardians would be undesirable or inappropriate. In such a case, the Dean of International and Summer Programs for Yale College or their designee will discuss the matter carefully with the student, and as appropriate will consult the Yale College Dean’s Office, Yale Health, or the Office of the General Counsel. In certain individual instances, Yale Summer Session may then conclude that it is not in the student’s best interest that parental notification take place, and in that event an exception to the general policy will be made.