Parents & Family

Academic FAQs

In order for my student to continue his health insurance through my employee coverage, the insurance company wants proof that he is enrolled full time. Also, my auto insurance company needs proof of his grade point average so that we can keep his "good student discount." Where do we get that proof?

Students can download the form from the Office of Financial Aid and Registrar website. 

On the web page, under the photo is a link to "forms".  Under the Registrar's forms is a link to the Acrobat Adobe file titled "Request for Certification".  Your student will need to sign the form.

Students can also pick up a copy of the in the Student Assistance Center, 21 Solon Campus Center.

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My student received good grades last semester, and he was invited to join an honorary society. The invitation to join says that he must pay a membership fee. Is this group legitimate? Is it worth joining if he has to pay?

In terms of assessing whether it's worthwhile for your student to join any group, our recommendation is to ask your student to consider why he or she wants to join the group and whether this group will meet your student's reason for joining. For most students, the reasons for participating in an organization are to share a particular interest, to meet like-minded students, and to advance personal or career knowledge and opportunities.

In general, it may not be beneficial to have the name of an organization on a resume unless the student can also say that he or she participated in some ACTIVE way. That participation might be serving as an officer, playing a role in planning or organizing events, or making a contribution to the development of the group through a committee.

Students sometimes believe that having a list of memberships on their resume will improve their chances when they apply for a job or for graduate school. Employers and graduate schools will be impressed with a good grade point average, and they will want evidence of how students contributed to the organizations to which they belonged. They will want to know what students learned from their activities.

Some groups suggest that membership in an honorary society helps in getting scholarships-the most important factors in receiving departmental and academic scholarships are grade point average, evidence of involvement, and the recommendation of a professor or an academic adviser. Advisers usually know about a range of scholarship opportunities; professors are likely to hear about the scholarships offered by their department.

The best suggestion for determining the value of any group would be for your student to get in touch with the person listed as the contact to find out what the group does and how your student feels about the person or people leading the organization. If the contact person can talk about planned activities and the organization's goals, see if they fit your student's interests.

You can find out if a group is a registered student organization on the University of Minnesota Duluth campus by checking the Student Activities Office's list of registered student groups. 

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How can I obtain a copy of my student's grades?

The easiest way for you to receive a copy of your student's grades, current financial information, and other student information is for your student to look up his or her student records is from the Current Student website.  Students can print the information from the website and pass it on to you.

The University is prohibited from releasing certain information to parents without permission of the student. By federal law (The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, FERPA, also known as the Buckley Amendment), students over the age of 18 are considered responsible and are allowed to determine who will receive information about them.  Students can sign a release form to give parents access to protected information.  Having the release form on file does not mean that reports will automatically be mailed to parents or other authorized designees; information will be made available upon request from the authorized third party.

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How many credits does a student need to be registered for to be considered a full-time student?

*Exception: Students must be enrolled for 15 credits to receive the full Minnesota State Grant. Students enrolled for less than 15 credits will receive a prorated award. Students who are delinquent in paying child support or in default on a SELF loan are ineligible for a Minnesota State Grant.

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My student is not doing well academically. How can I help?

Students, particularly freshmen, can encounter academic difficulties. First year students often face difficult transitions and adjustments to college, including separating from family members, adjusting to new living arrangements, and accommodating the University's higher academic standards.

Students are encouraged to find someone to talk to on campus.  Resources include the Student Affairs office for their collegiate unit, the First Year Experience Office, Health Services or their academic advisor.

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How can my student buy course books before classes start?

Students may buy course books at the UMD Bookstore or online from their website any time after registering for classes, as long as the instructor has identified the required textbooks.

To determine textbook needs, students can log-on to http://www.umdstores.com/ and follow the links to buy textbooks. Students may print this listing and bring it to the bookstores to shop for their books, or they may purchase them online by selecting the books they wish to order.

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My daughter is a freshman in the Labovitz School of Business and Economics (LSBE), but she has decided she really wants to teach elementary students.   She doesn't want to talk to her adviser, because the adviser is in LSBE and she thinks he wants her to stay there.Who can she talk to?

This is a question that comes up fairly often when students want to change majors. Students worry that advisers will be disappointed or upset about a proposed change in majors. In fact, most advisers understand that goals can change as students go through the educational process. Like most of us here at UMD, they want students to succeed, not just graduate. Your daughter should not hesitate to talk to her adviser, but in this case she may want to talk first with a counselor about career assessment.

Within the colleges that make up UMD, advisers are assigned a variety of roles and functions, from monitoring academic progress and helping pick a major, to working up a schedule that meets the student's needs and the college's requirements and making sure that the student is moving toward graduation. In any case, students need to keep in touch with this very important person throughout their academic career.

Career counselors, on the other hand, offer help with the big picture of life planning and career development through exploration of abilities, skills, and interests. They operate outside the administrative lines of the college. Career counselors do not sign off on registration or petition forms. They may help with picking a major or course as part of a career decision-making process. They will also help your student come to a decision regarding which college or post-secondary option fits best. Contacts between a counselor and a client are confidential (except for some rare instances that aren't important to this subject). Career counselors will share information with a college or department only on the signed consent of the client.  Career counseling at UMD Career Services is free to students. Your daughter might want to review her interests, skills, and values before changing to the College of Education and Human Service Professions (CEHSP).  If she does indeed want to change majors she simply needs to file a change of college form.  The form is available in the Student Assistance Center, 21 Solon Campus Center.

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What is the role of a student advisor? 

All students are assigned an academic advisor and are encouraged to meet with him or her each semester before they register.  An academic advisor is a faculty member from within the student's choice of major (i.e. Biology professor if student is a Biology major, etc), or a professional advisor from within the collegiate unit.  The academic advisor will review the student's current schedule, encourage students to explore interests, help the student with major selection, relate degree requirements to interests/majors, and assist them in making course selections for spring semester.  Students should contact their advisor to see whether they need to sign up for an appointment or whether he/she is holding advisement office hours.  In some cases students, will have an advisement hold on their record, which will prevent them from registering without meeting with their academic advisor.

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