Requesting student records

How to request student misconduct records related to academic program admissions decisions, professional licensing or certain privileges like study abroad and on-campus employment.


Academic and nonacademic misconduct records are protected by the Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA) and may only be released to individuals/offices with a legitimate educational need-to-know or by written release from the student subject.

Requesting your record

Some schools require a “Dean’s Certification” or “Dean’s Letter” as part of the application process. Its main purpose is to report on your student conduct record (nonacademic and academic misconduct). Consistent with federal law, current students, former students, and alumni have the right to inspect their disciplinary files.

For those with access to MyUW

If you need access to your disciplinary file and/or need a Dean’s letter/certification sent on your behalf, submit a request online. If you need help, email the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards.

Our office attempts to fulfill requests within three business days (excluding administrative closures). We encourage you to plan ahead to make sure you meet your application deadlines.

For those who do not have access to MyUW

If you need access to your disciplinary file and/or need a Dean’s letter/certification sent on your behalf, please schedule a 15-minute appointment (phone or in-person) with any OSCCS professional staff member.

The purpose of this appointment is to verify your identity and to obtain information about the request. After this conversation, the conduct staff member will complete any follow-up related to that appointment.

Requesting a student's records

UW–Madison partners

Faculty and staff at UW–Madison may also request student misconduct records. Per FERPA rules, these records may only be released to individuals/offices with a legitimate educational need or by written release from the student.

Contact the OSCCS office with questions about records that might be pertinent to your work on campus.

To request access: Instructions for UW-Madison partners.

Partners outside of the university

If you need information about a current or former UW–Madison student, please have that student fill out a Dean’s Certification request, which will be submitted directly to your university.

Instructions for UW–Madison partners

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1. Set up a Box folder

Create a folder or use a pre-existing folder on Box at uwmadison.box.com.

We recommend the following:

  • Include at least one other staff member from your unit as an editor for the folder.
  • Each unit should use one folder for records requests. For example, contain all study abroad programs for the School of Business within one folder. Admissions information for the School of Business majors would be contained within a separate folder.
  • If your department does all student hiring at once, use multiple roster sheets to receive differentiated lists of records. Otherwise, all student records will be returned on one sheet.

2. Identify the records being requested

First:
Use the provided spreadsheet and  provide relevant student identifiers. At a minimum we need first and last name and the ten digit campus/student ID number added to the Roster tab.

Download the Student Conduct Record spreadsheet (xlsx)

Then:
Upload the completed document to the Box folder. You may rename this file to suit your needs.

3. Share your folder

Share the folder with Erin Lacey elacey@wisc.edu, giving them “editor” permissions.

4. Email the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards

Email: conduct@studentaffairs.wisc.edu.

Use the subject line: OSCCS records request.

In the body of your email include:

  • the purpose of the records check
  • the campus department requesting the information
  • and the type of information requested.
  • Generally, we provide incident dates, findings (policy violations responsible or not responsible), sanctions issued, and incomplete or pending sanctions, if applicable, as you can see on the spreadsheet. We will also include notes about specific cases that may be of concern from our office’s perspective. Please let us know in the email if additional information is desired.
  • Include the deadline for the records check(s) including if you need final checks before departure dates or final admissions decisions (e.g. for programs with rolling admissions). Please provide at least 5 business days lead time for our office to complete our checks.

5. Email confirmation and results

The Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards will email you when we have completed the records check and updated the spreadsheet in Box, or if we have additional questions about the request.

Contact

Student Conduct and Community Standards Contacts

How can we help?

Email us at:
conduct@studentaffairs.wisc.edu

Phone:
608-263-5701

Fax:
608-265-4656

Line art image of Bascom Hall at the University of Wisconsin–Madison

Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards
724 W. Johnson Street
Madison, WI 53715


Office Hours
Monday-Friday: 8:00am - 4:30pm

After Hours Contacts

Crisis response:
Call Mental Health Services
608-265-5600 (option 9)
Emergencies:
Dial 911 for immediate help from the
UW Police Department
UWPD Non-emergency line: 608-264-2677