Through the Proxy Access Portal, a student at PennWest can provide parents/guardian/spouse/other with access to their University records, such as financial aid, billing information, grades, schedules and transfer credit details, amongst other items.
In addition, as part of the Proxy set-up, PennWest students will establish a FERPA passphrase, which the parent or other must use to confirm their identity when calling a University office regarding the student's records.
A student’s rights are protected under FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. Therefore, the student sets the permissions for Proxy Access and may restrict the information that a parent or other is able to access and revoke access at any time. Visit the FERPA page for more information.
At PennWest, you have the option to create proxy accounts for any trusted individual you wish to have access to your student records. Those you give access to may set up an account for Proxy Access via myPennWest.
Access need only be granted once, but as the student your educational record is your own and you are able to determine the length of time that you wish to grant proxy access to other individuals.
Proxy access allows individuals you identify to access and review parts of your student account that you wish to share with them. It does not allow someone to act on your behalf. This means, someone set up as your proxy cannot make registration changes for you, or withdraw you from courses or from the university.
How to set up Proxy access: Listed below are 3 sections of steps to permit access.
1. Sign in to your myPennWest account.
2. In the box labeled Student Quick Access, click “Student Self-Service”.
3. Click the Waffle in the top left corner of the page (cluster of boxes to the left of the campus logos).
4. In the drop-down menu, click “Banner” and then “Personal Information”.
5. Then click “Proxy Access and Management”.
6. From the Proxy Management page, click “Add New” in the far-right corner.
7. On the Proxy Information page, enter the first, last name and email address of the individual you would like to allow for Proxy Access. Use the drop-down “relationship” menu to select their relationship type, and the “description” box to write their specific relationship to you.
8. Write a “passphrase” for this individual. The Passphrase is a special word or phrase this individual will provide to faculty or staff when requesting to discuss your student records.
9. Under the “Authorizations” heading, check/uncheck the boxes to select the record items you will authorize this individual to access. You may select individual items or select all. Click “Submit” when you are finished.
10. Once you have clicked “Submit” and returned to the main “Proxy Management” screen, click on the blue pencil icon below the individual you just added.
*NOTE* You can delete an individual from being a Proxy by selecting the blue trashcan icon to the right of the pencil
11. Under the Proxy Information, click “Email Passphrase” located under the Passphrase box. The individual you have added will now have received all the emails necessary to finish setting up/access their account.
12. You may now log out of your account, or repeat these steps to add another individual for Proxy Access.
You will now need the first individual you added to access their email and complete the following steps…
1. Once the PennWest student has created your Proxy Account, you should receive 2 emails from Registrar@pennwest.edu. One includes a hyperlink and directions for activating your account, the other contains a temporary login password.
2. Open the email with the subject “PennWest – New Proxy Account.” Read the email and then click the included hyperlink.
3. Next, open the email with the subject “Action Required – Proxy Account.” Use the “copy” function to copy the temporary password provided (highlighted in yellow).
4. Now return to previously opened hyperlink page. Use the “paste” function to paste the temporary password you previously copied into the box labelled, “initial password.” Then click “Submit”,
5. On the next screen, enter your email address, the initial password from the email, and a new password of your choosing. (Your password must be 8 characters, and should include a mix of letters, numbers, and special characters.) When you have filled all the boxes, click “Submit”.
6. After changing your password, you will be prompted to enter your username (the email address you have been using) and your new password.
7. Once you have signed in, complete all your Proxy Personal Information. All required profile fields are marked with an asterisk (*). You will need to include information under the headings “Personal Details,” “Contact,” “Address,” and “Other Info” if you choose to. Once you are finished, click “Submit”.
8. You now have access to your Proxy Account.
9. Use the drop-down box next to your student’s name to view any student records they have allowed you to access.
While the Proxy access set up is designed for access to student academic records, if you desire to allow additional users access to the bill related to registration there is a slightly different set up, albeit with similar approaches.
Access to TouchNet allows users to access to the student bill and payments, however, to contact the institution regarding the student account, users must also have Proxy access as outlined above.
How to find out if a student gave a parent/guardian/other access to their student records?
There are two paths:
For those staff, department chairs, department clericals with BANNER Client access:
For those faculty with Starfish Access:
For Starfish questions, email Starfish@pennwest.edu
