Parents

Helping with the next step

Moving out of the home for college can be both daunting and exciting for students. At IU Housing, we want to partner with parents to facilitate the student transition to independent living. Living on campus at IU Bloomington puts students close to academic resources both inside and outside of their residential buildings. Living on campus also allows students to engage in more extracurricular activities on campus and provides safe environments to foster personal development and new relationships. Help us make IU a second home for all our new Hoosiers!

Parent Access

Make sure you’ve got the right access! For security reasons, only students are allowed to access their own IU accounts. This means that parents, friends, and partners are not permitted to use a student’s ID and/or password. 

Know the appropriate means of access when it comes to handling payments, issues, or resources for housing at IU. 

eProxy

Students can give third-party authorization to perform tasks, including adding I-BUCKS or co-signing housing contracts for applicants under 18. Students who are younger than 18 must set up eProxy for their parent/guardian in order to complete their housing contract. Students must enter the same email address in the fee payment section that is used to set up their parent’s guest account.

IU guest account

As non-students, parents can create a guest account at IU with limited access to applications. A guest account is needed for the eProxy system; any guest account created to use with eProxy will need to be set up with the same email address entered by the student in the housing application process.

GradGuard(* See External Links Notification section below)

Learn about an insurance alternative to cover students without affecting parents’ premiums.

FERPA and Information Rights

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that protects personal information in education records. Students have sole rights over their information and must sign a specific waiver for that information to be released to a third party.

What does this mean?

IU offices and staff cannot legally share a student’s information with a third party—even parents—unless specific waivers have been signed. Protected information includes, but is not limited to class information, disciplinary records, evaluations, financial records, GPA, grades, social security number, and transcripts.

At IU Housing, we cannot share information about housing and dining records of applicants or residents with third parties without written consent of the applicant or resident. Students who wish to share access to their housing and dining plan information (including related billing information) can authorize chosen third parties in the RPS Emergency Contact Information module.

Mailing and Care Packages

Care packages and mail from home are some of the best parts of on-campus living. Address all mail to residents as: 

 

 

  • Resident’s name 
  • Resident’s room/apartment number 
  • Residence hall/apartment building street address 

 

Care package with address example. John Doe 501 North Jordan Ave, #4 Bloomington, IN 47406

Building addresses can be found on each location page of our website. Packages are delivered to each residence hall’s center desk for pick-up.

When putting together care packages, be aware of what is allowed in the residence halls and what is allowed in packages sent by the U.S. Postal Service. Items prohibited by IU Housing include halogen lights, hot plates, incense, and incense burners. Consult our Prohibited Items list for more information. Fireworks and combustible liquids are prohibited both in IU Housing locations and in USPS mail. Cosmetic items containing alcohol (e.g., nail polish or perfume) and medications may have mailing restrictions. For more information, visit the United States Postal Service Shipping Restrictions page. (* See External Links Notification section below)