Student Policies

Double Majors across Multiple Colleges (or, Dual Degrees)

The University of Minnesota's policy dictates that a student with a double major in multiple colleges (e.g., CLA & CSOM) are mapped to the college they were originally admitted to.  This means that the original college is the sole system label that appears inside of Handshake.  A student's secondary college does not have a system label or appear inside of Handshake (i.e., any major declared after the first major).

• This UMN policy may impact student access to closed fairs and events.  The workaround is to use the "invite students" option inside of Handshake.  To learn how to invite students, check out this How to Invite Students to an Event Handshake article.

FERPA Policy:

Federal law, state law, and regents' policy govern access to student records. The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the State of Minnesota Data Practices Act form the backdrop for the University's policies on access to student records.  To view, the full policy go to: https://www.asr.umn.edu/training-and-support/ferpa-resources

• The purpose of FERPA is to protect the records and the rights of students and alumni. Students and alumni Handshake users are able to opt into a feature that allows employers to view their resume, however they are also able to suppress this in their Handshake account. Users are asked this question within the profile section of their account. 

• All new employees to the U of M with access to private student information, are required to complete the FERPA tutorial. This must be completed before you login to your Handshake administrative account for the first time.  Consult with your supervisor for further direction.

• At no time should you ever give out information regarding a Handshake student record to an outside party. 

JOB OFFER RENEGE (revoking acceptance of a job offer)

Accepting a position, whether for full-time employment or an internship, is a commitment. It is unprofessional to renege on an offer, and once you have accepted an offer, either verbally or in writing, you have committed to the job and organization. At this point, you should cease all interview and negotiation activities with other organizations.

If you, a UMN student, decides to renege on an offer, whether the position was found through college supported activities or not, there is a necessary follow-up process. You must meet with  staff from your career service office to discuss the following:

• Your decision and the implications for your professional reputation.

• The impact your decision has on your college and the University of Minnesota (i.e., impact your decision has on the University’s ability to maintain partnerships with the said organization).

Failure to schedule this meeting or call within one week of notification will result in the deactivation of your Handshake account and other on-campus recruiting activities.

Contact your career services office for specifics.

On Campus Interview - No Show Policy

Students may reschedule or cancel an OCI without penalty up to 2 business days in advance. 

• To reschedule or cancel an interview 1 to 2 business days in advance, students must call the career center the hosting career service office directly.  

• Canceling an interview less than 1 business day in advance or failing to appear for a scheduled interview (a no-show) is a violation of the on-campus interview policy.  The students' accounts should be deactivated until they send an apology letter per specific instructions from the career office that hosted the interviews. Failure to submit an apology letter within the specified timeline will result in the cancellation of any other previously scheduled interviews, and being blocked from using Handshake.  

• To achieve a student account follow the steps in the OCI - No Show Archive Student Account Process. 

• For your reference, Student & Alumni are able to view this policy on our website: https://career.umn.edu/resources/handshake-student-and-alumni-policies/, the title of this policy is Cancellation/No-Show Policy. Read through it to be clear on how Career Services has written it for our external stakeholders. 

Students Access

• Handshake is available to all degree-seeking (Certificate, Associates, Bachelors, Graduate, and Professional) students, PSEO students, and alumni at the University of MN (from all campuses i.e. Twin Cities, Rochester, Morris, Duluth, and Crookston):

  • NOTE - Handshake is also available to Postdoctoral Fellows in a traineeship who are not classified as an employee.  They should usually have one of three academic plan codes associated with their employer ID: 071800008, 0041PRD18, or 0718PRD08.

• Students do not need to be full time to have access to Handshake.

• Alumni - alum have access indefinitely

Obtain Access: Students who meet the above criteria obtain access to Handshake within a few business days of registering and beginning courses.  Within the first week of a semester qualified students will have access to Handshake.  

Students Who do NOT have access to Handshake:  

• Non-degree seeking students

• Newly admitted students who have not yet registered for their first classes

• Students who are unenrolled for 2 academic semesters that did NOT graduate.

• Postdoctoral associates are technically U of MN employees, and as such, do not have access to Handshake.

For your reference, Student & Alumni are able to view this policy on our website: https://career.umn.edu/resources/handshake-student-and-alumni-policies/. Read through it to be clear on how Career Services has written it for our external stakeholders. 

University of Minnesota Student/Alumni User Agreement

In addition to Handshake’s student/alumni user agreement, the university has the University of Minnesota Student/Alumni User Agreement posted on career.umn.edu.