May Post: Summer Activities for Parents -- Orientation, etc.

As the semester winds down and we say goodbye to some of our students, most of us are also gearing up to welcome new students and families to campus!

Some institutions offer a separate “parent track” at summer orientation, and others choose to keep students and parents together for certain sessions.
What specific orientation programs/sessions have been successful at your institution?
Are there some that were unsuccessful?
Are there other summer activities planned to incorporate parents and families into your campus community? Specific mailings, intentional contacts or events?

April Post: FERPA Myths and Truth

FERPA -- a term we all use frequently in conversation with one another, and with the parents of our college students. But do we really understand and interpret it correctly?

In the April 18 print edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education, Steven J. McDonald addresses seven myths and the truth about FERPA.

Click here to access the article online: http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i32/32a05301.htm

If you do not have access to a Chronicle subscription, please email Laura Page at pagel@missouri.edu and the article text will be sent to you electronically.

Enjoy the read and please post questions or responses afterwards!

March Post: Parent Advisory Councils/Boards

Most institutions have chosen to involve parents through some type of advisory group. However, the structure of these groups differ from campus to campus.

If you currently: 1) work with a parent group 2) are creating a parent group, or 3) are interested in restructuring, please provide feedback on the following questions.

1. How do you promote serving on the council/board to parents? How do parents "apply"?

2. How often do you meet and what does the group do throughout the year?

3. How do you balance the board socioeconomically, so ALL parents feel their input is welcome, while also increasing fundraising among parents & families? Basically, is your board primarily based on parent feedback/sharing or development, or both?

February Post: Parent Involvement Wanted

With so much talk about parent involvement on college campuses, let’s finally hear from the students.

According to the annual survey of college freshmen, recently released by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles, most students are happy with the "hovering": http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/01/24/frosh

Are you surprised by the data?

Is this reflective of what you see on your respective campuses?

Please share your reactions to the article!

January Post: Communicating with Parents

On your campus, what "works" in regards to parent communication?

How do you intially collect parent contact information (admissions, orientation, other)?

Are you sending hard-copy publications only?
Have you moved completely to electronic formats? Or...are you using a mix of both?

How did you determine what communication methods to use, the frequency, content, etc?

Positive Parental Involvement

The most recent NSSE report found students who reported more campus engagement and experienced a higher level of satisfaction with college positively correlated with their parents’ frequent interventions on campus. However, the report did note these interventions did not positively correlate with higher grade point averages.

Given the realities of our work and the information in this study what are your thoughts on the following question?

What are some of ways parents are successfully engaged on your campus?

Please post your comments.

November Post: Is In Consortio Cum Parentibus the New In Loco Parentis?

Gavin Henning (2007) Is In Consortio Cum Parentibus the New In Loco Parentis?, http://publications.naspa.org/naspajournal/vol44/iss3/art9