Presenters Betsy Chapman, Director of Parent Programs at Wake Forest University, and Daphne Rankin, Associate Vice Provost for Strategic Enrollment Management at Virginia Commonwealth University, encouraged attendees at their AACRAO Annual Meeting session to establish partnerships with today’s parents. Both schools have dedicated parent functions as part of their communications efforts with families.
“We’ve found that parents want a way to be that helicopter parent, be involved, know what’s going on, but do it in a way that isn’t interfering with their kids,” Chapman said.
In addition to an e-newsletter, Wake Forest offers a website and blog for parents. These efforts came after a 2012 campus survey found that parents talked to their children daily or at least two to three times per week. The institution began thinking about how it could positively influence those conversations, Chapman said. The website offers parent information targeted to first-year and other parents as well as campus news and events. The “Daily Deac Parent” blog highlights interesting people on campus, such as counselors, as well as stories about campus life. The goal, Chapman said, is to ensure parents feel satisfied with their child’s education, provide good word of mouth to other families and potential students, and become donors.
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At VCU, parents are engaged through a new student and family orientation program as well as a semester-long course for first-year parents called “Beyond Orientation: Partnering for Success in Today’s University.” The orientation program provides workshops to help families adjust and an opportunity for parents to share experiences and meet campus faculty and staff. There, parents are given a take-home magnet with a “helpline” contact number for any questions that arise after orientation, as well as a calendar that displays student events and activities throughout the year as well as tips for connecting with their children based on what is happening their academic life. The orientation is followed by a mid-semester family weekend.
The online course, which is in its second year, is a discussion-based class facilitated by VCU faculty and staff. Course discussion topics such as financial literacy, local and global community engagement, safety, stress and wellness, student learning, networking, digital literacy, research and writing, and career planning. “The goal of this course is student success,” Rankin said.
“The more you can communicate with and engage parents, the greater potential for positive outcomes,” Chapman added.
Download session handouts here.