The Background

Hello!  This is Whitney from the University of Cincinnati where we have experienced unprecedented growth over the last twenty years fueled by athletic success (including a move to the Big XII Conference) and nationally ranked programs, such as our #1 co-op program. In the last ten years, we became a Carnegie Classified residential campus with demand for housing dramatically outnumbering our number of beds. A larger student body means they need more resources, more housing, more classes, more everything. And, it means more families, too! It was time for Parent & Family Programs (PFP) to get creative in meeting their needs.

In the 1980s, pop group Sister Sledge came out with a chart-topping single “We Are Family”. The song became an unofficial gay anthem, played and enthusiastically danced to in clubs catering to LGBTQIA+ populations (although, at the time, “gay” and sometimes “lesbian” were the only commonly used descriptors). The phrase, “...so, are they family?” became insider code to help identify community members. 



Since fall 2017, the UCLA Parent & Family Association (PFA) has produced Bruin Family Insights (BFI), a program exploring topics important to college parents and families. BFI’s original iteration was a successful monthly, hour-long YouTube Live program. During the 2019-20 academic year, however, there was a significant decrease in program engagement and the series became more difficult to produce. With university podcasts gaining momentum and the 2020 PFA Annual Survey showing that about 70% of respondents had at least some interest in podcasts, our team sensed an opportunity to engage families through a new medium; thus, BFI 2.0 – the podcast! – was born.

As family program professionals, we often talk about engaging families in supporting their students’ mental health, and I can only imagine these types of interactions with families have increased during the pandemic. We might be working with campus partners and family members to figure out how to best support a student. We may even be tangentially navigating a family member’s mental health. We go to trainings and sessions on how to support students and their families. We read articles and consult with mental health professionals. But how often do we talk about our own mental health? How often are we taking time to make sure we are filling up our cup before we are helping others fill their own?

What's in a name? As so many of our institutions have been closely examining what equity, belonging and inclusion means on our campuses, the AHEPPP Task Force deliberately chose its name.

Equity is a practice that understands that not all people need exactly the same resources (i.e. equality).  You may have seen the popular drawing (courtesy of Interaction Institute for Social Change” that simply demonstrates the difference between equity and equality. Equity is what the Task Force is striving for in AHEPPP; not that everyone gets the same resources, but that resources meet the needs of the membership and by extension, our students and families.

Why isn’t “access” included in the name?  The Task Force chose the term “belonging”, as the term access does not go far enough.  It is not enough to give our members access to our organization if they cannot utilize the resources.  Similarly, on our campuses, it is not enough for a student from a minority community to gain access to the college through admission.  True belonging indicates that the student gains admission and intentionally has access to the support they will need to be successful. 

As the only association dedicated to student success through informed parent and family engagement, AHEPPP is proud to endorse College Ready: Expert Advice for Parents to Simplify the College Transition. This parent resource written entirely by AHEPPP members.

I don't know about you, but I love finding new (and free) technology that can help me be more productive, work better with my team, and help me in the long and short term. In our current global pandemic, technology has become more necessary than ever before as we navigate a new world of virtual meetings and working remotely. While I began using all three products before the pandemic began, each has been an invaluable tool as our digital needs increase.