I will be the first to admit that I was not sure a family council was the correct course for Ohio State. How do you structure a group when you are trying to make it representative of over 45,000 undergraduate students’ families? Even if we can structure it appropriately, could we provide the level of staffing needed to support it? When our Parent and Family Relations Office was restructured in 2009, the question of having a family council or advisory board was a point of debate. The new office, with a renewed focus on fundraising, created the Parents Advancement Council (PAC), which has a focus on family engagement around fundraising and advancement. Beyond the specific work of the PAC, it was decided that dedicating resources into engaging all families versus concentrating resources into a selective family “advisory” council was the appropriate course of action. With a single staff member leading programming and communications for all families and an additional staff member leading fundraising and advancement efforts, this made strategic sense. For over 10 years the office found remarkable success providing communication and programming for all families while continuing to build on successes in family fundraising and advancement, WITHOUT a specific family advisory board. 

We are fast approaching that time of year when we begin welcoming and onboarding new students and their families. In the world of family engagement, this can mean that we are deep in planning out our communication strategies or are planning events like family orientation and family weekend. As we continue planning and implementing our initiatives, it’s important to take a pause to ensure that our approach is inclusive and welcoming to all members of our community. One way to do this is to utilize gender inclusive strategies in how we communicate to families and how we implement events. 

Preparing our families for New Student Orientation is a full-time endeavor. From preparing programming to working on communications – parents are at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Besides, the parents are the ones who decide the date to bring the student to campus. They are the ones who ask the hard questions – what’s advising like? What will my student need to be successful? How will my student be able to juggle this class with his/her obligation to the band? Etc. 

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.

When we think of school volunteers, many of us immediately envision PTA-style bake sales and booster clubs. While the enthusiasm is the same, the role of a college parent volunteer is, by its nature, a different experience. At Emerson College, we have a Family Ambassador program of approximately 16 members. The program has worked well and maintains appropriate boundaries for the needs of our campus of 4,400 undergraduates.

During the academic year, I struggle to make time for “learning” in the sense of professional development. What I have started to do, to address this gap, is create a folder on my desktop of reports or research projects I want to read in the summer. Even with orientation commitments, I am better able to block off a little time in my schedule to advance my knowledge of the work we do but reading about the great work and research of others.

Our students are stressed more than ever before. Families preparing their students to attend college have a variety of books and other media to provide advice and practical information about their student's transition and how to help them prepare. As higher education has turned to a greater focus on mental health and wellness, families also want to understand how they can help prepare their students and help if something goes wrong. The Stressed Years of Their Lives by B. Janet Hibbs and Anthony Rostain provides knowledge and advice for families as they prepare for college and their student's college career.