Parent’s Role in First Year
Using parents as tools to aid
in the First Year Transition
Leslie Gloor Duncan –
The University of Western Ontario
Outline for Presentation
Background
Programs Offered
Discussion Topics
Background
The University of Western Ontario
(UWO) has decided that instead of
combat the involvement of parents in
the first year transition, we can use
parents as catalysts of information
Each summer UWO offers a
transitional program – Summer
Academic Orientation (SAO)
Parent participation in the program has
increased over the last 4 years.
In 2002 we saw approximately 4100
students and about 2800 parents
In 2003 we saw approximately 4400 first
year students and about 3600 parents
We anticipate parent involvement to
continue for the next number of years
Programs
The Centre for New
Students at UWO
coordinates with
other campus
partners to
offer the following
programs:
Recruitment
Presentations
Summer Academic
Orientation (SAO)
Parent Orientation
at SAO
SAO Manual
Parent
PurpleCircles Site
Recruitment Presentations
Our Undergraduate Recruitment office
travels for 11 weeks in the autumn
Normally the Liaison Office coordinates
parent information sessions with
schools and school districts
Parent sessions and University Fairs are
one of the first contacts with parents of
potential university students
Summer Academic
Orientation
SAO runs each summer for 9
weeks
Typically it begins in mid - June and
runs until mid – August
The SAO program is the first
welcome to first year students and
their guests (usually parents)
Goals of Parent Orientation
Validate the parents’ feelings
Address concerns
Educate parents about the university
adjustment
Inform parents of university policies,
procedures and resources
Build trust by putting a face on the
university
Allow parents time to relax and reflect
Parent Orientation
The parent program starts at 9:00 am each
day and runs until approximately 2:30 pm
Parents receive information about student
services on campus (Housing, CFNS, SDC,
SHS, Libraries, Budgeting and Fees)
They are given an SAO Handbook
They attend a workshop on talking to their
student about transitional issues and in
groups they discuss their expectations of
the University
SAO Handbook
The SAO handbook is a resource
guide that is given to students and
parents
The book lists all services to
students and is a tool that can be
used not only in a student’s first
year at university but throughout
their entire undergraduate career.
Parent PurpleCircles
We have introduced an online
interactive community for parents
The website has a discussion area,
an area to post files, images, web
resources and important dates.
Presently we have 390 parents who
are connected through this site
Parent PurpleCircles
Discussions began in September when
students were arriving on campus and
parents were sharing their mixed
emotions of sadness and excitement to
each other
The discussions then led into residence
questions, recommended books, holiday
gift giving ideas and more recently
registering for year two
Parent PurpleCircles
The site has been an excellent addition to
what can sometimes be an information gap
In reviewing page statistics September was
the busiest month for page views with
5489, November was second busiest with
4497 and January was third busiest with
3041.
So far there have been 20,000 page views
since September.
If you would like to preview the site
you can visit:
http://purplecircles.uwo.ca/parents
Discussion
Is anyone doing anything that is
unique and very successful for
parents? If so, please share.
When do we draw the line?
How much is too much?
Conclusion
Parents are more
involved in their
student’s life
Working in Student
Services, we need
to balance the
needs of the
student and the
needs of the parent
Our first priority is
the students!