A wave good-bye from their freshman's house fellow on move-in day is not the last time mom and dad will hear from UW-Madison. Say hello to the university's brand new online-based parent program.
The new program will award parents a more direct connection with the university as they said they wanted in a UW-Madison survey sampling a random group of parents who attended Student Orientation and Registration in summer 2005.
""Parents were very, very pleased with their interactions with the university from the campus visit process and through orientation, but then after they felt like they dropped off the map,"" said Nancy Sandhu, assistant director of Visitor & Information Programs and coordinator of the Parent Program.
However, parents certainly have not lost touch with their college students. Thirty-one percent of students —nearly one in three—talk to their parents daily, and 71 percent—nearly three in four—speak to them two to three times per week, according to a 2007 nationwide survey by College Parents of America.
Still, while parents and students bond over classes, dorms and friends, Sandhu said many felt they were left in the dark by the university over dates, information and advice.
The newly crafted UW-Madison Parent Program looks to solve these problems.
It will debut this summer online at www.parent.wisc.edu. The site will serve as a central component, or hub, and will include general information about academics, health and safety, student involvement opportunities, suggestions for care packages and information about the transition process for first year students. Parents will also be able to find key dates and timely reminders.
""What we're trying to do is put all of it in one place so that they can easily see it or easily link to it from the website,"" Sandhu said.
Additional services in the UW Parent Program include a newsletter available by mail or e-mail and a Parent Hotline and E-mail Service for personalized answers from a Parent Program staff member at 877-262-3977 and parent@uwmad.wisc.edu.
Sandu also underscored that the website is a direct response to what parents wanted.
""The university has started this program because parents are more involved. We're not here to create more involvement, or to perpetuate helicopter parents—this program is here to really help parents be involved in appropriate and effective ways,"" she said.
UW-Madison parents are not the first ones to gravitate toward online and cell phone communication.
A Big Ten university of comparable size, the University of Minnesota, has had an online parent center since the mid 1990s. Marjorie Savage, who runs the program, said the website has adapted to new technology and feedback from bi-annual surveys.
""We learned early on that parents of college students tend to be early adapters of technology,"" Savage said. ""When new technology came available and we knew students were using it, we thought of ways for parents to use it as well, for example, a year ago we started doing podcasts.
The UW-Madison Parent Program will expand to all parents in the future, but for now, Sandu said it will focus on capturing parents of first year students.
Sandhu and colleagues will introduce the program during SOAR and encourage parents to fill out sign-up cards for newsletters and e-mails. In addition, fliers will be mailed home and Parent Program staff members will be visible during dorm move-in days this August.
