Reply to College professors and faculty- do you ever have to deal with undergrad parents?

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "College professors and faculty- do you ever have to deal with undergrad parents?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]Senior administrator at a large, top ranked research university here,

Oh my yes. The over-involvement of parents is actually very concerning. It’s disturbing. I fear students graduate without any opportunity for academic struggle (the healthy kind), any self reflection on what they’re passionate about career wise (not their parents), and little to no examples of the power of their own initiative and effort. I’ve actually seen this very recently in an amazingly bright young student and it saddens me, honestly.

You wouldn’t believe the parent stories from the administration building. Contacting top admins about class formats and schedules, angry and basically wanting to speak to a ‘manager’ bout why their student can’t get into a major, why we don’t offer a pathway that the parent is seeking, and we see them on fb all encouraging one another to get their kids to waive ferpa so helicopters can get into grades, when assignments are due, when advising appointments are, etc.

(And let me be clear. We are completely here to receive to be alerted by anything egregious to ensure the health and wellness of our students and of course there are so many important reasons why the university has a accommodation processes and related care pathways for students. I’m not talking about that. 90% of the parental involvement with administration has nothing to do with any of these important matters. )

To the helicopter parents, treating your college students like 4th graders, you are robbing your children of a great, self-discovering and enlightening college experience that they should cherish for all of its benefits. Plus they’re in a supportive environment. They won’t get that again. You’re paying for that experience, right? Alternatively other students they interact with are taking on debt for that. Stop ruining it for your kid and others. I won’t even get into the knots that our advisers and faculty stomachs get twisted into based on completely unnecessary parental intervention for undergraduate students.

Parents love their kids. I’m a parent too! Focus on helping your child get ready to take greatest advantage of the college experience and yes hold us accountable for offering a top ranked, top notch academic environment. But back off your kids. They’re our future. Let them grow.

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics