studiomom

Oberlin needs a parent listserve! A small group of parents seem to use this site to communicate with one another about all of the intricacies of helping their children (or themselves) navigate the college. It would be so helpful to expand this dialogue to the larger parent body as I am sure very few look at College Confidential once their kids actualy enroll. Do you think Oberlin would have an interest in setting this up through the school's parent program? My older daughter's college Wesleyan has a wonderful parent listserve which Oberlin could look out as a model. Parents exchange information on far-reaching topics from simple logistics such as travel and insurance to broader topics such as transitioning to "real" life beyond school, etc. Just this past May there was horrendous murder at Wesleyan and the listserve became a lifeline for parents to learn what was actually transpiring and how we could best help our children cope from afar. It also became a tremendous resource for parents to brainstorm together which lead to the establishment of a scholarship in the student's honor, thanking the local police department and establishing anti-violence educational resources. Has a parent listserve been discussed at Oberlin?

ElizabethHouston

Studiomom, a parent listserve at Oberlin has not been discussed--thank you for your suggestion! We are looking into expanding our resources for parents, and will consider adding a listserve.

Is there any interest from other parents in an Oberlin parent listserve?

Plainsman

What is a listserve?

studiomom

At other colleges, it is a parents e-mail list. At my other daughter's college it is called "ParentsTalk". Once you become part of the e-mail community, you would be able to easily communicate directly with other Oberlin parents who choose to participate. The ParentsTalk list is an electronic bulletin board which allows subscribers to post e-mail messages to the list address. It is an ideal forum in which to ask questions and share experiences with other parents. Typically all parents of first-year, transferring and continuing students may elect to participate. While administration and faculty may read posted messages, the list is used primarily by and for parents of current students. As with College Confidential, parents do not identify themselves by name in order to protect the privacy of their children. Subscribers receive a daily digest via email of the topics posted and the messages. Various guidelines for use are established by the college Office of Parent Programs. It would have some similarities to how CC is used, but it would be available to a much wider spectrum of interested Oberlin parents and it is a very nice way to form/build community.

SJTH

I think this would be a nice way to share logistics--things like where to stay for parents' weekend, graduation planning, how to get your kid from airport to Oberlin etc. I wish I had access to more of that kind of info for my older son at another college.

ElizabethHouston

UPDATE--I just found out that a parent listserve has been discussed extensively in a different office on campus. My source tells me that it's not likely to happen any time soon, but I don't know the full story as to the whys or why nots.

studiomom

Too bad. It is a great resource at other similar colleges.

quaere

I wonder how hard it would be to start an informal parent list and publicize it through sites like CC. I know there's an unofficial alumni listserv that's quite active (in addition to everything the alumni office organizes).