<p>My student’s university NEVER sends any communications/mailings/information to parents except appeals for money every three months or so and the semi annual bills for tuition and fees. When a female student was robbed and sexually assaulted on campus the only way I found out was through the student newspaper. When move out date was changed to a week earlier again the only way I knew was from reading the student newspaper.</p>
<p>So, what have been the experience of other parents with communication from the university their student attends? What is considered “normal”?</p>
<p>D attends our state’s large flagship U. Everything is done over the web, including bills for tuition. Parents have to sign up for certain stuff – I receive the “campus.watch” police report everyday, for example, which includes any robberies or assaults. I think I can even sign up to receive weekly menus.</p>
<p>However, I did receive a very personal phone call from a student back in October…asking for money, of course.</p>
<p>Both kids go/went to big state u’s. All we get is the tution bills emailed to us twice a year.<br>
I got a call from a univ. office secretary once saying S1’s lost wallet had been found.</p>
<p>My college never sent my parents anything except the bill and occasionally a glossy mailer about donating to the college. My grade report was online and only I could access it with my password and username. If I got a good news announcement like Dean’s List it would be sent to my home, but would be addressed to me, same with college magazines. Parents could sign up to receive campus safety alerts and some of them signed up to receive the college newspaper electronically, but otherwise it was all communication with the student. </p>
<p>That’s pretty normal considering privacy laws with 18 year olds who are legally adults. It’s important to maintain open communication with your child so that you can help them stay on top of any academic problems that pop up, bu don’t expect a lot of communication from the college. In that way it’s very different from high school. They’re not going to send a note home to the parents.</p>
<p>We get web online newsletters. written specifically for the parents at my sons SUNY (state U) and my other sons private U. Both are excellent at keeping us informed.</p>
<p>We also get regular mail from both schools and are very happy with the communication.</p>
<p>Not much…even the bill arrives at the house in my son’s name. We do get a parent newsletter once or twice a year and of course the annual fund raising letter. Typically the athletic department does a first semester exam care packages as a fundraiser and we get that solicitation. Not sure what else I would need to know. Grades and stuff are not “shared” with parents, of course. Oh we got a letter this year about what the college was doing about H1N1. Occasionally I’ll get on the college website and see what’s happening on campus and in the area, but other than not virtually no "chat/news’ type information comes to us.</p>
<p>We get the semster bills and a quarterly (?) parents newsletter, though that may be going electronic (pdf emailed) for cost reasons. I read the campus newspaper on-line, but that is pull not push. I think there is a way to sign up to have it emailed to you.</p>
<p>Got a phone message once from the town police department. I called back all worried about what had happened to DS. Turns out they had his cell phone (seems like a common story).</p>
<p>You shouldn’t expect anything to you personally. Even when still 16 all college matters were dealt with directly by our son and the flagship U. No access to grades etc, even for a minor. None of his college applications had room for our permission, either. The school dealt with parents directly during summer orientation in parents’ sessions- we were given ways to find things out and told many things our children wouldn’t know or want to tell us. The school has a relationship with your child, not you. Parents need to realize their child has separated from them in this- a new experience but necessary. Private schools probably do more as they want you to keep paying the bills that allow your child to attend their institution- good will. </p>
<p>They send mailings “to the parents of —” on occasion. These have been requests for donations (an appeal by student parents to give to the libaries), private places for buying graduation announcements et al (ever since he got senior standing semesters ago, they want business and figure parents may pay for things students won’t think of). Parents can sign up to get information for parents online. Also dorm study treats around exam time/ birthday cake options from organizations to parents of. Before they switched to purely electronic billing son’s tuition bill was sent to his home address by his choice, we knew that was a piece of his mail we could open. I think parents as well as students got a letter with how their student could set them up with the ability to see the bill and pay tuition online recently- again to parents of. The only reason we get any mail from the U is likely because son has designated us in the role on some online form we are not privy to.</p>
<p>D’s first year, the school sent regular (maybe 6ish times during the year) emails to freshmen parents giving some info about the students lives in general at that point (“it’s mid-way through the first quarter! Your student will be having to schedule for classes in the next week. Be sure to listen as they may need some guidance as they pick classes…” or “Students will be leaving the campus for holiday break in a few days - remember that it’s often hard to go back home and adjust to life at home after life at school…blah, blah, blah”) That kind of stuff. I actually thought it was nice. Not preachy, just kind of walking us through the first year as well.</p>
<p>Now I get once a week-ish online newsletters. I signed up to receive them. Just summarizes what’s happening on campus. The bills come to our email as well because D signed up to have us notified as well as her.</p>
<p>I get an newsletter sporadically(once or twice a year). Every quarter there’s a note asking if I want to buy a care package for finals week that they prepare. Once or twice a year there’s a phone call when they check the emergency notification system. There’s a yearly fund raising letter. The tuition bills go to the student, but they can opt to also have it sent to parents or others. June 2009 parents received an email from the mental health center letting us know about two suicides on campus and asking that we check in our with our student and telling us a bit about their plans to create a safety net. Since DS is now a senior, I understand I’ll be getting a letter in May with graduation details.</p>
<p>If you want to know what’s going on…read the college website. We do get letters from DD’s school…we got one about their H1N1 protocol in the fall. We got one when the new president of the U was appointed. We don’t even get written bills…they come online. Even solicitations for money come by phone.</p>
<p>NOW…as an alum…I get a ton of mail from my alma mater. So does DS. There are periodic alumni magazines…and FREQUENT solicitations for money. I have to say…I donate to my alma mater every year…so I don’t mind that mail. </p>
<p>DH dropped out of a college. You would think he is a development admit given all the mail we get from them! It’s impossible to get OFF of their mailing lists once you’re on them.</p>
<p>Similar to abasket, I get regular parent e-mails with info pertinent to move-in, breaks, housing apps, snow cancellations, campus events, news of departments, student projects, and sometimes letters from the president of the univ. I signed up for these through the office of parent services.</p>
<p>The only communication we receive from the DD’s institute is from online tuition pay monthly statements and donation request from alumni organization since they think paying $50K is not sufficient and would like to squeeze more from the hard working parent.</p>
<p>Emails that a new bill is posted on-line; an every-other-month or so newsletter (online) from the parents organization, and random mailers from companies who would like to sell dorm linens, the university housing office encouraging parents to encourage students to choose on-campus living arrangements, and begging letters.</p>
<p>But google news can be your friend too: put the school name into the news search. At the bottom of the first page of news results, google will offer you the option of “Add a Custom Section for XYZ University to Google News” – and then whenever you go to google news (which I do several times a day) – the XYZ section is there and if anything looks interesting I can go fishing for more.</p>
<p>Every once and awhile I will get a newsletter via email, but I check out the website a lot, read the blogs and the school newspaper. Other than that, son get the bill mailed to him here at home. He received the bill marked “paid” for second semester in his stocking at Christmas. </p>
<p>I get the whole “their on their own” theory, but son is rather incommunicative and basically, I just like to keep tabs on the budget, burgeoning issues, athletics, etc. I hear about classes and professors, maybe a friend of two if I am lucky. So there is no way I’d get the stuff I am interested in out of him! So this works.</p>
<p>wis75 says:
The school has a relationship with your child, not you. Parents need to realize their child has separated from them in this- a new experience but necessary. Private schools probably do more as they want you to keep paying the bills that allow your child to attend their institution- good will. </p>
<p>My student does attend a private school and they do less than the state schools to which many posters refer. I have signed up for the police news and the parents newsletter which arrives every quarter/semester and is nothing but a puff piece for the administration. I also read the student newsletter on line. The academic calendar is incomplete and to find move in and move out dates I have to search through their website.</p>
<p>Even when a student was murdered off campus I never received any notification, letter from the university/president, etc. I had to find out the details from the student newsletter. No details from the police news as the murder was off campus.</p>
<p>All of the responses have gotten me thinking - if the school’s relationship is only with the student and the institution considers the student a legal entity in their own right at 18 years of age then why do they want to consider the student a financial dependent of their parent/s. I had not thought about this before, but why do institutions consider parent income for an expected Family contribution; the value of the parents home (CSS Profile), etc. if their relationship is only with what they consider to be a legal, independent entity, the student. </p>
<p>The student is either a legal entity, independent or not. And independent should also mean financial independence as well if the relationship is only with the student. I have wandered from my original post, but all the responses have made me think that if the insititution wants a relationship with the student then why consider that the family or parent/s have any financial responsibility.</p>