Year: 2016

College Parent News and Views

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The more that college parents know and understand about the college experience, the less we worry and the better we will be able to help our students to succeed and thrive throughout their college career.  However, there is an overwhelming amount of information out there on the web.   We’d like to help you find some of the information that might be most interesting and useful to you as a college parent.

In News and Views we share recent college related news and sources we’ve found as we do our research.  We hope that this feature will help to introduce you to new ideas and to help you keep up with some of the current issues that may affect your college student — and you.

We invite you to read some of the articles suggested below — and to let us know what you think of some of the ideas included here.

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The Delicate Balance of Support and Self-Reliance

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So much of the college experience is about balance.  Students work at learning to balance social life and studying, independence and responsibility, seriousness and frivolity.  As parents, it is sometimes difficult to watch as our students practice the skill of balance — and sometimes fail.  But just as we had to finally take the training wheels off and let go of the bicycle, we need to step back and watch as our students take off.

One of the balancing acts that many students struggle with, especially at the midpoint in a semester, is the balance between self-sufficiency and relying on others.  New college students, especially, may need to learn that being independent doesn’t necessarily mean they need to do everything alone.  Knowing when to rely on themselves and when to turn to others is part of responsible decision making.

Why wouldn’t my student ask for help if they need it?

There are many reasons why students may not seek the help they need when they need it.

  • ”I didn’t realize that I needed help.”
  • ”I’ve never needed help before, why would I need it now?”
  • ”Things will get better if I just wait long enough.”
  • ”I’ll look as though I’m dumb if I ask for help.”
  • ”Isn’t it cheating if I get help?”

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College Parents Warned of Phone Scam — Don’t Be a Victim

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The con artists are at it again.  But this time, it’s not college students who are the target, it’s their parents. This scam, a ”virtual kidnapping” scam, has been around for a couple of years, with the FBI issuing warnings in January 2015,  but authorities are warning parents that it seems to be on the rise again in the past few months.  Several colleges in several states, including Arizona State University, George Mason University and the University of Texas at Arlington,  have issued warnings to parents.

As with so many scams, knowledge is power.  Being aware that this scam exists is the best first defense against becoming a victim.

In the ”virtual kidnapping” scam, parents receive a phone call from a stranger who claims to have kidnapped their child.  Sometimes parents hear muffled screams or cries in the background. Someone who sounds much like their child may even get on the phone quickly, crying and begging them to pay whatever is asked.  Calls come from outside area codes, often 787 or 939 — Puerto Rican codes. The call may come from a blocked or private number.  The caller knows the child’s name and often many details as well.  These details are often gleaned from public information and/or social media sites.

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When a Little Something Can Make Graduation a Reality

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College completion rates in the United States are not what they should be.  It is an important national conversation.  According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, the percentage of students who began college and completed a degree within six years is approximately 53%.  Just over half of those students who begin college finish – and that number is decreasing. It’s a growing problem and a growing national conversation.

Although we all need to be concerned about this number, and we all should part of that national conversation, if it is your student who can’t finish, knowing that there are many others also struggling isn’t much consolation. So although the big conversations and educational reforms are important, sometimes it is the small, personal actions that can make a difference.

More and more colleges and universities are recognizing that for many students, the barriers to completion- which may seem insurmountable at the time — are actually individual stumbling blocks that can be overcome with some help.  This is especially true for many first-generation and low-income students.  So schools are stepping in to help.

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College Parent News and Views

by

The more that college parents know and understand about the college experience, the less we worry and the better we will be able to help our students to succeed and thrive throughout their college career.  However, there is an overwhelming amount of information out there on the web.   We’d like to help you find some of the information that might be most interesting and useful to you as a college parent.

In News and Views we share recent college related news and sources we’ve found as we do our research.  We hope that this feature will help to introduce you to new ideas and to help you keep up with some of the current issues that may affect your college student — and you.

We invite you to read some of the articles suggested below — and to let us know what you think of some of the ideas included here.

Read more

Don’t Let Your College Student Become a Target

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Con artists have been around forever.  Scams have caught unwary victims before, and they will again. But it seems that one of the newest targets for these unsavory characters is college students, and often their parents as well.  Make sure you stay alert and talk to your student about being careful as well.

College students may be prime targets of scammers for several reasons.  They are busy and distracted, many don’t have much financial or tax experience, most don’t have extensive credit histories yet and/or don’t check them, and they spend much of their lives online.

What’s the latest threat?

According to the Internal Revenue Service, one of the most recent scams involves students receiving a phone call from someone impersonating an IRS official and demanding payment of a ”federal student tax.”  The IRS wants to make it clear that there is no such tax.  But the caller claims that the student owes the tax and that he will call the local police to arrest the student if it is not paid.  If the student hangs up, there may be follow-up calls. Often, the caller has just enough information about the student, gleaned from public sources such as directory information, to make the call sound more legitimate.

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Your College Freshman’s Worldview — The Beloit Mindset

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As parents of traditional college age children, we know that our children live in a different world than we did.  Intellectually, we know that the world changes — ever faster — and that our children have grown up with many different experiences.  Sometimes, however, we forget — or just plain don’t realize — how different that world truly is.

Each year Beloit College releases The Beloit College Mindset List. Since the list was first published in 1998, in addition to providing college professors a chuckle, it has also proved to be an eye-opening look at ”the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college” that year.  The list was originated by Beloit professor Tom McBride and Public Affairs Director Ron Nief as a reminder to faculty members that many references used in class might be outdated, but it has become a much more comprehensive look at the worldview of current college students.

We include here, for your consideration, amusement and possible consternation, a few of the items that are true for current college students. These are taken from the last two Mindset lists. So if your student was born in 1997 or 1998, consider some of the following.  (You may view the entire lists, by year, at www.beloit.edu/mindset.)

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Does It Matter Who Is Teaching Your College Student?

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Chances are that your college student is being taught by, has been taught by, or will be taught by at least one, and probably several adjunct instructors.  Whether your student attends a local community college, a small liberal arts college, or a large public or private research university, adjunct instructors are the ”new normal” in the world of higher education.

The work of adjunct instructors, part-time instructors, part-time lecturers, contingent instructors, or whatever other title is used, is an important and hotly debated topic in higher education today.  According to the Department of Education, over 70% of college instructors are adjunct professors (approximately 800,000 in the United States.)  This is up from 35% in 1975. Current issues of debate around the use of adjunct professors include working conditions, pay equity, student success, and the right to unionize.

The use of adjuncts in higher education is an important topic, and we urge parents and students to read some of the many articles available to understand the issues and to weigh in on the discussion.  Our purpose in this article is how your student can get the most out of the classes that he will inevitably take with adjunct professors.

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College Parent News and Views

by

The more that college parents know and understand about the college experience, the less we worry and the better we will be able to help our students to succeed and thrive throughout their college career.  However, there is an overwhelming amount of information out there on the web.   We’d like to help you find some of the information that might be most interesting and useful to you as a college parent.

In News and Views we share recent college related news and sources we’ve found as we do our research.  We hope that this feature will help to introduce you to new ideas and to help you keep up with some of the current issues that may affect your college student — and you.

We invite you to read some of the articles suggested below — and to let us know what you think of some of the ideas included here.

Read more

Friends Along the Way: Your College Student’s Search for Friends

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Parents everywhere have just dropped their students off at college for the first time.  It’s an emotional time.  Excitement is high, anxiety is high, and for many, there are mixed emotions about their student leaving home. As parents return home and try to settle into the new normal of not having their child at home, their child is busy making the transition to their new world away from home.  An essential part of that transition is making new friends.

For many students, much of their anxiety heading off to college has to do with whether or not they will find friends and ”fit in.”  Friends can make all of the difference. Most colleges recognize this need and work hard to plan programming during the first few weeks of the semester to bring students together and encourage community building.  They know that students with a strong friend network are generally happier, do better, and are more likely to remain in school.

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