In our post-pandemic teaching we’ve noticed that many students seem nervous about reaching out to their professors and are unsure about how to connect. We know that this relationship is critical to student success. In this episode Lynn and Vicki explore some of the strategies parents can share with their students to coach them in their interactions with professors. These conversations can help students feel more comfortable talking with professors and making their meetings productive.

SUBSCRIBE VIA
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | TuneIn Radio | iHeart Radio

Please leave us a review at “Love the Podcast” to help others find us.

This episode is the first of an occasional series of podcasts where we want to talk about some of the problems we see students struggling with in college. You may see that your student is struggling with an issue, but you may think that you are alone. We hope to use these episodes to help you understand what a number of students deal with.

We began by reminding you that this isn’t your problem, it is your student’s problem. We want so much to solve problems for our students, but this is the time for students to learn these skills – and for parents to help them learn to advocate for themselves.

We reminded everyone about the FERPA (Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act) restrictions and why they matter. If you’d like to learn more this article may help: What FERPA Means for You and Your College Student.

We shared some thoughts about why this relationship between students and professors is so important and how parents can help their students work with their professor.

For students who want to learn more about a major or field of study, a professor in that field can be a great source of information. Asking for a few minutes for an informational interview is a great idea! Here’s an article to help students think about how to do that.

Informational Interviews: Your Student’s Tool for Career Exploration

Exploring a Field of Study: Talking to a Faculty Member and Others

We also suggested that you might help your student turn the framework around and and think about how they might help their professor do their job. We need students to help us work with them and we are grateful when students reach out.

Here are a few additional articles on some of the topics we discussed:

Why Your College Student Should Talk to Their Professor If They Are Struggling

Help Your Student Get Started Talking to Professors

When Your College Student Has a Problem with a Professor

College Professors Are People, Too!

If you’d like to share some further reading with your student, there’s a great book that covers so many of these student/professor situations. Check out our review and consider giving your student a copy.

Book Review: Say This NOT That to Your Professor by Ellen Bremen

You might also like to listen to our earlier episode about students and professors. There is some overlap, but we share additional information you might find helpful.

#035 – Making the Most of Student/Professor Relationships

Don’t forget that you can listen to all of our previous podcast episodes here or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also go to followthepodcast.com/collegeparentcentral to add our podcast (it’s free!) so that you’ll receive each new episode as we release it.

Let us know what you’d like to hear about on future podcasts! Leave a comment below or email us at podcast@collegeparentcentral.com.

And finally, a request for your help. Podcast ratings and reviews are important to help our podcast become visible to more people who might want or need the information we share. We’ve made it even easier for you to leave us a review! Simply go to lovethepodcast.com/collegeparentcentral and leave us rating or review. We appreciate it – and so will the people who will find it easier to find us.