PartneringwithParents,Families &SupportSystemsofStudents

As a twenty-two year and counting housing professional, I am closing in on an infinite number of interactions with parents, families, and support systems of students (affectionately referred to as the PF group moving forward).

Admittedly I have experienced an increased heart rate and mild sweat sometimes when names pop up on the caller ID, anticipating a heated conversation. This has been an added stress to an already stressful workload, and I do not anticipate this slowing down any time soon. Recently, however, my department shifted its approach to working with the PF group; changing our mindset has brought us positive results.

In higher education we regularly reflect on the pandemic, thinking about the lessons we have learned. For the past two and a half years my department recognized we need to be connected more than ever, relying on collaborations, partnerships, and relationships to be better at our work, both within and beyond campus. As a result, Residence Life and Housing at Baldwin Wallace University (BW) made the decision to focus more intentional work on the PF group moving forward.

As an institution we had regular communication with the PF group during the 2020-2021 school year to update our COVID-19 planning and response. I was in communication daily with individual parents and families, responding to student needs while in quarantine and isolation. As the school year ended and we planned for the upcoming year, we realized that we needed to increase our work with the PF group with the intent of being transparent and hopefully decreasing the stress of the PF group. With that in mind, we focused on improving in these areas with the PF group: communication, programming, assessment, recognition, customer service, and future planning.