COMMUNICATION

For 2021-2022 one of our major goals was to increase our communication with the PF group. This goal aligned well with the vision for our new VP, Dr. Timeka Rashid, as she was planning a new position in our division for Parent and Family programming In my welcome letter to the PF group in July 2021 I invited the PF group to virtual “Director Discussions” on a regular basis.

We also made it a point to increase our presence on social media. We heard about a Parents of Baldwin Wallace Students Facebook group, so I asked to join during the fall 2021 semester. Although I was nervous to take the plunge into this scary pool, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Once I introduced myself to the group (it has a large membership) it helped move quite a bit of the “Rumors of Res Life” to be debunked and the PF group started redirecting concerns to proper channels. My presence on this page also nudged the PF group to approach concerns in a different fashion since they “met” me and could put a name with a face. Every few weeks I will post updates from our department, sharing upcoming events, things to look out for, and photos.

We ran into some hiccups that we did not anticipate when we joined the page Due to my consistent presence on the page, members started tagging me in posts with work-related questions at odd times of the day. Although I posted often, asking members to contact us via work communication, this practice continued. If you are going to join/create a group like this, you will want to be extra clear about the funnel of communication as it relates to issues.

Programming

When BW officially created the department of Parent and Family programming in January 2022, we jumped in to collaborate immediately. We have a representative from our department who sits on the Parent and Family Advisory group, and we will have a presence as BW reinstitutes a Parent and Family weekend. We will host a table during the weekend fair to continue to connect with the PF group.

We also recognized that our move-in experience for students and the PF group needed a facelift. We added more experiences, offering Hydration Stations and photo frame opportunities. It was important for us to give the PF group a positive experience as they were working through their emotions of the day. This year, we held our second annual Open House for the PF group at our office at the end of first year move-in day. We provided light refreshments for parents, families, and friends (not students) so they had an opportunity to see our physical office and to connect with important staff members. We excluded students from this event intentionally because we wanted to offer parents and families a space where they could ask us some of the “embarrassing questions” that they might not want to ask in front of their students. It gave us an opportunity to offer reassurance that we will look out for their students, and we will help them with their transition.

Assessment

Our department has fully embraced the need to assess, so we made the decision to add the PF group to our assessment strategy. During 2021-2022 I gave homework to the members of the Parent and Family Facebook page to review our department’s website. During a later “Director Discussion” the PF group re-affirmed the gaps in our site that we could share with University Relations.

For August 2022 we already included the PF group in a more formal assessment opportunity. We shared a link to a survey for move-in and we have collected some valuable feedback to improve that experience. We will add opportunities throughout the 2022-2023 school year for the PF group to weigh in on department procedures and policies.

Recognition

Our department is highly active with National Residence-Hall Honorary (NRHH), submitting Of the Months (OTMs) regularly to recognize the work our students, colleagues, and other partners do for BW or higher education in general. I was so proud of the positive involvement we had from the PF group at BW last year that they were recognized with an OTM.

Futureplanning

Customerservice

Residence Life and Housing departments are highly skilled when it comes to customer service and our team challenges each other to be excellent in this area. The little steps we take go a long way with the PF group. Our goal is to approach each situation with kindness and our PF group has recognized this approach. This was affirmed by the results of our recent PF group move-in survey.

Prior to the pandemic we had a great connection with the PF group of Resident Assistants (RAs) because we would recruit families to provide a home-cooked meal for RAs during training in August. This was always a big hit with the staff, and you can feel that this experience is missing. We are looking into how we can include the PF group of our RAs back into training. We are looking into creative ways to give the PF group the opportunity to “be an RA for a day.”

We have recognized that our website and external communication need work, so we have allocated resources to enhance this work. Over the years it has been a lesser priority, and this added to concerns from our PF group. Our website was lacking information that people want to find immediately instead of asking for it. Our proposed changes should continue to increase our positive relationship with the PF group.

Recommendations

We already have plans to use our PF group for more and more assessment. The PF group definitely has opinions, so we will have more focused opportunities to gather information from them and then tell stories about the changes we made because of their input.

We recognized that we need to strengthen our partnerships with key offices on campus. The plan is to have more consistent messaging between our groups. The PF group regularly shares that, “this is not what I heard from another office,” so any way we can be on the same page ahead of time will work to our advantage.

Our department is highly active with National Residence-Hall Honorary (NRHH), submitting Of the Months (OTMs) regularly to recognize the work our students, colleagues, and other partners do for BW or higher education in general. I was so proud of the positive involvement we had from the PF group at BW last year that they were recognized with an OTM.

Challengeyourteamtodothefollowing asyouworkwiththePFgroup:

Listen. We want to defend decisions we have made (and they are usually good decisions) but try to pause and really listen to what they are saying.

Be transparent where you can.

Assess the PF group. We are already doing assessment, so offer up informal and formal opportunities for the PF group to give suggestions.

Make sure your website and other external communications are up to date and accurate.

Strengthen key partnerships (dining, facilities, admission, athletics, counseling/health). At times, these groups may give inconsistent messages despite good intentions.

Pic-us to publish Pic-us to publish your work! your work!