4. A Framework for Helping Families Understand the College Transition

A Framework for Helping Families Understand the College Transition

Laurie L. Hazard

Assistant Dean of Student Success

Bryant University

Stephanie Carter

Director, Academic Center for Excellence

Bryant University

Bryant University, a private, independent institution in Rhode Island, has included families in its orientation programming for more than two decades, but it recently improved its approach based on the evolving needs of parents and students. Determining the most impactful strategies to partner with parents and educate them about the complexities of college transition required research and reflection.

Realizing that parental involvement positively impacts student success and completion rates (Savage & Petree, 2015), Bryant was challenged to determine how extensively to involve parents in the college experience and how to help establish clear boundaries for families. The university recognized that parents struggle with conflicting messages about their role. While they are inundated with advice on how to protect their investment and motivate their students, they are simultaneously criticized for hyper-involvement. And most Bryant parents understand that sending students to college involves “letting go,” but this runs counter to previous advice about advocating for their children’s education during the K-12 years.

To manage these conflicting messages and create clearer boundaries, Bryant designed an approach with the idea that (a) the emerging-adulthood developmental stage is complex and (b) parents must be educated to know when to step in and when to allow the institution to lead.

A Framework to Combat Transition Issues

In general, parents are open to advice, and with college costs rising, they expect institutions to help them and their students navigate the higher education experience. Bryant has responded by creating programming for orientation and beyond to educate families on the challenges that first-year students face as they transition from adolescence to emerging adulthood. Similarly, Bryant works to help parents adopt new parenting practices appropriate for emerging adults. Bryant’s approach considers the positive impact of parental involvement, encouraging parents to partner in their students’ success while also accounting for the pitfalls of “helicopter parenting.”

Consistent messaging on the critical areas of first-year adjustment enables families to discuss the transition, allowing them to set realistic expectations and giving them a shared vocabulary. To facilitate ongoing dialogue, Bryant’s assistant dean for student success developed a framework for understanding six facets of college adjustment, based on the work of Hazard and Nadeau (2013): intellectual, social, emotional, cultural, financial, and academic adjustment (Figure 1). This framework allows Bryant to educate parents about transition issues during the first year, engaging them to support their students’ success from a healthy distance.

Figure 1. Framework for understanding the six facets of college adjustment.

Adapted from “Foundations for Learning,” by L. Hazard and J. P. Nadeau, 2013. Copyright 2013 by Prentice Hall. Reprinted with permission.

Each year at orientation, staff members at Bryant outline the six areas of adjustment in talks with incoming students and their parents. However, aside from data showing that attendees considered these talks informative and helpful, and from qualitative data indicating that learning about the adjustment areas was valuable, the institution initially had no way to assess the framework’s usefulness.

In 2017, Bryant leveraged a customized online platform to create an optional web-based course experience for parents and families of first-year students built around the six areas of adjustment. The course, Parent Lingo, developed by the authors in collaboration with Innovative Educators, provides an engaging, ongoing resource that includes embedded videos with insights from students and families. Six modules on each adjustment area educate families on the college transition. Parents also learn how these adjustment issues impact first-year students. Information about resources at Bryant related to each adjustment area and how to refer students to these resources, or contact them directly, is included. In addition, parents receive questions to facilitate conversations with their students about the adjustment areas. While families can access discussion boards to post questions and concerns, the course also connects them with an instructor, the assistant dean for student success, who can provide follow-up. Finally, a companion text with more information is available for families to purchase. The recommended companion text is Your Freshman is Off to College: A Month-by-Month Guide to the First-Year by Hazard and Carter (2016).

The platform was piloted during orientation in June 2017. The following September, parents received an email with a link to access the course. Every few weeks, new modules were released, with all of them made available by February 2018. Reminders and updates were sent to parents throughout the fall semester and again in January.

Assessment

In the online platform’s first year, Bryant engaged 158 parents or family members. In an online survey embedded in the Parent Lingo course, parents rated overall satisfaction with the experience as high; 86% said the modules they completed were very good or excellent (n = 36) on a 5-point Likert scale, with 5 being excellent and 1 being poor.

The customized platform allows insight into parents’ concerns. When asked which facets of adjustment interested them most, parents rated academic adjustment highest at 75%, followed by financial (67%), emotional (61%), social (53%), intellectual (36%), and cultural adjustment (17%). This information will help tailor future programming for families.

Users provided important qualitative information in their survey comments. Responses indicated the course validated families’ concerns about college adjustment (e.g., “[I learned that] my student is going through the same challenges as other freshmen”). It also helped align parents’ understanding and expectations about their students’ experience, allowing them to talk about the college transition from a more informed point of view (e.g., “As a parent of a reluctant student, it really helped me to hear from actual students and the challenges they faced”). Anecdotal data show that the course helps parents access resources at Bryant to provide immediate support for their students. Parents can take questions to the assistant dean for student success, who then connects their students with appropriate resources. As such, the platform works as an early intervention tool.

The first year of Parent Lingo shows promise as a vehicle to identify at-risk first-year students and guide families. Going forward, families will be more intentionally introduced to the platform at orientation with a handout that includes login information. This will let them access the course immediately, rather than waiting until fall. On the school’s opening weekend, a resource fair will reintroduce families to the platform and allow them to set up their accounts. The goal is to create a sense of belonging for families and prompt them to ask informed questions so they can help students access resources when needed. This strategy is adaptable across all institution types, providing an innovative approach to firstyear student success.

References

Hazard, L., & Carter, S. (2016). Your freshman is off to college: A month-by-month guide to the first year. Charleston, SC: Printed by CreateSpace.

Hazard, L., & Nadeau, J. P. (2013). Foundations for learning. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Savage, M., & Petree, C. (2015). National survey of college and university parent programs [PDF file]. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2D4PaVj

Contact: Stephanie Carter scarter@bryant.edu

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Conkle, M. T., Kidwell, E. A., & Murphy, M. (2008). Program connects first-year students and their families to the college community. 6(1), 6-8.

Fuhst, P. (2006). Activities for parents at orientation at Yavapai College. 3(6), 8-9.

Horneff, B. S. (2004). First-year students offer advice to parents. 2(3), 5-6.