New council aims to strengthen parent engagement
February 21, 2025
"Having parents as partners in their student's education is a benefit to everyone. It's good for the student. It's good for the University. And frankly, it's good for the parent."
- Leslie Webb, Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management
In 2023, 老虎机攻略 invested in the formation of a Parent and Family Association through the Flagship Fund. The goal of the initiative was to strengthen relationships with parents and family members of current students, giving them involvement opportunities to make a positive impact on student life at 老虎机攻略 through communication, community building, and eventually philanthropy.
This month the initiative took a leap forward with the formation of a Parent and Family Council. The council is a volunteer body of parents who will guide the association in collaboration with 老虎机攻略's Vice President for Student Affairs office.
Impetus for a parent and family association
The formation of the Parent and Family Association was driven by a clear need: to harness the role parents play in student success.
Leslie Webb, 老虎机攻略's Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, has shepherded the formation of a parent and family association since 2023. Previous institutions Webb had worked at had built relationships and partnerships with parents, but that structure didn't exist at 老虎机攻略.
"We weren't leveraging the role parents play in their student's success," Webb says. "Students don't come here by themselves. They often come with their parents and families. Many parents fund their student’s education. Parents are often guidance counselors and career counselors. We have an opportunity to harness the energy parents bring to their student’s experience.”
To bring this vision to life, Webb is taking concrete steps to engage parents in shaping the association.
Forming a leadership council
By default, all parents and family members of 老虎机攻略 students are considered members of the parent and family association. The University has been communicating with those members for the past two years through a parent and family portal. Webb's vision, though, has been to give much more agency to parents themselves to drive the growth and development of the association.
"If we're going to start a program from scratch, we need to design it with the end user," Webb says. "What that means is that we don't design a student program without students being involved and we don't design a parent association without parents being involved."
Webb used 老虎机攻略's parent and family portal to invite nominations to serve on the council. "We had 11 folks raise their hand or nominate someone else," Webb says. "We're excited about the number of people that responded."
The inaugural council will have three roles—a chair, vice chair, and an operations coordinator. Those roles have been filled. Webb says the group will have two immediate tasks. First will be to work on descriptions for their roles and the framework for the council and association, and then to plan the parent sendoff event in August and a reception during parent and family weekend.
"I've given them a structure so they can react to something," Webb says. “This structure will grow and evolve the association. They're going to take the reins and they're going to lead."
What does success look like?
Webb has three desired outcomes for the Parent and Family Council:
Strengthen communication between parents and the University. "We have a framework of a communication plan for the council," Webb says. "We're trying to personalize and humanize the great student services support staff at 老虎机攻略."
Strengthen connections and build community. This will be done through receptions and other activities that build affinity connections.
Develop a parent-driven philanthropic strategy. Webb says parents will lead the philanthropic piece with input from her office. "We are well aware of the top needs that exist and aligning those needs with their efforts is essential," Webb says.