More Bureaucracy

The parent information newsletters that come from universities are full of good information. Yet I suspect that if parents were not in the habit of reading the high school newsletter, they probably skip the college one as well. These days, both newsletters most likely are online only publications, and with the number of emails flooding our inboxes, it is easy to pass over lengthy newsletters.

I do try to read these newsletters because I enjoy picking out the stories that reinforce what I have written about in Toward College Success: Is Your Teenager Ready, Willing, and Able?, and because I have kids in college and I always pick up pertinent information.

The latest issue of Colorado State University’s “Parents and Family” online newsletter includes an article explaining how college academic advising differs from high school academic advising, and the article even quotes Toward College Success. I thought this timely coming right after my last blog that told the story about my friend’s daughter and her rush to meet the application deadline for Florida State. Toward College Success includes an entire chapter about the importance of learning to maneuver the bureaucracy of college—being proactive in keeping up with requirements, respecting deadlines, and following through. The CSU newsletter article states that high school counseling offices are “one-stop shops” for the students. High school counselors handle all counseling issues: academic, mental, and emotional, and they seek out students to manage their schedules and discuss future plans. In college, those services are separated, but the biggest difference is that the student is responsible for seeking out those services. As the newsletter states, “in the end, (college) students are responsible for doing what they need to do to graduate and for having adult-to-adult conversations with their faculty members to resolve issues or seek help.”

The question that arises: Does your teenager have the skills to take on, and understand the importance of, that responsibility? CSU’s newsletter offers tips on maneuvering the college bureaucracy taken from College Parents of America:

College students are responsible for:
• Taking the initiative to use their academic advisor.
• Following-through. The advisor's role is just that – an advisor. It is up to the student to carry out whatever needs to be done.
• Finding an advisor that fits. If there are multiple advisors within a department, your student may have the opportunity to find the one that best suits.
• Keeping records of all academic deadlines. Students are responsible for their courses, requirements, necessary forms, and meeting notes with their advisor. Academic advisors do not usually check in with individual students to ensure requirements are met.
• Making (and keeping!) appointments with their advisors.
Parent’s role:
• Encourage your student to plan ahead and write down questions to ask the advisor.
• Remember that the advising partnership is between students and advisors, not parents. If you have questions about the advising process, ask your student.
• Understand that FERPA (Family Education and Right to Privacy Act) regulations apply. Without written permission from the student, an academic advisor cannot discuss a student's academic record with his or her parents, even if parents are paying the bills.
• Understand that academic advising, like other parts of the college system is developmental. A first-year student will probably receive more guidance and attention from the advisor at the beginning; it will taper as the student progresses.
• Remember that your student must take the initiative of working with his or her advisor.
Get in the habit of reading the high school newsletter now, so that you will be trained to look for that college newsletter when he goes off to university!