West Virginia University officials will share information on WVU’s programs for parents at the Association of Higher Education Parent/Family Program Professionals conference on Nov. 11.

Sabrina Cave, executive director of the Mountaineer Parents Club, and Katie Gallagher, parent advocate, will present “Anticipating and Responding to Their Needs: Parent University 101” in Boulder, Colo.

“Katie and I are excited to have the opportunity to share with other parent professionals the great work we are doing at West Virginia University,” Cave said.

Parent University 101 is an hour-and-15-minute course offered to parents during New Student Orientation each year.

Split up into the first few months of a student’s first semester, the course gives parents information on transitioning, settling in, getting acquainted and looking ahead. Parents are taught about the many resources available on campus, and are encouraged to begin embracing a “coaching role” and let their students begin to take the lead as college adults.

Parents are also taught about the many support services offered by the University from disability services to mental and physical health support. They are also told about dropping/adding class procedures, academic protocol on campus, the time of the year when students might be the most stressed, student organizations and the Student Code of Conduct, among other things.

Parent University 101 is offered by the Mountaineer Parents Club, an organization devoted to connecting parents and family members to the WVU student experience. The free club offers events on campus and around the world for parents and their students.

More than 20,000 parents are members.

More information about the Mountaineer Parents Club is available at http://parentsclub.wvu.edu/ .

-WVU-

cd/11/04/10

CONTACT: Sabrina Cave, Mountaineer Parents Club
304-293-2506, Sabrina.Cave@mail.wvu.edu