2008 Woodie Awards
Universities regulating students by contacting parents
Adam Gruenewald
Issue date: 9/26/07 Section: News
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Universities have been contacting parents for a while about student situations. Recently, there has been a substantial shift.
This shift in the field has happened over the past decade but has substantially changed in the last 5 years according to Paula Knudson, the UW-L Dean of Students.
"We have had some recent tragedies and losses in which colleges have an obligation to communicate with people who can help with students who appear to be struggling," said Knudson.
The rise of notifications can be seen across various universities for example at UW-Madison, which started contacting two years ago according to Tonya Schmidt, the Interim Assistant Dean of Students.
Schmidt said a lot of that was the result of the fact students themselves are more connected than ever before with the use of cell phones and email.
While not every situation results in a contact from the university, there has been a rise in the number of contacts.
Both Knudson and Schmidt cited situations such as alcohol overdose, suicidal threats, drug use, and academic issues.
During the last 3 weeks of school at Madison, there have been about a dozen detox cases, which have resulted in contact of parents.
While some people may expect students to be upset with the call, Schmidt said that 80% of the time students have already told their parents anyway.
Parental response has been extremely positive. Although, some parents push for the need to know everything about what is going on.
"Obviously we want to allow students to grow and develop who they are as a person and not talk with their parents about every situation," said Schmidt.
Before a contact is made a discussion is had with students in order to find out the type of relationship the student has and if a student is financially dependent.
Schmidt gave an example of a student with an alcohol abuse issue who has an abusive parent which may be causing the abuse, a contact will not be made.
Other considerations are if the incident may bring shame to their family culturally or if a parental guardian might retaliate.
This shift in the field has happened over the past decade but has substantially changed in the last 5 years according to Paula Knudson, the UW-L Dean of Students.
"We have had some recent tragedies and losses in which colleges have an obligation to communicate with people who can help with students who appear to be struggling," said Knudson.
The rise of notifications can be seen across various universities for example at UW-Madison, which started contacting two years ago according to Tonya Schmidt, the Interim Assistant Dean of Students.
Schmidt said a lot of that was the result of the fact students themselves are more connected than ever before with the use of cell phones and email.
While not every situation results in a contact from the university, there has been a rise in the number of contacts.
Both Knudson and Schmidt cited situations such as alcohol overdose, suicidal threats, drug use, and academic issues.
During the last 3 weeks of school at Madison, there have been about a dozen detox cases, which have resulted in contact of parents.
While some people may expect students to be upset with the call, Schmidt said that 80% of the time students have already told their parents anyway.
Parental response has been extremely positive. Although, some parents push for the need to know everything about what is going on.
"Obviously we want to allow students to grow and develop who they are as a person and not talk with their parents about every situation," said Schmidt.
Before a contact is made a discussion is had with students in order to find out the type of relationship the student has and if a student is financially dependent.
Schmidt gave an example of a student with an alcohol abuse issue who has an abusive parent which may be causing the abuse, a contact will not be made.
Other considerations are if the incident may bring shame to their family culturally or if a parental guardian might retaliate.
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