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Managing Millennial Parents

Managing Millennial Parents. Annual Conference on the First Year Experience February 6, 2005 Presenters: Philip Conroy, Jr. paconroyjr@mountida.edu Elizabeth A. True eatrue@mountida.edu. Millennial Traits. Special Sheltered Confident Team-Oriented Achieving Pressured Conventional.

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Managing Millennial Parents

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  1. Managing Millennial Parents Annual Conference on the First Year Experience February 6, 2005 Presenters: Philip Conroy, Jr. paconroyjr@mountida.edu Elizabeth A. True eatrue@mountida.edu

  2. Millennial Traits • Special • Sheltered • Confident • Team-Oriented • Achieving • Pressured • Conventional

  3. Technologically savvy • MTV/short attention span • Email – immediate response – can’t think long-range • Over-achieving/over-managed – brought up on Gymboree, soccer, music lessons, play dates – organized group activity • Team players/teamwork/fitting in • Rewarded for participation, not achievement

  4. Aim to please • Diverse and tolerant • Lower rates of violent crime, alcohol and tobacco use and teen pregnancy • Trusting • Word of mouth/reputation key • Protected/coddled/valued • Optimism locally/pessimism nationally • High expectation of authority/institutions

  5. Millennial Parents • “Boomer” or “Gen X” generation • Older, more affluent when having children • Pessimists • “Attachment parenting” - Over-protective/concerned with physical and moral safety • Helicoptering/hovering • Soccer moms, hockey dads • IEP advocates

  6. As Parents of College Students • Consumer mentality/price of higher ed vs. value • Expectation of “in loco parentis” • Enlisting the “team” of advocates • Propensity to threaten legal action • “Susie doesn’t know I’m calling but…” • Constant contact through cell phones • Expectation of immediate, 24/7 administrative response • Clery Act and concerns with campus safety

  7. Parent ManagementThemes • Safety • Responsibility • Empowerment • Employability

  8. Parent Management Plan • Pre-admission communications/materials • Orientation of parents • Explanation/Interpretation of FERPA • Management of parental communications • On-going communication/updates to parents – website and letters • Parent Association • Parents’ Weekend

  9. Pre-Admission • Parents as members of “Influencer Group” – develop a parallel process to market college to parents • Annual report/magazine targeted to parents • Students interviewed individually first/parents then asked to join • Communications from the President to parents of applicants/from Admissions to the students • Open House/Decision Day – including parents in sessions/Parent Association table

  10. Orientation of Parents • Separate program for students and parents • Programs such as “Letting Go” and “Parent 101” • Explanation of the role we want parents to play • Providing reassuring info and contact information • Involving reps from the Parent Association

  11. FERPA • Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act • Establish a college policy and related procedures regarding release of information, judicial information, and release forms • Explain FERPA regulations and the college’s policies regarding release forms at summer orientation sessions and on website • On-going education when parents call • Alcohol and Drug violation notification

  12. Parental Calls and Emails • Establish a standard response time • Direct calls/emails to lowest appropriate level first • Do not guarantee confidentiality • Request permission to discuss call/email with student • Tell parent where to direct student for help • Dealing with threats (I’ll call the President, my lawyer, the media, Jay Leno) • Avoid responding more quickly to parents than students

  13. On-going Communication with current parents • Letters from President – annual and in response to campus concerns – i.e., post 9/11, if there is a campus incident • Letters from president of the Parent Association • Letters to students timed to be mailed when students are at home • Website

  14. Parent Association • Roles: recruitment/advocacy; resource for current parents/liaison to administration; resource development • Involving Parent Association in recruitment and orientation activities as well as Parents’ Weekend • Involve Parent Association rep in key committees • Credibility factor

  15. Parents’ Weekend • Social emphasis • Early advertising/encouraging parents to wait until this weekend to visit students • Educate 1st time parents this is not like high school open house – not discussing student performance with faculty • Parent Association meeting/table at football game or main event • Opportunities for parents to connect/reconnect with other families

  16. Helicopter Traffic Control • Calculating Response Time –setting expectations • Assessing the Problem • Involving the Student • The Role of the President – directing to the appropriate response level • Responding to threats of legal action • Documentation

  17. Assessment • Evaluation of Summer Orientation program by parents • Focus Groups • Tracking calls/emails and repetition

  18. Resources • Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation by N. Howe and W. Strauss • Millennials Go to College by N. Howe and W. Strauss • The Echo Boomers http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/10/01/60minutes/main646890.shtml CBS News Online

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