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Parent
E-mail—March 26, 2008
—GradFest
—Seeking Parent Input
—Honorary Societies
—Transportation News
—Miscellaneous
If the weather forecast for tomorrow turns out to be accurate,
we may see a significant blow to the mood on campus. Today's sunshine
and warm breezes put us all in the mood for spring, but the prediction
is for another grey, blustery, and possibly snowy day tomorrow.
Please watch the weather reports for Minneapolis/St. Paul tomorrow
and if it snows, send your student some good news, well wishes,
an amusing story, or anything to inspire a smile and brighten
the day.
—GradFest
There is one more day of GradFest. If your student is graduating
this spring, remind him or her to attend the one-stop event for
graduation between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. tomorrow, Thursday, March
27, at the Great Hall of Coffman Union. A 2 p.m. program, "Graduating
to What? Next Steps for Seniors" provides information on
job search preparation, financial planning, topics for students
to be discussing with family and friends, and ideas on what to
do if they haven't finalized any plans for post-graduation. The
program was presented this afternoon as well, and there was valuable
information about loan repayments, health insurance, study and
travel abroad considerations, and graduate school, as well as
job search suggestions. For example, students who don't yet have
a job lined up may be thinking they'll apply to graduate school,
but they need to consider whether this is the right time to get
into a grad program, whether "not having a job" is a
sufficient reason to step into a grad program, and whether they
might be better prepared for grad school once they have some real
world experience. Parents are invited to attend GradFest and the
workshop with their student. More information is posted at www.bookstores.umn.edu/grad/gradfest.html
—Seeking Parent Input
The University Parent Program relies on parents as our best resources
and experts. We have a couple of requests for you this week.
First, if you have not yet responded to our biannual parent survey,
please do. We're receiving great suggestions and feedback, and
we're already making plans for changes based on parents' input.
The survey is posted online at www.parent.umn.edu/survey.
When you fill out the survey, you have the option of including
your contact information for a drawing for prizes including a
one-night stay at the Radisson University Hotel (East Bank), a
one-night stay at the Holiday Inn Metrodome (West Bank), dining
gift certificates for the Campus Club in Coffman Union, $25 gift
certificates at the University Bookstores, or a copy of You're
on Your Own (But I'm Here If You Need Me), a book for parents
of college students by Marjorie Savage.
Our other request this week is that we would like to hear your
advice to parents of incoming students. Your words mean more to
a new college parent than anything else we can provide. Please
complete any or all of the following sentences:
Every parent should know...
Every parent should have...
Every parent should be...
Send your responses to parent@umn.edu, and we will pass them along
to the parents of incoming freshmen this summer. (We will include
no personal identifiers, so your student will not be embarrassed.)
—Honorary Societies
We're starting to get the annual question from parents, "My
student was invited to join an honorary society. Should he/she
join?" Some honorary societies charge a membership fee, and
parents want to know if the benefits are worth the cost. Before
joining any student organization or group, we suggest that students
consider why they want to join, how they will actively participate,
and what the benefits of membership might be. A discussion of
the topic is posted here: www.parent.umn.edu/faq.html#honor.
—Transportation News
When spring finally blooms, we'll see more students around campus
on bikes and rollerblades. The University's Parking and Transportation
Services would like those students to follow the rules of the
road, to use safety precautions, and especially to wear helmets.
A helmet and headlight combination package is available for $20
at Boynton Health Services Pharmacy, and the two items can also
be purchased separately. Suggestions for safe riding, a list of
bike trails, and more information on biking on and near campus
is at www.umn.edu/pts/biking.htm.
When students want to make trips beyond campus to go to downtown
St. Paul, Minneapolis, the Mall of America, the airport, or other
destinations within the greater metropolitan area, they can plan
their adventure by bus or light rail by using the Metro Transit
Trip Planner. The trip planner now includes new mapping features,
including interactive route maps which supplement written walking
instructions. The Trip Planner is on this Web site: http://metrotransit.org/.
—Miscellaneous
The Office for Student Affairs has developed a series of podcasts
to support student success. Students can download the presentations
or listen to them online. They include tips for stress management,
study skills, and end-of-the-semester strategies. The podcasts
(which can be helpful for stressed parents as well) are at www.osa.umn.edu/podcasts/.
For several years, the Orientation and First-Year Programs office
has selected a group of first-year students to take photos representing
their personal transitions to the University. A selection of this
year's photos will be displayed from April 1 to May 14 at the
Coffman Art Gallery, and you can see slideshows of this year's
photos at www.ofyp.umn.edu/fystudents/photoproject/.
Please take a look at our Parent Question of the Month for March
at www.parent.umn.edu.
Sincerely,
Marjorie Savage
Parent Program Director
University of Minnesota
www.parent.umn.edu |
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