—Parents of Graduating Seniors
Congratulations on your student's achievement! We know that family support is important not only in encouraging students to attend college, but also for helping them stay and succeed in college. If you need details about your student's commencement ceremony, your student should have all the specific information, or check here: www.umn.edu/twincities/commencement/index.php.

Although most families are looking forward to the end of the college years, please don't remove yourself from this listserv quite yet. If there should be any last-minute changes in commencement plans, a message would go out through this e-mail list. In addition, the career services offices across the Twin Cities campus will be hosting a day of intensive programming geared toward graduating seniors who are seeking employment. The program will include information for recent grads on researching employment options and practicing skills for effective job searching. The program will be at the end of May, but it is still in the planning stages. We will provide more information on date, time, location, content, and registration in mid-May.

—Care Package: Finals Edition
The last days of the semester and the week of finals can be brutal. Students appreciate positive messages from family members, cheerful cards, and especially treats. You know best what boosts your student's morale, but the students and staff at Gopher Express have some ideas for care packages. See their selections at www.coffman.umn.edu/gopherexpress/carepackages/.

—Thank a Teacher
A good teacher makes a huge difference in a student's interest in a topic and sometimes in their choice of careers. The University's Center for Teaching and Learning offers an online form that allows students to express their appreciation for a teacher who has made a positive impact. If your student has mentioned a particularly inspiring faculty member or teaching assistant, please encourage him or her to Thank a Teacher at www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/resources/thank/.

—Request for Your Help
The University Parent Program works with the parents of all undergraduate students because we believe that parent support is important to student success. In addition to working directly with parents, we collaborate with a number of offices around campus to promote student retention and success. We are currently seeking donations through the University Parent Fund for contributions to be used to help students in crisis. Every year we have students who face a financial loss through such events as an apartment fire, crime, accident, or family crisis. There are times when insurance or family members cannot provide assistance in these critical situations, and this fund helps students as they work to stay in school and resolve their difficulties. If the University Parent Program has been helpful to you, please consider making a contribution to the University Parent Fund.

Any contributions, large or small, are helpful. For more information or to make a donation, see www.parent.umn.edu/fund.html and be sure to specify University Parent Fund in your contribution.

—Miscellaneous
Please check the April Parent Question of the Month at www.parent.umn.edu. Last month's question asked about parents' use of social networking such as Facebook, MySpace, Linked-in, Twitter, or other online sites. A little more than 40 percent of parents indicated they are on one or more social network sites. We asked a similar question a year ago, and at that time, just over 10 percent were on social network sites.