Parent E-mail—October 13, 2009


—Annual Cereal Election
—Zimride and Zipcar
—Click and Win/Mental Health Website
—Academic Assistance and Skill Building
—Etiquette Dinner
—Parents' Role in Student Success
—Flu-shot Clinics
—Miscellaneous

Despite yesterday's all-day snowfall, Northrop Mall is still green. We're hoping Mother Nature will soon honor our school colors by turning the leaves on campus to the traditional U of M maroon and gold, but right now it's all up to the students to display fall colors by wearing Gopher Gear. Most students, however, are covering their sweatshirts with jackets, as you can see by looking at the Walter Library Web cam.

Our friend, Pete, who monitors the Web cam, points out that the "control the camera" feature is turned on once again. You can control the Web cam by clicking the link at the bottom of the picture. It was turned off during the summer because some miscreants were focusing the camera on sunbathing co-eds. If the camera is misused again, Pete can always go back into the system and remove that link. (Don't get me wrong—we are not blaming parents for misuse of the camera.)

—Annual Cereal Election
Each year, students living in the residence halls on campus are asked to vote for their favorite cereals. The top 12 vote-getting cereals are now being offered in all residence halls, allowing students to count on a consistent choice of breakfast cereals no matter which dining center they visit. In order to ensure that there are some healthy options, students are asked to select one cereal from each of four categories: chocolate, healthy, organic, and sugared.

Which cereals rose to the top? Reese's Puffs, Lucky Charms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Frosted Flakes, Trix, Life, Cap'n Crunch, Honey Nut Cheerios, Go Lean, Cheerios, Frosted Mini Wheats, and Special K Red Berries. Full results are posted on our "Fun and Interesting" page on the University Parent Web site .

—Zimride and Zipcar
Members of the University community can now sign up for Zimride, a social networking site for ridesharing. The Zimride site combines the features of social networks with route-matching. Zimriders can view other riders' profiles to see if they share common networks, interests, and friends, but also consider home location, before deciding to share a ride with others signed up for the service. Information is available at www.umn.edu/pts/drivers/zimride.html.

Zimride is different than Zipcar, which is an on-campus car-sharing option. Students who don't have a car on campus can sign up for Zipcar and reserve a car for running errands, picking up a friend at the airport, going to a job interview, or other short trips. Information is posted here: www.umn.edu/pts/drivers/zipcar.html.

—Click and Win/Mental Health Website
As an incentive to encourage students to learn about mental health conditions that can affect college-aged young adults, the Provost’s Committee on Student Mental Health is sponsoring a Click and Win Contest to introduce students to the Student Mental Health Web site. The contest runs until Monday, October 26. All students are eligible to enter, and five winners will each receive a $100 Bookstore gift certificate. Please encourage your student to check out the Web site and to enter the Click and Win Contest.

There is a page on that Web site for parents, too. You are not eligible to win the Bookstore gift certificates, but you can learn about mental health resources on campus and find ways to support your student: www.mentalhealth.umn.edu/parents/.

—Academic Assistance and Skill Building
This is the time of year when many students are feeling academic stress. They may have received test results in some of their classes by now, and some are concerned that they're not measuring up to their own expectations, or the expectations of their parents. Please encourage your student to seek out assistance rather than to simply "try harder." Often when students are having trouble with a class, the response is to do more of what they've always done, when the best solution may be to learn some new problem-solving techniques or develop new test-taking, writing, or note-taking skills.

Students can find help at the University's SMART Learning Commons, with consultants keyed to specific classes or to general learning skills. They can also take practice tests on specific subjects, allowing them to explore the kinds of tests they're likely to see in their classes. Assistance is provided in Magrath Library on the St. Paul Campus, Wilson Library on the West Bank, or Walter Library on the East Bank. For more information, see http://smart.umn.edu/.

Students can also receive one-on-one academic skills assistance at University Counseling & Consulting Services (UCCS): www.uccs.umn.edu/education/academic.htm. They can meet with a counselor to consider options and identify problem areas, then make a plan for improvement. UCCS has a number of online study skills resources as well.

Seeking help is not a sign of weakness! The director of the SMART Learning Commons says most of the students they see are good students who just want to do their best.

—Etiquette Dinner
Students (and even parents) can sign up for the annual Etiquette Dinner to learn which fork is for your salad, where to place your napkin when leaving the table, whether to tell someone they have food in their teeth, and how to professionally handle any dining situation. The dinner includes a three-course meal catered by D'Amico and Sons, and it will be served at the McNamara Alumni Center from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, October 20. Reservations are $20 for students, $30 for University of Minnesota Alumni Association members, and $35 for the general public. Reservations must be made by 6 p.m. tomorrow, October 14, and can be made online.

—Parents' Role in Student Success
In recent parent e-mails, we have discussed how parents contribute to student success by understanding the student experience, supporting student learning, and empowering students to take personal responsibility for their social and academic choices. In order to help parents understand those steps at the college level, the University of Minnesota has developed a set of Desired Outcomes for Parent/Family Involvement to help facilitate appropriate and successful family involvement during the college years.

The second of our parent outcomes asks parents to support the University's goals for student learning and development.

College is all about personal growth and discovery. Students gain critical skills when they set and achieve their own goals and make responsible decisions related to their academics, career planning, social interactions, and community engagement. A major part of student development during the college years is the process of examining personal values and learning about the values and beliefs of others. There will be times when students face uncertainty as they make decisions and as they compare their beliefs with those of their friends and classmates. As tempting as it may be for parents to set ground rules and boundaries for their student, the reality is that students will be making decisions and choices based not only on family history and expectations, but also on the academic, social, and practical influences they experience on campus. By thinking through their values, goals, and choices, students find that their beliefs become more deeply ingrained and develop into a key part of their core identity.

It is almost inevitable that at some point, college students will face disappointments, and they will make mistakes. It's a natural reaction for parents to want to prevent their child's disappointments and protect them from the consequences of their mistakes, but students do need to learn to deal with consequences. It is important that they accept responsibility for their choices. Parents help most when they encourage their student to examine their disappointments and look hard at the unexpected outcomes. Encourage your student to assess what caused the problems, consider what can be done to improve a difficult situation, and take steps to avoid similar problems in the future.

—Flu-shot Clinics
Boynton Health Service and the University of Minnesota are experiencing a shortage of seasonal flu vaccine, which has resulted in canceling several of the scheduled flu-shot clinics in recent weeks. H1N1 flu vaccine has not yet been received.More information on how “high priority” groups can obtain their flu vaccine will be posted later this week on www.bhs.umn.edu/services/fluclinics/. A campus-wide e-mail will also be sent to students as new information becomes available.

—Miscellaneous
Please check the October Parent Question of the Month on the University Parent Web page: www.parent.umn.edu.

Sincerely,
Marjorie Savage
Parent Program Director
University of Minnesota
www.parent.umn.edu