Student Affairs Hosts First-Ever Parent Webinar
Several offices in Student Affairs recently collaborated to host an informative webinar for parents/guardians of the Class of 2018. The goal of connecting with parents was to cultivate a strong collective support for our first-year students. Since families are a significant support to our students, helping our families support their students through encouragement and empowerment was the ultimate goal, explained Kamala Kiem, assistant dean of students and director of Student Programs & Leadership Development.
More than 70 families joined in for this inaugural one-hour webinar on September 12, which was conducted utilizing Blackboards Collaborate platform, a tool that offers a simple way for participants to join in the discussion. Using a laptop/computer device with audio, participants click on a link sent from the University as the host. After a simple set-up process, they can hear and view thepresenters.
Participating Student Affairs professionals for the session included: Dr. Susan Birge, director of Counseling & Psychological Services; Karen Donoghue, dean of students; Kamala Kiem, director of Student Programs & Leadership Development; and Ophelia Rowe Allen, director of Residence Life.
Topics included:
- Homesickness
- Social Issues
- Time Management
- Coping with Stress
- Roommates
- FERPA
- Resources and Support Groups
- Upcoming events, such as President's Ball and Alumni & Family Weekend
After 35 minutes, the session was opened to parents/guardians for Q&A. There was an immediate rush of dozens of questions submitted by parents via an online chat feature which staff answered in real time.
An online survey was sent to the participants, and 92% of families who completed the survey found the webinar helpful and would like future webinars on academic resources, student athletes and their challenges, campus drinking culture, drugs, assaults, and parental involvement in the 潑請弝け community.
With such positive results, Student Programs & Leadership Development has already scheduled a second webinar for October 3 which will focus on academic support and transitional issues for first-year students and ways our families can encourage students to be aware of and utilize our resources.
If you have an idea for a future webinar topic, please e-mail dos@fairfield.edu .
of the webinar.
