8 Tips for Parents

Be Supportive.

Listen to your student, ask questions and discuss issues brought up. Though your student is now in college and more independent, your support and encouragement continue to be very important.

Let go.

Let them make their own decisions, solve their own problems, and pick their own courses and major. Let their choices be based on intellectual passion, not perceptions of which major is safest or most pragmatic.

Stay in touch, but perhaps not too much.

Between their busy schedules and changes in their sleeping patterns, it may be hard to reach them. Help foster their growing independence by being in touch less frequently than you are used to, and don’t be surprised if your calls or e-mails go unreturned.

Don’t focus on grades.

When you do talk to your kids, try not to focus on grades. Ask which faculty members they have met, which classes they enjoy, what they are learning and what they are dong for fun. What they need to know from you is that you believe in them.

Have conversations about lifestyle choices before they come to campus.   

Talk to your child in advance about the choices they are likely to confront and help them determine what they value in their own behavior and that of others.

Listen and reassure.

At some point in their first year, many students feel overwhelmed. They may call home, fearing their admission was a mistake. Listen, encourage and reassure. Suggest they talk to their academic adviser or another faculty member. Remind them that Student Support Services can help with tutoring and study skills.

Encourage them to learn for the sake of learning.

Suggest they take a course in a subject that they have never studied before. Many students are accustomed to collecting credentials needed for college admissions. Encourage them, instead, to learn for the sake of learning.

Encourage your student to seek out his or her own solutions.

Your role is one of supporting rather than fixing. As you will discover, Indiana Tech has many tools for students to use. Feel free to offer advice when asked, but allow your student to be responsible for solving issues and problems on their own as well.