Supporting your resident student

Your son or daughter may think that he or she already knows everything, but if going to college is their first experience living independently, they’ll likely turn to you for help during this time of transition. We have put together some tips from others who have been in your shoes - tips that will help you help us to help your student.

Enjoying the residence experience

Living in residence is living in a community where many of the residents are going through the same transition and everyone is involved in new learning experiences. It’s a great time and place to meet new people, make new friends and gain knowledge and skills. Living with roommates can be part of this great experience, but occasionally problems arise.
Sharing a living space requires patience, understanding, compromise and above all, communication. Here are some suggestions to help your student have a memorable and rewarding residence experience:

1. Remind your son or daughter to have an open mind and not to rely on first impressions. Move-in day is a huge change for everyone and the stress and heightened anxiety involved on this day may not be the best indicator of anyone’s personality. Furthermore, what makes a roommate different is also what makes them unique and interesting.
2. Encourage your son or daughter to get involved in residence activities. This will help them transition quickly. Getting to know everyone will typically help them get off to a successful academic start.
3. Keep the lines of communication open to allow a safe place to vent their frustrations over the phone. You’re likely to hear all the things they don’t want to say to anyone else, and one day’s “crisis” may well be forgotten the next day. Encourage your student to solve his or her own problems, knowing that trained Residence Services staff are there to backstop any bumps.
4. Talk to your son or daughter about seeking out on-campus resources both before and after conflicts arise. Our dedicated Residence Services staff are ready to help and want living in residence to be the best experience it can be. But we can’t help unless we know what might be wrong. Encourage them not to wait until a problem gets too big. An early conversation is the best way to tame a conflict beast.
5. Encourage students to exhaust other possibilities before trying to get out of campus housing, not only because we believe they’ll miss all the benefits of living on campus, but also because there are ramifications to breaking the Contract/Accommodation Agreement. Students should be aware of their options before making decisions affecting their housing. Again, our staff is here to help.

For more information for parents, please feel free to visit our Residence Life website.