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Dawn Coder is Senior Director of Online Student Success at Penn State World Campus.
I remember the first time my faculty academic advisor told me that a student's parent showed up during a counseling call on Zoom. “I have a question,” a voice said off-screen. The voice was a parent, and the person slipped into view, saying he had been listening on the phone.
Until recently, our students Penn State World Campus, the online campus of Penn State University, were overwhelmingly adult learners. We weren't used to seeing our parents show up on the phone. However, this is becoming increasingly common as we see more students learning online.ho are members of Gen Z, generally considered people born after 1997.
Those of us in the field of online higher education must prepare our staff and institutions to engage and engage parents of traditional college students.
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Dawn Coder, Senior Director of Online Student Success, Penn State World Campus
Permission granted by Penn State World Campus
Yes, parents will probably be surprised to learn this. They do not have access to their child's course schedule, grades, etc. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law that protects the privacy of student records. To comply with FERPA, colleges cannot release education records to parents unless the student signs a consent form. However, parents will be their children's strongest advocates as online learners, so we must view their presence as an opportunity rather than a challenge.
There are several things you can do to achieve this. We need to set expectations for parents and educate them on what it is like to be an online learner. We will also need to train staff on how to build strong relationships with parents.
Before the pandemic, 80% of undergraduate students were adult learners. Penn State defines an adult learner as a student 24 years of age or older. Students who are veterans or active-duty military, students returning to school after four or more years, and students in adult roles such as parents or employees.
For the 2023-24 academic year, the percentage of adult learners at Penn State World Campus decreased by 13 percentage points to 67%. This means that the number of students aged 18 to 22 increased by 13 percentage points.
These changes have led us to invest our staff time and energy into creating new resources for parents, guardians, spouses, and others who have a strong interest in the success of our online learners.
Generation Z students and adult learners come to college from a variety of places.
Adult learners are usually busy “adulting.” Their daily lives involve a delicate balance of personal, professional, and educational responsibilities. They are working, raising families, and may even join the military. You can also care for your aging parents instead of having them look over your shoulder over a Zoom call. It's been a while since you entered high school or left college before graduating. The most important thing is that they are making their own decisions and have been doing so for some time.
Generation Z students lack life experience and are not yet independent. Parents may make or influence decisions, especially for those who live at home after high school. Parents expect to continue to have this influence or participate in decision-making when their children enroll in college online.
We know that students who have family and friends who advocate for them as online learners are more likely to stay in college and graduate. That’s why we need to increase support for online Gen Z learners and use these resources for adult learners as well.
We believe that parents, guardians, and other supporters, such as spouses, friends, and other family members, will benefit from the orientation that Penn State World Campus is developing for online learning at the university. During this orientation, we will outline the resources we offer, share tips and best practices for success such as time management strategies, and highlight what students can do each week of the course. We will also address important dates, processes, and confidential information through FERPA.
Online learners can find this information through our new student orientation program, but it's important for learners' advocates to know all of this too.
After orientation, parents and advocates will be provided with shared tips and guidance that reinforces expectations.
We will be creating new resources for staff to use when communicating with parents. For example, if a parent calls to say that their child wants to drop a philosophy course, the advisor cannot determine whether the student is taking philosophy because of FERPA. Instead, the staff member may speak in general terms by explaining how you can cancel your Penn State course. And if a student specifically wants us to speak with their parents, their advisor may instruct them to fill out a form to authorize us to speak with their parents.
This way, advisors can support parents without violating confidentiality protocols, parents have a high level of information, and students can take action.
We must keep another consideration in mind. We have approximately 500 international students, and for some students it may be culturally customary for parents to make decisions for their adult children. We seek to provide an inclusive, welcoming, and equitable environment for all students while respecting their cultural practices and fulfilling our obligations under FERPA. In these situations, students may provide written permission to allow their parents to communicate with school staff.
Additionally, our staff may find themselves in different types of advising situations than what adult learners are accustomed to. They can guide Gen Z students to fully understand their circumstances, such as the demands of their chosen career field, so they can make decisions that are best for them. It helps you grow into a responsible adult.
After all, that's what we all want. That is, mature, successful students who will graduate and use their degrees to become self-sufficient. Your parents may be off-screen or behind the scenes as you progress through your studies each semester, but their role as strong supporters is very important. We need to leverage this support to help our students get to the finish line.