What I Learned Listening to Parents

It was mid-August, and the emails and calls were arriving in waves. For two weeks, it seemed as though they would never stop.

Florida Southern College had just announced a change to its fall reopening plans. Instead of opening campus housing for all students, as originally planned, the college was limiting head count to about 50 percent capacity. The change was driven by increasing COVID-19 cases across Florida and in our county, local hospital capacity, and the advice of health and medical experts, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Over the next week, a team of Florida Southern College leaders responded to hundreds of emails and calls, mostly from parents, about why and how we made the change to a low-density student model. I called dozens of parents -- all from my personal cellphone so that they could reach me anytime, anywhere.

The calls were fascinating. Some parents shouted at me, but most spoke calmly and candidly about their hopes and fears for their child’s future. The common themes I heard offer insights as colleges and universities manage the current crisis … and prepare for eventual life after COVID-19.

Belief in the degree. Much has been debated and written about the declining demand for, and faith in, a college degree; however, my conversations revealed a breadth and depth of belief in transformative power of higher ed. It was refreshing and inspiring.

Universally, parents believe an undergraduate degree is the ticket to better lives for their sons and daughters. Parents were passionate about a degree being crucial to their child’s future.

That’s why they were so engaged on behalf of their son or daughter. The enthusiasm for learning, internships, undergraduate research and industry connections was intense. This was true for parents of freshmen, but particularly of those of seniors. Parents of more experienced students had already seen how an engaged, experiential education had prepared their student to enter the next phase of their life.

Transactional view. College is a significant investment for families, so I expected conversations to focus on money. This was especially true for parents of students who were not going to live on campus -- discussing housing and meal plan refunds and credits made perfect sense.

However, I was surprised how parents related the college experience to buying a car or renting an Airbnb. The focus was less about an investment in education and more about expenses and their role as a customer.

Perhaps this is to be expected during a global health and economic crisis, but long term, the shift from higher ed as an investment to an expense will have major implications.

Higher ed is a long-term value proposition. When facing a short-term crisis, parents are much more interested in immediate returns and benefits. On the other side of COVID-19, we must redouble our efforts to focus on improving how college is an investment that gains in value.

Pushback on distance learning. Florida’s oldest private college, Florida Southern boasts small classes where students bond with their professors and thrive in an experiential environment, a hallmark of a living-learning community. Naturally, parents want that environment for their students and found distance learning an unequal substitute.

While the resistance to distance learning may be stronger at smaller institutions, the national pushback can be seen at large, public universities, too. What the pandemic has shown is that technology can enhance the classroom experience (think hybrid models) but for many students it won’t replace face-to-face interactions.

Instead of ushering in a new embrace of distance learning, my conversations with parents showed the pandemic has highlighted the value of the personal, in-class experience.

Longing for normalcy. Since March, most students have been diligently balancing class, work and family needs in an unprecedented time of emotional and economic stress.

What they, and their parents, want more than anything is a return to normal activities and routines. That’s why Florida Southern has created multiple opportunities for students, both on-campus and remotely, to socialize in safe ways.

From outdoor movie nights and speaker events to esports and Zoom hangouts, colleges and universities must find creative ways to build community. This is especially important for freshmen. Transitioning to college is difficult enough in good times; doing so while isolated in dorm rooms won’t allow freshmen to build the social structures they need to be successful.

Student life teams must make extra efforts to build community and culture among students.

Communication is critical. When I worked at the University of Central Florida, a former UCF president was fond of saying, “I like our story best when we tell it ourselves.”

Emotions run high in a crisis, rumors abound and people are fearful. Much of that anxiety is fueled by fear of the unknown -- parents and students want to know what’s happening, what’s the plan and how it will impact their lives.

That means communicating clearly and often with students and parents.

But we must also understand the choices we’re forced to make will, by design, leave many people unhappy. When colleges and universities limit occupancy in residence halls and classrooms, students not allowed on campus will be understandably disappointed.

“As a parent, my heart is heavy with pain for my daughter,” one parent wrote to me in an email after we spoke. Her daughter was not returning to campus and will spend this semester as a remote learner.

That means empathy and compassion must be the currency of your communications.

The first three weeks at Florida Southern have gone well. Move-in went smoothly for the 50 percent of students on campus, and the number of positive cases so far remains low. Remote learning is improving and faculty are embracing the challenges of teaching in a new environment.

Some of the parents I spoke to in August text or call me from time to time now with questions or issues. We’re slowly rebuilding trust, which is essential as we continue to adapt to the unpredictability of the virus.

Listening to parents, even when many are unhappy, will help colleges and universities prepare for the next steps in managing the pandemic. My hope is that institutions use this experience to build stronger bonds with students and their parents.

Doing so now will help our communities better manage the next crisis.