About WKU Parent & Family Programs

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WKU Parent & Family Programs Goals:

WKU Parent and Family Programs believes the partnership between the university and family members is critical to helping students achieve. Parent and Family Programs serves WKU families by:

• Providing information and resources to encourage the most appropriate level of involvement in your student’s college experience.

• Keeping you informed about campus news, information, and events.

• Serving as a central hub for communication between the university and families 

• Providing engagement opportunities to connect with university faculty, staff, and other WKU families

 

Family as Partners:

At WKU, we recognize the crucial role that families play in a student’s college education. It is our goal to provide the resources needed to best support students and provide opportunities to stay involved and create your own WKU experience. 

 

Statement of Inclusion:

When we talk about family, we mean anyone that is part of a student’s support network. We recognize that how people define family is as vibrant and diverse as the students on our campus. Family can mean a parent, grandparent, sibling, spouse, close friend, community member, immediate family, or extended family. We welcome any person that is part of a student’s family to participate in our programming and resources.

 

History:

WKU's Parents Association was established in March of 2000 and housed in the division of Development and Alumni Relations. The Association served as the university's official parent organization and strived to create a link between the institution and the parents and families of current students. Parents and families were included in an effort to establish goodwill and a connection to the university. The university recognized that parents and families could serve as resource tools for assisting with recruitment, public relations, volunteers for university events, and career advisors for current students.

Membership in the Association was determined on a charitable gift basis; an annual gift of any amount to the Parents Fund secured membership for a family. All parents, grandparents, and guardians of students enrolled at WKU were welcome to join the Association.

In December of 2012, the Parents Association moved from the division of Development and Alumni Relations to the division of Student Affairs. National trends indicated institutions of Higher Education across the nation were moving their parent and family programs to the division of Student Affairs.

The WKU Parents Association was eventually placed in the department of Housing and Residence Life, the first stop for many parents and family members of new students after their students are admitted. They want to know that their students have a safe, comfortable living environment on-campus. Because the department of Housing and Residence Life is often the first stop for parents and family members of new students, it made sense to place the Parents Association there, providing staff the opportunity to get parents and family members connected to the Association day one.

The WKU Parents Association has since become a component of the larger, umbrella organization of Parent and Family Programs. Parent and Family Programs is a part of Housing and Residence Life at WKU, with a strong foundation and purpose grounded in research and theory. While many of the Association's original programs remain a celebrated part of Parent and Family Programs, new ideas for engaging parents and family members are explored annually.