four students walking in front of the Clark Library
Shepard Academic Resource Center
Pilot Parent Newsletter
September 2017
Dear Parents,  
Congratulations!  Your students have now officially started college at University of Portland.  We hope you enjoyed your experience at Orientation and would like to receive your feedback.  To complete an orientation evaluation, please login to the Guidebook application on your smartphone, find “University of Portland Orientation 2017” and click on the “Feedback” section.  If you were unable to attend Orientation, please review the Orientation website and Orientation Booklet for parent specific resources and presentations. All parents are welcome to contact the Shepard Center for questions and connections to the resources available for your students.
Our first advice: if there is a problem or a phone call in the middle of the night, do not drop everything and speed to UP.  Wait 24 hours and check back. You will find, as other parents have, that crises often are resolved by the freshmen themselves and by local UP staff. 
Expect indecision when it comes to a major.  Students may enter UP with their entire career planned and suddenly discover from their introductory class that this is not what they want to do.  If your students are uncertain as to what they wish to study, remind them that UP has a set of core requirements that allows students a taste of everything.  This is the perfect way to start on the path toward a more narrow focus in college.  Also, encourage your student to talk to his or her advisor, who will provide help choosing a major.  The Career Center department on campus will also be helpful with their Interest Survey, called the ONET, designed to get students on the right path.
Please find the enclosed document that highlights some of the issues that arise in the first six weeks of college and how you can help coach your student through these experiences.
Here are some important University dates to keep in mind:
  • October 1: FAFSA available for the 2018-19 academic year. If you plan to use financial aid, including loans, it is time to complete your application for next year already. The FAFSA should be completed with your 2016 tax information. Contact Financial Aid with questions.
  • Oct 16-20: Fall Break, no classes – residence halls remain open.
  • Oct 20: Mid-semester warnings and midterm grades due (grades available in student’s self-serve or Banner Proxy for parents whose students have given FERPA access)
  • Nov 20: Last day to withdraw from a course.  If your student experiences difficulty in a course now encourage them to keep trying the course, speak with their advisor, and use campus resources.
  • December 11 – 14: Semester Examinations (exam schedule available on Registrar’s Office website)
  • December 15: Residence Halls close at 12PM (noon). Plan flights accordingly.
Finally, you can opt to go paperless and receive an email copy of this newsletter. Please visit the SARC webpage and click on “Services” then “Parent and Family Resources” to find the link and submit one or more email addresses.  If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us by telephone 1-800-227-4568 x7895 or at 503-943-7895 or e-mail sarc@up.edu.

Issues that Arise During the First Six Weeks of College Life & Hints About Solutions


Roommate Conflicts: Usually arise because of lack of understanding, unwillingness to compromise, personality differences, lack of communication, etc.  If your son/daughter has not experienced distress about their roommate, ask them if they have conflicting ideas about when to turn off lights, when to clean the room, etc.  Encourage your student to discuss these issues before they become a problem.
Suggested Questions:
  • Ask students if they spoke with their RA (resident assistant) on their floor.  They are trained to help students resolve these issues. 
  • Ask students if they asked the RA to mediate a discussion with the roommate.
  • If they did both and still experience problems, ask if they spoke with the HD (Hall Director). 
Social Adjustment: Students may feel inadequate because a peer group does not immediately accept them.
Suggested Questions:
  • Have they gone beyond their residence hall to look for peers? 
  • Have they participated in a volunteer group? 
  • Have they joined an intramural sports team? 
  • If they are taking a foreign language—have they met with a foreign language assistant in the Learning Commons? 
  • Have they joined an academic group in their major or in an interest area such as the Student Nurses Association or the Music Club? 
  • Have they gone to a play?  A Christian fellowship or Bible meeting?  A lecture?  A retreat?
Academic Adjustment: Feelings of inadequacy and inferiority due to discrepancy between high school grades and initial college performance.  Remind students that college is not high school, and they may need to learn different styles or methods of studying.
Suggested Questions:
  • Have they talked to their professor for that course?  The course syllabus includes office hours, phone number and email address.
  • Have they been to the Learning Commons? Services include peer mentorship in Writing, Math, Languages, Chemistry, Presentations and Group Processes
  • Have they met with their academic advisor?  Advisors post office hours and sign-up sheets on their office doors.
  • If they do not know who their advisor is, they may come to the Shepard Academic Resource Center or their Dean’s office and ask. 
  • If the student says their professor and advisor are never available, ask if they left a voice message or sent an email (all professors have both email and voice mail). 
  • Have they been to Learning Assistance Workshops, such as Time Management, Learning Strategies, and Test Taking Strategies?  Or set up an appointment for one-on-one assistance?
  • Are they attending their first-year workshop?
  • Have they gone to the Shepard Academic Resource Center for assistance?  
Financial Adjustment: Well, this is one area where we doubt we have to prompt parents.  However, expect requests for money.  Often students must be settled before they realize exactly what they need.  Groceries and other items tend to add up.  Before long, students could find themselves in money trouble. 

Physical Wellbeing:  Illness strikes. It is inevitable every school year that colds, flu viruses, what is called “stomach flu” and other ailments can strike.  The flu will make its rounds among students and our hope is we can prevent spikes in infection rates that could cause disruption of programs and activities. What can your student do?
Suggested questions:
  • Ask your student if they carry tissues in case they need to rub their eyes or face, and can thereby keep their hands off their eyes. The tissues can also be handy for containing sneezes or coughs to avoid contaminating another student.
  • Ask your student if she or he is making sure to eat, sleep, and hydrate properly to keep a healthy foundation of health and ward off illnesses.
  • Ask you student their plans for getting immunizations for the seasonal flu.  The flu is definitely no fun and can be disruptive of academic goals.  The vaccine uses dead virus so no one can catch the flu from the vaccine. If someone gets sick around the time of a vaccination, it is likely they were already carrying the illness and it simply coincided with the vaccination.
  • Ask if they use the hand sanitizers. The sanitizers say anti-bacterial, but the research shows it actually kills the virus as well.
  • Ask if they are in contact with their instructors or if they are self-isolating. Communication is key. They should not wait until the illness is over.  They should email the instructors with updates on their illness status and keep up with the course requirements from their room/home as much as they can.
Test Anxiety: Develops with students taking their first college exams or tests.  Anxieties about not really knowing what the professor expects, how the test will be designed, whether they studied the right material, and just plain unnecessary worry. Professors normally discuss the content and format before the test, but students may begin to worry too early.
Suggested Questions:
  • Have they talked to their professor for that class?  The course syllabus includes office hours.
  • Have they been to Learning Assistance Workshops, such as Test Taking Strategies or Overcoming Test Anxiety?  Or set up an appointment for one-on-one assistance with the Learning Assistance Counselor, a resource in the Shepard Center?
Family Problems: These seem amplified because the student is so far away and may feel helpless in helping reach an answer.  In this case, the family may not even know the student is concerned.  However, the student can make appointments with the counseling professionals at the University Health and Counselling Center, the Campus Ministry staff, the residence hall RA, or the pastoral resident in their hall.
Disenchantment with School: Students begin to realize that life at college is not as perfect as they were led to believe by friends, teachers, parents, and counselors.  Old problems seem to continue and new ones are added.  Usually these are combinations of the stresses listed above.
Suggested Questions:
  • Are they feeling homesick, missing friends or significant others? 
  • Ask if they spoke with Shepard Academic Resource Center staff, the counseling professionals at the University Health and Counselling Center, the Campus Ministry staff, the residence hall RA, or the pastoral resident in their hall.
If your student has any concerns and you are not certain where to direct them, call or email the Shepard Academic Resource Center, (503) 943-7895 or sarc@up.edu.  We are located in Buckley Center, room #101.
sarc@up.edu | 503.943.7895 | 5000 N. Willamette Blvd., Portland, OR 97203
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