A sculpture on Central Campus called "Arriving Home"

Your Student's Transition

Your student's transition to Michigan will be very different from the typical new student transition. As most of the courses for Winter Term will be conducted online, your student will need to master not only the rigor of U-M courses, but also the skills required to be successful online (see next section). In addition, many students will be starting their Michigan career without leaving home, which is probably not how they envisioned their first term at Michigan. For those students who are moving to Ann Arbor, they will find the campus much less active than usual and will have to adjust to U-M's Covid regulations and testing.

Parent & Family Transition

As much as your students are experiencing the transition to the University of Michigan, you may be experiencing a transition as well. This may be your first experience with a child attending college and the demands and time commitment that college courses require. If your student is leaving home, you may be experiencing an empty nest for the first time, or making an adjustment with one less person around the house.

This transition can carry a mixture of emotions, including a sense of loss, feelings of concern, and fear of the unknown, as well as excitement for your student's future and pride in their accomplishments. All of these feelings are normal but can be exacerbated by the challenge of the pandemic.

Supporting Your Student

As you attempt to navigate your student's transition, and your own, we offer these tips on managing this experience:

Trust your past parenting. You may feel nervous if your student comes to campus and becomes more independent. Remember, your students are bright and motivated individuals and the lessons and values you have taught them throughout their lives will continue to inform them as they transition to Michigan.

Encourage your student's independence and decision-making. In addition to what they will learn in the classroom, some of students' greatest lessons will be learned through developing their autonomy. Making their own decisions and learning to navigate the consequences — positive or negative — of those decisions is a great learning process. As a parent, observing this process from the sidelines, and not the front row as you may have been used to, can be nerve-wracking and challenging. But allowing students this opportunity is important to their development into more capable and confident adults.

Discuss “realistic expectations” with your student. Although your student may be accustomed to being at the top of their class, it is important to set realistic expectations as they enter the University of Michigan, where many of our students were at the top of their class. Students may no longer be at the top 10% of their class, but they can still set realistic and self-compassionate benchmarks for themselves as they navigate a new academic environment. In the COVID-19 environment of online learning, self-compassion and realistic expectations may be more important than ever as students may find the online learning to be more difficult than learning in person.

Know when to intervene. Although developing independence is central to transitioning to Michigan, ultimately, you know your student best. If they seem off to you or if you are concerned about their behaviors, discuss this with them and be familiar with the resources available to help.

Be a bridge for them. Help your student navigate the process of accessing resources they will need at Michigan. For students moving to campus, if your student has been in mental health treatment and it would be helpful for them to continue, assist them with insurance information and longer-term community referrals. Familiarize yourself with campus resources (listed throughout this online course) and empower your student to seek them out when they encounter challenges.

Additional information about the student and family transition, along with recommended books on the topic, can be found on the M-Parent website.