What parents are hearing in their CWE sessions

For better or for worse, your parents are essentially hearing all of the same information in their sessions that you’re hearing.

However, unlike the student experience at Camp War Eagle, the parent orientation is completely optional to parents and guests. So, they can come and go as they please.

Of course, a large part of college is being responsible for yourself, but Auburn wants to ensure that any parents or guests accompanying you at CWE have the chance to be a resource to you as well.

The information is basically the same, but the matter in which the information is presented is slightly different than how the students receive it.

While student groups learn about most of the information in their small groups and in “Tiger Talks,” parents learn about a lot of the information in informational sessions in various offices across campus.

One slight difference in the parent experience and the camper experience at CWE is that the parents hear from Parent and Family Programs on the second day, which focuses on the setting boundaries and expectations for the student and parent.

Here, they will talk about the different ways to deal with the sometimes difficult conversations between parent and student, such as deciding whether to give the parents access to see the student’s grades or medical records.

The parents also get assigned to smaller groups where they get a parent counselor just like the camper counselor. The parent counselors host two meetings in the morning and two in the afternoon on the first day to provide any clarification or specification on the information learned in the different offices.

“They’ll kind of give a take on what Auburn students should expect using these resources, how to use them and what their personal stories were, which I think the parents will find reassuring,” said Mason Sherman, one of the head parent counselors. “A lot of the parents like to hear what it’s like to be an Auburn student, not necessarily how to use a Tiger Card or what to use a Tiger Card for.”

The information that the parents will hear will also be focused a little more on the student to institution relationship. So, they might hear more detailed information from Student Financial Services or the Office of the Registrar.

“I think it’s an experience meant to welcome them into the Auburn Family,” Sherman said. “Parents and students are both at the pep rally together, so that’s an exciting time.”