Ahh, college: a time to get away from the choke-hold parents have on every aspect of student life, from parental permission slips to Parent-Teacher night to report cards. The relationship between students' parents and their instructors was important, maybe even overwhelming. But all that changes after high school graduation, right?
Perhaps not. Some universities have reported seeing more and more "helicopter parents" - mothers and fathers who hover over the academic lives of their children in an attempt to exert the same control they had when their child was in secondary school. ABC News and Career Journal have both reported on the phenomenon and its potentially harmful effects. But professors at Tufts say moms or dads rarely - if ever - get involved for academic reasons.
Some see this as a testament to the independence of most Jumbos, while others say Tufts parents should be more involved.
French lecturer Anne-Christine Rice said that in her six years at Tufts, she has never had a parent contact her. For Rice, the level of communication she has with parents is disappointing.
"I think it's a shame," she said. "As a parent, I know that I would want to have an idea of what my child is learning at college. I wouldn't want parents to contact me over a student's grade, but I'd like to see more parents sitting in on classes."
Associate Professor of Sociology Paula Aymer classified her communication with parents as "irregular but necessary."
"I usually am only contacted by parents when a student is struggling either emotionally or health-wise," Aymer said. "Parents call to make sure I've heard about their child's condition."
According to Dean of Undergraduate Education James Glaser, his office receives several phone calls each day from parents with questions about their child's health, well-being, and academic standing. The office handles parents' concerns by referring students to the Academic Resource Center, Health Services, the Rules and Regulations Committee, or the Counseling Center.
Glaser said that while some parents do attempt to overstep boundaries, the majority are respectful of the university's authority.
"Parents generally recognize that the students are the ones who are supposed to have an adult relationship with their professors," he said.
Glaser elaborated by saying that parents most often call because they want to see their child's transcripts.
"Most parents are paying for the tuition bills," he said, "so they feel they have a right to see the student's grades."
According to Glaser, since most students are legally adults, the university may not share their grades without consent. In an effort to facilitate convenient communication between parents and the administration, Student Services is launching a new Web site for parents this spring that will allow parents to see their child's grades online if the student has permitted them to do so. The site will be linked to the Parents Program Web site, which is also being redesigned.
According to Aymer, the university is set up to prevent communication between parents and professors. Instead, she said, Tufts encourages parents to first contact the administration with their concerns.
"Our job as professors is primarily to provide academic support to students," Aymer said.
Glaser agreed with Aymer's assessment of the administration's role.
"It is my office's responsibility, not the professor's, to deal with parents and make sure that the student is okay," he said.
Many students concurred with Glaser that communication between parents and professors is inappropriate in the college setting.
Sophomore Ashti Mistry, a child development major whose mother is an associate professor in the same department, said that she would be against her mother talking to one of her professors about an academic issue.
"In college you are supposed to go out on your own as an adult," she said. "If your parent is speaking to your professor, then you are still leaning on them."
Freshman Denise St. Peter, who attended a small public high school in rural Maine where her parents knew many of her teachers personally, expressed similar feelings, saying that while her parents were eager to hear about the grades she received in college, she wouldn't want them to contact one of her professors.
"I would absolutely not be okay with that," St. Peter said.
On the whole, administrators said that parents are generally happy with the level of communication they have with Tufts. Dean of Student Services Paul Stanton, the father of a former Tufts student, said that although he knew many of his daughter's professors, he never spoke to them about her.
"I believed that her academic issues were her academic issues," Stanton said.
However, Stanton described his experience of being a Tufts dad as being "tremendous."
"Being a Tufts parent allowed me to learn so much more about the school," he said. "I think that Tufts is a very parents-friendly place."
Director of the Tufts Parents Program Jessica Papatolicas said the feedback she receives from parents is "overwhelmingly positive."
"Parents send handwritten notes to me regularly, send kind comments to us through our Web address and frequently express their happiness with Tufts to President Bacow, Provost Bharucha, and other university administrators," she said in an e-mail. "Their high level of attendance at our events, strong participation in our fundraising campaigns and overall involvement with the university also speaks to their satisfaction and positive regard."
For parents who do wish to increase the level of their involvement with Tufts, Papatolicas said the Parents Program provides them with plenty of options for doing so.
"There are so many opportunities and outlets for involvement, both formal and informal, from preparing snacks for an athletic team trip, to joining the Parents Committee," she said. "Parents can employ Tufts interns, lend career advice, host an event, speak at an event, promote student performances or athletic events ... they can even run the marathon to support Tufts health initiatives."
