Getting Started
Before getting started on the work of the Toolkit, it would be helpful to review this page, which also appears in section A of the Toolkit itself. Although staff and faculty may have more flexibility to make changes, student parents are the true experts on what is needed, and their/your participation is essential.
First Steps
- A.1 Planning for Toolkit Use
- A.2 Task Force Guidance
- A.3 Survey Preparation
Questions for Reflection
As you prepare to start utilizing the Toolkit, it will be helpful to reflect on the particular context and needs at your institution—on your own, with one or two others, and/or with your Task Force.
Why do you want to utilize the Toolkit?
What are your overall goals?
Where does support already exist for improving conditions and outcomes for parenting students??
How can those departments, offices, groups, individuals be helpful with this effort?
How do your goals align or overlap with existing campus strategic initiatives and priorities?
How can that alignment help this effort?
What are the barriers to implementing the Toolkit that are already apparent or that you anticipate?
Where can you get help to overcome these and other potential barriers?
How much of the Toolkit do you have the resources to implement now?
How does change happen at your institution?
What types of actions, allies, structures, etc., will be most helpful? What types of data will be most useful?
If you plan to implement most or all of the Toolkit, here are the first steps:
Download the Toolkit and Word Workbook
Download it from the website, if you haven’t already; it allows for entries directly into the data collection tools.
Find a Partner
The process will likely be easier, more enjoyable, and keep moving better if there are two partners fully committed to the process. It is helpful if the partners are from different segments of the institution, such as staff and faculty, or student services and academic services.
Familiarize Yourself with the Toolkit
Review the Overview of Contents as well as the Toolkit Fact Sheet and Implementation Profiles (in (D) Helpful Resources section).
Involve Others
Determine who you should inform or if you need any approvals to proceed further.
Determine Who You Should Inform
Determine who you should inform or if you need any approvals to proceed further.
Use the Questions for Reflection
See Questions for Reflections (above) to begin aligning use of the Toolkit with your particular needs and context.
Initiate Student Parent Input
Start thinking about how to get student parent input and involvement in the Toolkit process, including membership on the Task Force.
Promote the Initiative
Consider whether a college-wide announcement of the initiative would be useful at this stage to help raise awareness of your efforts and of student parents generally
Set up a Task Force
See Task Force Guidelines A.2. This is key to everything!
Implementing the Toolkit can take from a semester to a couple of years.
Look for a High-level Champion
This person can help you overcome at least some barriers; however, it is not essential to have such a champion.
Ask for Help
Even from those not directly involved with your efforts.
Don't Expect Everything to Go Smoothly
People are not accustomed to prioritizing this population. However, know that everything you do will make a difference.
Task Force Guidance
A campus-wide Task Force has proven to be the most essential part of enacting change on campus. Bringing individuals together from across the campus to talk about student parents regularly raises awareness and sparks new dialogue, regardless of other data collection activities.
Student Parents as Partners
It is important that student voices be at the center of this effort.
Invite student parents to be partners in this effort as their time, interest, and resources allow. While staff and faculty will likely need to do most of the work, there are key roles for students, beyond completing surveys.
Key Roles for Students:
- Being a regular member of the Task Force, or joining it for selected meetings when student input can be particularly useful;
- Sharing with and collecting information from campus student parent organizations, student government, etc.;
- Participating in dissemination activities;
- Helping to organize or participating in activities to raise awareness about student parents and advocating for recommendations to improve conditions, such as:
- Panels of student parents at forums on campus for staff, faculty, students, to raise awareness of the strengths, challenges, and barriers faced by student parents
- Meetings with the President, VPs, Board of Trustees, department heads, other influential decision-makers
- Visits to classes, advocating on behalf of themselves and the benefit to campus culture
- Advocating for family-friendly campus, state, and federal policies to better support parenting students in higher education through meetings with appropriate representatives beyond the institution (local, state, and federal officials, community agencies, etc.).