Parent Success Tips & Emergency Information

College Success Tips for Parents

• Support the college advising office in our message to your student to take control of their educational career.
• Stay in contact with your student to express support via email, texting, phoning, etc.
• Students may waiver in their major decisions, encourage them to talk with their advisor about the resources they can utilize to solidify this decision.
• Listen but let your student solve their own problems as much as possible.
• Remember that your family is also transitioning to college.
• Care packages to your student are welcome!
• Make sure your student has a clear picture of their financial obligations and of yours.
• Homesickness is natural, encourage your student to stay at school on the weekends.
• When they do come home, don't be surprised if they want to spend time with friends instead of the family.
• Send supplemental laundry instructions.
• Encourage your student to consider college as their full-time job worthy of their full attention.
• Remind your student that college is harder than high school and requires different modes of learning and instruction.

Emergency Notification

If your student will be absent from classes for two or more days, please notify the Dean of Students at 419-372-2843. The Dean of Students will contact the college office, and we will in turn send notification of your student's absence to their instructors. However, this notification does not supersede syllabi constraints. Students are responsible for staying in contact with individual instructors to arrange for missed assignments, exams, attendance, etc.

If you are unable to reach your student via your normal contact mode, you can call the front desk of their residence hall to see if a Resident Advisor can get ahold of them. You can also contact University Police (419-372-2346). If your student lives off campus, you can contact University Police or City of Bowling Green Police (419-352-2571). 

Counseling Center

The BGSU Counseling Center assists students with social and personal concerns that may interfere with their academic progress and day to day functioning. Although our office provides counseling services to BGSU students only, we are available to consult with family members, faculty, staff, and others about concerns that pertain to the welfare of students. 

As you are interacting with your student it is important to be aware of what signs of distress warrant referral or attention. Some warning signs include change in academic performance, personality, weight, hygiene, social functioning, alcohol/drug use, mood, and habits. Warning signs that warrant immediate attention include expressions of suicidal thoughts or intent, expression of violence towards others, severe loss of ability to function or cope in her/his own life, bizarre behavior or significant impairment in thinking ability. The Counseling Center is here as a resource for students in crisis and to assist students experiencing non-crisis concerns.

The Counseling Center is a resource to consult, assess, treat, and coordinate care for students along with other campus and community resources. Students interested in initiating services are encouraged to Come Sit With Us during walk-in hours Monday through Friday 1 :30-4 p.m. The Counseling Center is open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and provides individual, group, and couples counseling, consultation, and crisis intervention. This service is at no additional fee to students, and Counseling Center staff are bound by the principles of confidentiality as defined by our disciplines and Ohio Law. For additional parent/guardian resources, visit the Counseling Center website.