The following parents have been elected for positions on the Parents Association Executive Board for the 2007-2008 academic year:

President: Steve Helpern
Steve can be contacted at parentprz@hartford.edu

Vice President: Michael Tortora
Mike can be contacted at michael.a.tortora@dom.com

Financial Secretary: Jay Bernstein
Jay can be contacted at bernsteinjay@yahoo.com

Recording Secretary: Robert Pearston
Bob can be contacted at robert.pearston@agfa.com

Members At Large: Marilyn Bernstein& Barbara Wax
Marilyn can be contacted at marilynnb0317@yahoo.com
Barbara's email will be posted shortly

Past President: Ruth Molta-Cohn
Ruth can be contacted at rcohn@boston.k12.ma.us

A letter from the Parents Association President (pdf)

2007-2008 Parents Association Meeting Dates

September 16, 2007
October 20, 2007 (note: this is Parents Weekend)
November or December dates TBD shortly
February 3, 2008
February 10, 2008 (snow date)
March 9, 2008
April 13, 2008

Parents Association meetings are open to all parents of a University of Hartford student (or a recently graduated student). A few weeks prior to the upcoming meeting an email will be sent to all parents who are receiving emails from the Office of Parent Relations to confirm location and attendence. All meetings will begin at 1:00 pm unless othewise indicated in the email.

Please note that the October 20th date is actually a reception with President Walter Harrison. The reception will take place in the Konover Campus Center beginning at 4:00 p.m.

The Financial Aid Office mailed a brochure entitled “2008-2009 Financial Aid Guidelines and Deadlines” to students’ permanent addresses during winter break. The brochure outlines requirements and deadline dates that need to be met in order to be considered for financial aid for the 2008-2009 academic year. This brochure should be saved for future reference. It is the student’s responsibility to file the 2008-2009 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on time so that the maximum amount of financial aid for which they are eligible may be awarded. The FAFSA can be filed after January 1, 2008 and it must be received by the federal processor by March 1, 2008. It is strongly recommended that students file the FAFSA online at www.fafsa.ed.gov. It is faster and the renewal process is easier. Students who are applying for financial aid for the first time should log onto www.fafsa.ed.gov, and apply for a Personal Identification Number (PIN). When that number has been assigned, go onto the FAFSA website again to file the application. Dependent students need a parent’s signature on the FAFSA. A parent can apply for a PIN, or the signature page of the FAFSA can be downloaded, signed and mailed to the address provided on the signature page. Our Federal School Code is 001422. 2007 Federal tax returns do not have to be filed before completing the FAFSA. Figures may be estimated based on the information on W2 statements or year to date pay stubs received from employers in January, figures from last year’s Federal tax return, or information from your 2007 tax return draft. If estimated figures are used, they should be corrected by May 1, 2008. It is very important that the FAFSA provides correct information at the time financial aid is awarded in June. If the student’s FAFSA is selected for verification, the Financial Aid Office will request certain documents to be provided so that we can verify that the information on the FAFSA is accurate. Please refer to our website at www.hartford.edu for additional information or feel free to contact us at 800.947.4303 or 860.768.4296 if you have any questions.

Dear University of Hartford Parents,

We have enclosed information about an important service available to you through the University of Hartford, which will provide for proper medical attention and family notification if your student is in a medical emergency.

In emergency situations, hospitals do not have access to important medical information and do not know who to contact. If your son/daughter is away from campus, e.g. on spring break, or visiting a friend at another college, the hospital will not know how to contact you. Our program with CareCall, will provide this service 24-hour a day, 7-day a week. No one ever plans emergencies, but with CareCall you can effectively prepare for one.

In addition, there is a law that restricts hospitals from releasing Protected Health Information (PHI). The HIPAA Privacy Rule requires an individual, 18 years or older, give consent before health information can be shared, even with parents. Because of this, you would not be contacted should an emergency arise and your son or daughter is unable to consent. CareCall provides a release form that, once signed by the student and kept on file with CareCall, complies with the HIPAA law and empowers the hospital to notify you of your student’s condition.

Without this document pre-signed by the student and CareCall’s notification service, it could take hours, even days, for you to be notified of your child’s condition and for the hospital to receive important medical information essential to your child’s care. If something happened to your student, you would not only want, but expect, to hear right away.

CareCall issues each student a metal key tag, and two stickers, each with the student’s unique ID numbers and CareCall’s 24-7 toll-free hotline number, to apply to their driver’s license and student ID. In the event of a medical emergency - on campus or off - CareCall will: Notify you, family, friend and any other designated parties including the college

Relay critical medical history (allergies, blood type, and medication) to the emergency hospital

Provide your student’s HIPAA release form to the hospital

Now, thanks to a special arrangement with the University, CareCall has reduced their yearly fee by 10 percent so that parents of University of Hartford students only pay $35.95 for their student or $62.95 for the family plan. That’s a small price to pay for the peace of mind this service offers.

Because you need your membership package to arrive before your student leaves for school, we recommend you enroll as soon as possible. CareCall will send your membership package to your home within 2-4 weeks. Your membership package will include your secure UserID and Password allowing you to update your emergency contact and other information anytime you need to.

Enroll quickly on line at www.carecallsafe.com. Enter sponsor code: 18-1-UOH to be sure to get your discount. You will be able to set up all your emergency contacts right now. You can also enroll by calling Care Call toll free at 1-888-581-1110 and mention that you have a student that attends the University of Hartford.

Do you want to be better informed about what's happening at the University of Hartford?

The University community offers an online resource for daily news, event listings, sports scores, and other information about the University.

That resource is UNotes Daily, an online newsletter that will be updated every day, Monday through Friday, with the latest about what's happening on campus.

If you would like to receive daily headlines by e-mail every morning, send your e-mail address to unotes@hartford.edu, along with a note saying that you would like to subscribe to UNotes Daily.

Visit UNotes Daily

FERPA Facts Parents often want more information than school officials are legally able to give them. While most student affairs administrators welcome parental involvement and support, legal constraints under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and under many state “right to privacy” statutes often prevent administrators from effectively satisfying parents’ requests.

What makes this most challenging is that under FERPA, parents have complete access to their child’s K-12 school records. However, when their son or daughter enters college all FERPA rights, including the right to limit disclosure of any information to third parties (including parents), are transferred to their college student.

Unfortunately, many parents don’t learn of this change until there’s a crisis or problem at school involving their child and a staff member tells them they aren’t privy to certain information.

Campus administrators are bound by FERPA—it’s the law. To learn more, go to www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/parents.html. Information provided by Karen L. Simpkins, J.D., the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs at Eastern Michigan University. Her legal specialty is Education/Campus Law.

The institution can not release the following items without the student’s permission:

Grades, test scores, student ID numbers or social security numbers, financial records, disciplinary records and a class schedule.

The University of Hartford, in cooperation with WWUH radio (91.3 FM), has created a way to use music to help our Hartford-area neighbors. The MUSIC for a CHANGE benefit concert series has raised thousands of dollars for Greater Hartford charities and nonprofit organizations working to improve the lives of our neighbors. Performers who have appeared as headliners in the MUSIC for a CHANGE series include Wynton Marsalis, Art Garfunkel, Alison Krauss and Union Station, Shawn Colvin, Richie Havens, Jonathan Edwards, and Aztec Two-Step. For a full schedule of upcoming concerts, go to the website www.musicforachange.com

Parents - are you interested in sending a care package to your student? ARAMARK offers several different packages and you can find the information at www.hipkits.com.

The Center for Reading and Writing, located in room 209 of Auerbach Hall, provides academic support services for students interested in refining their reading, writing, and study skills. Students can receive individual help with written composition, research skills, reading comprehension, studying, and test taking. The Center's regular hours generally are Monday through Friday, 9:30am to 5:00pm., but each semester is different. Call 860-768-4312 for information regarding earlier openings, occasional extended hours, or drop-in hours in Mortenson Library. Please note: extended hours and library drop-in hours are offered only when tutors are available. Call 860-768-4312 to make an appointment.

LEARNING PLUS Auerbach Hall, Room 209 Learning Plus (L+) is the academic support service available to any University of Hartford student who has submitted appropriate documentation showing evidence of a specific learning disability and/or attention disability. Please note that Learning Plus is not a comprehensive program. Service determination is made on a case-by-case basis, depending on semester standing, grade-point average, and course curricula. Learning Plus provides the following types of service: 1. Letter of Disclosure: The student and the Director develop this official document which identifies the student’s disability and lists the student’s learning strengths and weaknesses. The student uses this document to facilitate a dialogue with individual professors to discuss the impact of the student’s disability on his/her performance in a particular course and to request specific accommodations. Letters of Disclosure must be resubmitted each semester. 2. Direct Strategies: Students make an appointment to work with a Learning Specialist, a masters-level professional, for the entire semester. Direct instruction is provided in various metacognitive skills including time management and organizational strategies, as well as reading comprehension and written expression. The student and specialist meet once per week for 45 minutes. The Direct Strategies format is appropriate for 1st year students. 3. Check-In: Students schedule appointments on alternate weeks to work with a Learning Specialist who will provide monitoring and assistance with organizational strategies. The check-in format is appropriate for returning students. 4. Drop-In: Students may access Learning Plus on an “as needed” basis. Students contact the Director at the beginning of the semester to obtain a Letter of Disclosure. A student who utilizes “drop-in” hours does not have a regularly assigned Specialist but may work with one when assistance is needed and appointments are available. 5. Coaching: Students meet with a Coach/Specialist once per week for a total of 45 minutes. The purpose of coaching is to help students develop and strengthen their time management and organizational skills. This service is most appropriate for students who have attention disabilities. 6. Test Accommodations: Eligible students may qualify for extended time, a scribe or reader, assistive technology, and/or a low-distraction environment.

These books are suggestions from the Association of University and College Counseling Center Directors (they are in no particular order). Pick up one (or two or three)! "Millennials Go to College" by Neil Howe and William Strauss "Don't Tell Me What To Do, Just Send Money" by Helen E. Johnson and Christine Schelhas-Miller. "Empty Nest… Full Heart: The Journey from Home to College" by Andrea VanSteenhouse "Helping Your First Year College Student Succeed" by Richard H. Mullendore and Cathie Hatch (pamphlet of the National Orientation Directors Association) "Let the Journey Begin: A Parent's Monthly Guide to the College Experience" by Jacqueline Keirnan MacKay "Letting Go: A Parents' Guide to Understanding the College Years" by Karen Levin Coburn and Madge Lawrence Treeger "When Kids Go to College: A Parents' Guide to Changing Relationships" by Barbara M. Newman and Philip Newman

The Source (the student handbook) is now online at www.hartford.edu/TheSource. It is the source (hence, the name!) for policies, procedures, programs, services, and includes a special section for parents. Look it over… and if there is additional information that you need that is not included, send an email to the Office of Parent Relations at parents@hartford.edu.

For many students, it is difficult to come forward to complain about their peers and possible involvement in negative behavior. For this reason, Public Safety has established a Tip Line (768-7827). Students (or anyone), may call in information about a problem occurrence and remain anonymous. While it is preferred that Public Safety work with an established witness, the Tip Line does at least afford the opportunity to look into the issue. If you have any questions about the tip line, please email Judy Carlson, Director of Public Safety (jcarlson@hartford.edu).