JMU - Parent Advice
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Parents and Family
You've entrusted James Madison University with your most valued treasure: your child. It's a role we take seriously. The Office of Parent Relations is here to partner with you in preparing your student to become an educated and enlightened citizen who will lead a productive and meaningful life.
Use this site to locate resources for parents and family members of JMU students and find information on the annual Family Weekend, Parents Council, send-off picnics, and other activities.
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Get to and from JMU
Have a student trying to get home? We can help with that. Planning a visit to JMU? We have information on that, too.
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Stay connected
Keep in touch with what's happening at the university through JMU news, The Breeze, Madison magazine, and more. Parents also receive the Madison Family Connection e-newsletter. Register your e-mail here.
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About JMU
JMU is changing the world — one person at a time. Learn about our mission, academic programs, national rankings, and get information on tuition and fees.
Resources
We expect parents and family members to play an active role in the success of your JMU student. The challenge is how to be involved while ensuring that your student is the one making the decisions, learning the lessons and taking healthy risks. What makes this hard (and for some downright scary) is that your student has to learn how to balance newfound freedoms with an immense degree of responsibility.
Below are some resources other JMU parents have found helpful during this time of learning and development.
Get Involved!
There are several ways for parents and grandparents to get involved with the university. There's the Parents Council, which serves as a liaison between the university and parents. Parents and grandparents can also provide valuable help to current student by serving as mentors in Professional Network (Recruit A Duke). Through the JMU Office of Career and Academic Planning, Recruit A Duke mentors provides current students advice and assistance that can help with their career development, from identifying a major to determining a career field of interest.
Campus Safety & Personal Responsibility
Dear Parents: We would like to welcome your child to the Shenandoah Valley and the city of Harrisonburg. Our area boasts one of the most beautiful landscapes as well as a strong economy, diverse culture, low crime rates and high-quality schools...However, please be aware that crime does occur throughout the city as well as in the college area. We ask that you talk to your child about personal responsibility to do the right thing but more importantly to not become a victim...
- Continue letter from Harrisonburg Police Department (PDF)
- Off Campus Safety Tips
- Harrisonburg City Laws and Ordinances
- Commonwealth of Virginia Laws
Suggested Readings
Many parents have found the following books helpful in preparing for and adjusting to their student's new life in college.
- Letting Go: A Parent's Guide to Understanding the College Years by Karen Levin Coburn and Madge Lawrence Treeger
- Don't Tell Me What to Do, Just Send Money: The Essential Parenting Guide to College by Helen E. Johnson and Christine Schelhas-Miller
- Guide to the College Experience by Jacqueline Kiermana MacKay and Wanda Johnson
- When Your Kids go to College: A Parent's Guide to Changing Relationships by Barbara Newman and Philip Newman
- Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation by N. Howe and W. Strauss
- Millennials Go to College by N. Howe and W. Strauss
- Generations by N. Howe and W. Strauss
Scholarships at JMU
Encourage your incoming first-year student to apply for one of the many scholarships being offered by the Office of Financial Aid, the Office of Admissions and JMU Alumni Chapters. The Office of Financial Aid also offers scholarships to current students.
Send a Care Package!
- Link to Campus Cookies
- Link to Care Package Café
- SHAPE Packages
Campus Cookies specializes in baked goods that are baked less than 15 minutes before arrival. Individual packages, group packages, and custom gift packages are all available.
Care Package Caféoffers a variety of care packages with quality products including natural, organic, and vegetarian selections.
SHAPE (Students Helping Advise, Plan and Energize), an Office of Residence Life student group, sponsors a care package program to help parents and family members connect with their student(s) during critical times of the year. Mailings are sent home during the year, and proceeds from this program are used for student leadership opportunities and programing.
Other Parent Resources
Career and Academic Planning invites you to learn about how their services can help your student, with words of advice from other parents.
Center for Multicultural Student Services(CMSS) celebrates diversity by heightening awareness and educating our constituents about cultural and ethnic diversity.
The Counseling & Student Development Center has information pertaining to college adjustment and a program for incoming students with existing mental health concerns.
The Office of International Programs answers the frequently asked questions of parents whose students plan to study abroad.
Orientation has special information for families of incoming freshmen.
Questions about student privacy? The Registrar has collected information on FERPA for parents.
Judicial Affairs hopes to partner with parents to curb alcohol and drug abuse and promote responsibility within the JMU community.
Fraternity & Sorority Life is dedicated to helping you better understand the opportunities that Greek Life at JMU has to offer your son or daughter.
Parents of students with disabilities can find specialized information at the Office of Disability Services Web site.
Finally, the Office of Financial Aid has help to guide you through the financial aid process.
