Students Who Parent Project
Overview
With support from a variety of University partners across all campuses, the Office of the Dean of Students is undertaking an initiative to enhance support for the U of A's student parents and meaningfully shift perceptions of our student parents on campus. Utilizing a social justice framework, this project will adhere to the following principles:
- Respect and learn from the lived experience of our students who parents.
- Celebrate the differences present in our university and honour the place of student parents in our diverse community.
- Create supportive environments where members of our campus can live, work, and play that are inclusive of students who parents, that are safe, and that increase their ability to make health-promoting choices.
- Engender equity for all members of our community by ensuring that resources are allocated in accordance with the needs of all individuals who attend the University of Alberta.
- Combat invisibility and marginalization of students living in our community.
Goals and Strategies
To improve services and supports available for student parents attending the University of Alberta:
- Promote awareness and educate our students, faculty and staff about the shifting demographics of our population and the needs/considerations of student parents in that changing demographic.
- Educate student parents of their rights and available accommodations.
- Create a campus environment that promotes equity through the availability of services, resources, and physical plant that support campus parents and remove barriers to their full participation in campus life.