Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: This podcast is produced by members of the University of Alabama Parent Advisory Council and reflects the personal views, experiences, and opinions of the hosts and guests. These views are independent and do not represent, reflect or speak on behalf of the University of Alabama, its administration, faculty, staff, or affiliated organizations. The content shared is for general informational and conversational purposes only. It is not intended to provide academic, medical, legal, financial or institutional advice. While we aim to share thoughtful and helpful perspectives, we make no guarantees regarding accuracy, completeness, or timeliness. Listeners are encouraged to verify information independently and rely on official University of Alabama communications for policies, decisions, and guidance. Listening to this podcast is voluntary and any actions taken based on the content are done at your own discretion and risk.
Welcome to Parent Perspectives. Navigating the University of Alabama experience as a parent can be exciting, overwhelming, and full of questions. And you don't have to do it alone. Parent Perspectives is a podcast by parents, for parents and with parents, created to share real conversations, trusted insights, and firsthand experiences from those who've been there. Whether your student is Bama bound, settling into freshman year, or finding their stride on campus, this is your go to source for all things Bama student related. From academics in campus life to traditions and the moments that matter most, we cover what parents want to know honestly and thoughtfully. Tune in and feel confident knowing you're part of a supportive Bama parent community.
[00:01:53] Speaker B: In this episode, we're focusing on the practical side of campus life. Housing, meal plans, transportation, and the day to day logistics that parents often have questions about before their student arrives at the University of Alabama.
So let's begin with some of the big, big topics. How do housing how do housing assignments work exactly? And what should parents understand about roommates? Mark, let's start with you. Please give us your insight on how this all works. It can be really overwhelming, it can
[00:02:26] Speaker C: be, and it's a little confusing and this will be a little bit detailed, but I think it's worth it. After you're admitted to the university, you can apply for housing and most of you applied. If you applied February 2nd, then you actually get a selection time where you're allowed to pick your room and even your bed within your room. If you sign up after February 2nd, though, you'll be assigned a room and a roommate in June. Some of the kids will connect on social media over the winter and find roommates and others don't. But there's an opportunity also to fill out a roommate profile online, but the actual procedure is pretty straightforward. Prior to the selection time, students should review the residence hall options and Sort of figure out where they want to be, pick their choice A, choice B, choice C.
And this will help them really, because when you're given that selection time, people, it's like picking a ticket for a concert. People get kind of panicked as they figure it out. Once the time has arrived, students will be able to log into the housing system and select their residence hall and their specific room.
Now, if they pre selected a roommate, then they can form a roommate pair. And room selection will then occur at the earliest selection time. So if we have two roommates, John's selection time is Monday at 2 and Mike's is Tuesday at 9, and they want to be roommates, then John should pull Mike in as his roommate pair and that will allow them to select rooms for both of them at the earliest time on Monday at 2.
Students are only allowed to form pairs though. So if you have a group larger than two, you can't form a group of four.
But there is a process for that. So if four students want a room together and there are still four person suites available because the rooms do go throughout the week, then they'll start to reduce. But if there are still rooms available, then the four people group into two pairs with the two students with the earliest times pulling the other two in.
So just to be real clear, Kate has a Monday at noon, Madeline has Monday at 2, Ashley has Tuesday at 3, and Maddie has Wednesday at 4. So Kate and Madeline have the two earliest pick times.
So Kate should pull in Ashley, she's number three, into a pair, and Madeline is number two. So she pulls in Maddie into a roommate pair.
Now they have to wait until the second selection time.
So the girls should all be on the phone together. They should have already figured out where they want to pick.
And Kate and Madeline both log in at Monday at 2, which was the second time. And then Kate will select her room and her Ashley. And then Maddie will select her room and Madeline will select her room and Maddie will select her bed as well. So you can work this with four and with two. And this is all explained on the housing website. And they actually do a practice session the week before to allow kids to work through housing selection. And at the end of every day, housing will actually update on the website the current available rooms. So if you're, if you have the second day and you see that all the single rooms are gone, for example, those typically go on the first day, you should not plan on getting a single room. It's pretty rare. But if.
[00:05:41] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:05:41] Speaker C: And then the only thing I want to Say too is if a male picks a room or a suite, one of the four rooms in a suite that becomes a male designated suite. So the halls themselves, except Tutwiler and I think one other are co ed but the actual rooms and suites are single gender.
[00:06:02] Speaker B: Well, Mark, you touched on something co ed. It's not the same there. There, there are guys and gals on different floors, but it's actually co ed dorm. They're not going to be right next to each other is what I'm trying to make sure.
[00:06:13] Speaker C: They won't be sharing a suite, for example, so they won't be sharing a bathroom. If you're in one of those sweet
[00:06:19] Speaker B: bass drums girls, that's not things.
Jennifer, tell us a little bit your perspective of this as far as roommates and housing.
[00:06:29] Speaker D: So Mark did a great job of giving you the logistics so the feelings come into it as well. Whether you have a daughter or a son going, thoughts about roommates come into play. So whether you're rooming with someone random, they could just as easily become your child's best friend as rooming with your best friend and that friendship falling apart. Because now you are trying to navigate sleep schedules, social habits and personalities, all of which is a big development goal for your first year student, but it's also very challenging. I'll also encourage parents, regardless of what your children do at home, they do know how to clean. Some of their bathrooms are going to look better than they do at home and some of them are going to look much worse. So just try not to look at it when you go in there or judge their housekeeping. And for boy moms, I just want to let you know that it's not the same as having a girl mom experience. So lower your expectations of them wanting to coordinate their shared living space. The best you can hope for is that they text each other to make sure somebody's bringing a TV and a gaming console. If you have an only child like I did and don't want to miss out on the reveal video, I did everything for my son's room and it looked amazing. I did a reveal video. I was so proud of myself. But by the time he added his own touches to the room, it was a bit overcrowded. And don't forget, whatever you move in, you have to move out.
[00:07:48] Speaker B: Good advice. That's fantastic. You Another area that is really kind of can feel confusing to new families come to the University of Alabama is the dining experience. How do meal plans actually work at Alabama? Mark, I'll let you tackle that One.
[00:08:02] Speaker C: Okay, well, listen. The dining experience at the University of Alabama is built to make college easier. These kids have plenty of food, many options, and your parents do not need to worry if your child is eating well. If your student lives on campus, as 98% of the freshmen do, a meal plan is required for the full academic year. Both fall and spring, students are enrolled in the All Access plan. That's the default enrollment. That means unlimited meals seven days a week at every dining hall. Plus they get VIP retail meals once a day at spots like Chick Fil A or Panda Express, and even 10 guest meals a semester. There's also a smaller plan, though. It's called the silver 150 plan. And this provides 150 meals per semester with the same access to the dining locations. But it's not unlimited. Here's the key decision point, though. Meal plans are chosen in the summer for for the entire academic year. You can always upgrade if you run out of meals, but you cannot downgrade. So if you start with the All Access and your student isn't someone who eats a lot, you're locked in and that costs money. So my recommendation is to start with the silver 150 plan. Especially if your student isn't a big breakfast eater or they like to sleep in or they plan on eating. Remember, you can always upgrade in October. If they say, hey, I'm running out of meals, great, let's upgrade. We're good.
But if you have.
Yeah, if you start with the All Access, you're clocked in.
[00:09:25] Speaker B: You're not going to get your money back. You have to really, you know, you're not.
[00:09:28] Speaker C: And the parents are like, my kids never go eat. So the other thing is, it's important to note if you student is rushing for Greek life. We get a lot of questions on that. You should still plan to select the meal that works for your child, as if they're not going to be in the Greek organization. So when the child accepts a Greek bid, and this doesn't happen until August, late August, then the Greek organization will automatically move them to the essential plan, which is 55 meal swipes and 25 VIP meals, and that's about $1,000 a semester. This covers the meals intended for Friday dinner through Sunday dinner. Because most of the Greek programs that provide meals are only providing those Monday breakfast through Friday lunch. Most people don't know that sorority and fraternity houses do not provide meals on the weekends. Now, not all sororities and fraternities have houses with meal plan. If they don't have a meal plan in their program, they will be on the regular residence hall plan. There's also the thing called dining dollars, and those are added separately and those cover drinks and retail meals and snacks. This is $350 a semester, every single semester. So even when your child is a junior and senior, if they're living in an apartment, they're still charged $350 a semester for dining dollars. So the dining dollars can be used. It's just like a debit card. And they can just use their ACT card. In fact, they can use it at restaurants off campus. So that' then it rolls into Bama cash at the end of the spring semester and then it just stays in a bank for them. So when they graduate, if they haven't spent all the money, you can get that money back, they get a little refund.
[00:11:03] Speaker B: They do.
[00:11:03] Speaker C: It's a nice little kid. But the bottom line is choose the smallest plan that you're confident your student will use and know that you can always add more.
[00:11:12] Speaker B: And what about real briefly, talk about the variety. I think people are concerned about that and want to know.
Inquiry minds want to know where are their students eating?
[00:11:21] Speaker C: You know, there are a ton of options. The two main dining halls are Lakeside and Fresh Foods. And those two are open.
Well, Lakeside is open seven days a week. Fresh Food is typically Monday through Friday. But there's a ton of options. And these are big dining halls and they have so many choices. Vegetarians, gluten free.
There's just a lot of options. And the dining services will work with your child if there are specific dining requirements, nutritional requirements that they can help with.
But we have a big student population and they've seen most of the requests come through already.
[00:11:57] Speaker B: There's a lot of diversity.
[00:11:59] Speaker C: There's a lot of diversity. Yep. There's on campus. Chick Fil A Raising Cane's the only one currently in Tuscaloosa is on campus. They're building another one, but UA still has it. And there's just a lot of options. There's quick dining, there's snack bars, there's a smoothie bar, bar over at Julia's Kitchen. I mean, there's just a lot of options within the dorms and within the larger community.
[00:12:21] Speaker B: Mark, it sounds like you've eaten on campus before. I'm just hearing this from you, your enthusiasm and all the way, you know, ways that you can eat through your way through school. So speaking of getting around now, we know that there are dining halls, there's places to eat all over, but students are living on campus. They need to be able to get around. So what should parents know about parking buses and walking around campus? Because as you mentioned, Mark, it is a very big, big campus. Jennifer, let's start with you.
[00:12:50] Speaker D: Sure. Alabama is built for students and not cars. Between walking paths, the bus system and the thoughtful campus design, students don't need to drive every day. The bus system is very robust, has a real time app now so they can plan ahead. And most, not all of their classes are within a 15 minute walking distance. But I will want to, I do want to share a few lessons learned. So when your student comes to campus and they put in Google Maps for directions, be sure it's set to walking and not driving. Because. Because a 10 minute drive is a 40 minute walk.
The scooters on campus, if you do that, the scooters on campus are a lifesaver and they're available to rent as are some golf cart services. But you may want to set boundaries with your student for when they can use those. So you aren't surprised when you get their credit card statement and set expectations for parking tickets. If your student does have a vehicle on campus, it will inevitably happen that they will get a ticket. Our rule is we pay for one a year, they're about $50 and if he gets any more, they're on him.
And walking distance means something different to each student. So some are accustomed to walking in a city while others have had reserve parking right next to the entrance of their high school. So walking in Southern California weather is very different than walking in Alabama. August weather. They literally wear out their shoes faster because amount of walking they will do every day.
[00:14:11] Speaker B: True, true, true. Gotta have those comfortable shoes. I know my son has said it. Walking across campus takes a long time and if you have classes back to back like that, you're walking very quickly. So that's.
[00:14:21] Speaker D: Yes, you are.
[00:14:23] Speaker B: Siobhan, what about you? Tell us about what you think as far as, you know, navigating this whole transportation and getting from one place to the other.
[00:14:30] Speaker E: Yeah, I think it's really interesting even when Jennifer brought up about the walking because it is a big thing. I know my daughter drove when she was at home, but she didn't do much walking and not walking to having to get to a class. So I think that's something that really for us came up where it was like, okay, I need to be here this time my class starts, I need to wake up at this time like figuring out that schedule with walking. And I think another thing that we really encountered was if I have to get here. But then I have to go across campus. But do I walk and just sit somewhere or do I go? Because that was a big thing of figuring out this schedule and how that looks. And that was something that when she got her schedule in the beginning, she would write down where everything was so she knew how long it took. But then when she would take her lunch between her schedule walking. Where do I walk to? All of that. I think that's something that you don't really think about. Especially in high school. They didn't have to do that. They were all on one campus. There wasn't a lot of walking. But you really do have to navigate that and figure out what that looks like based on the schedule, that your
[00:15:31] Speaker B: child has a plan. You gotta have a plan. So let's move on to campus resources should parents be aware of. And before the semester starts, what are these resources parents need to know about and want to know about? Brian, let's hear from you.
[00:15:44] Speaker F: Sure. Thank you.
So in a later episode, we're going to talk about some academics that they need. But prior to that first semester, strange as it sounds, academics really shouldn't be at the top of their list. So I want them to be aware of what I refer to as the university urgent care offices. That's not the actual name, that's just my pet name for that. But they're the offices that they need to know about if something goes wrong. So counseling services.
Counseling services.
They're going to have a hard time the rest of their lives finding counseling that will be as cheap as it is as a college student. And so they are there to provide traditional mental health support. Stress management.
The most common problem that counseling services will see from students is stress related. And so they don't need to have had a diagnosed mental illness in order to seek out counseling services. They deal with relationship issues, dorm issues, you name it, that's what they're there for. They also have their own actual urgent care clinic on campus, the student Health center, which does primary care prescriptions. They don't need to wait for you to make an appointment with their pediatrician back home.
If they've got a health issue, they can do that on campus. I think one of the most important offices I want parents to know about is the student care and well being office. It is sometimes on some campuses called the care team.
They are there to help students who are facing any kind of personal, academic or emotional challenges. And parents can actually refer their students to the office of student care and wellbeing. They can go on their webpage and write a referral and someone will reach out to that student if they have a particular need.
Because, you know, inevitably college isn't going to or life isn't going to wait for college to be over before problems happen.
[00:17:32] Speaker B: No, you're right. It's such good advice. And Jennifer kind of wrapping it, let's finish up with one quick tip that for navigating on campus life, you could share with parents. Go ahead, Jennifer.
[00:17:42] Speaker D: Sure. So Alabama does not expect students to handle everything on their own, but there's an entire system designed for these moments that none of us can really plan for.
So when you get the panicked phone call and you will, we all have just know that they have resources on campus that can help them with literally anything from food insecurity to counseling to tutoring. And I'll go ahead and say if one of your students classes is listed on the Academic center of Excellence tutor site, just believe that you're going to need their services at some point that semester.
[00:18:16] Speaker B: Wonderful. Good advice for all our parents. And if you just know that we're here for you. And we hope you will tune in to our next episode.
[00:18:32] Speaker A: Thanks for tuning in today for the latest episode of Parent Perspectives, brought to you by the University of Alabama Parent Advisory Council. Check out all our podcasts on Voices UA Edu. You can learn more about the Parent Advisory Council, Parent Perspectives and UA Parent and Family Programs on the UA Parent and Family Programs website at parents.slUaEdu.
