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Adult
Learner And Students with Children KC Newsletter
Susan Warfield serves at Director of the Student Parent HELP Center at the University of Minnesota
Letter
from our Chairperson
This summer has been an exciting time for those of us serving adult learners and students with children . There have been some key events related to pregnant and parenting students attending higher education institutions across the nation . On June 25 , 2013 the Department of Education released a “ Dear Colleague ” letter highlighting the various protections offered pregnant and parenting students under Title IX . Though these protections are not new , they are seldom the focus of Title IX materials or trainings and have almost exclusively been focused on protections for teen parents in secondary education . This is the first document which has specifically highlighted the obligation of post-secondary education institutions to assure these protections are adhered to by all institutions receiving federal aid . We believe the release of this letter is so significant for our target populations and those who serve them we have made Title IX the theme of this edition of the ALSC KC newsletter . For those unfamiliar with these protections , we are including a link to the dear colleague letter in this publication , which also includes a link to the DOE Title IX brochure . We would strongly encourage ALSC KC members serving student parents to become familiar with the letter and the brochure . This would be an excellent tool to guide administrators in a discussion around the adequacy of student parent services and supports on your campuses .
Additionally , the names of the next round of Office for Adolescent Health , Pregnancy Assistance Fund award recipients are slated to be announced during the month of July . The first funding cycle saw two state organizations funded to provide supports to single parents attending college . It is our most sincere hope that higher education institutions will continue to benefit from this key funding source during this second cycle as well . Interested parties should refer to the OAH / PAF website for status updates on the current funding cycle http :// www . hhs . gov / ash / oah / oahinitiatives / pa .
ALSC KC members will notice this summer has also seen the beginning of collaborative leadership efforts between Chair Elect , Katy Lee Kemp
and this writer . Katy will be taking on the leadership of the August ALSC meeting in my absence , and is already actively engaged in our NASPA Annual Conference planning efforts . She has also taken on some much needed work related to acquiring PR materials for ALSC events as we have been embarrassingly short on attractive freebies at past Community Fairs . It is so great to have Katy Lee on board and we are sure to make even greater strides forward with the addition of her talent and energy . We have also met some new members at past recent meetings and are truly hoping this is a trend that continues . ALSC has an open meeting attendance policy and it is our most sincere hope to have as many members as possible join us for our monthly conference calls .
We hope you are all enjoying a bit of down time , a few days of vacation and lots of warm days spent with friends , family and other loved ones . Enjoy the remaining days of summer !
- Susan Warfield , Chair
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