UW Parent & Family Programs
Keep the conversation going
Your relationship is changing. The bond stays the same.
Distance and the shifts that come with college can make communication complicated. Whether you’re a few miles away or halfway across the globe, here’s how to stay engaged with your student through their UW experience.
Topics and reminders to discuss with your student at different points throughout their first year. Use it as a guide for conversations that help your Husky have a successful start.
Four tips to help you connect
- Give your student room to vent when they need it.
- Ask follow-up questions.
- Learn how to listen actively and patiently.
- Try to see things from their point of view before offering advice.
Download the conversation prompts
Print or save the standalone Talk With Your Husky guide.
Standalone Talk With Your Husky PDFs are 2025–26 archive editions. The full 2026–27 conversation prompts also live in the Parent & Family Guide, pages 22–23.
By stage
Stage 01
Summer before coming to campus
Staying connected
- How you and your student will communicate while they’re at school: methods and how often
- Coordinating holidays and travel (use the UW Academic Calendar)
- Signing up for New Student Orientation (for your Husky) and Family Orientation (for you)
Finances and forms
- Submitting their Husky Card photo online to skip September lines
- Giving family members access to tuition and housing bills
- Filling out medical and financial forms
- Budgeting and building credit with responsible debit and credit card use
Life skills
- Saving a screenshot of the front and back of their health insurance card
- An easy favorite meal and basic cooking skills
- Cleaning their space and bathroom, doing laundry
- Adding important dates to a shared family calendar (first day of class, UW Family Weekend, winter break)
Physical and mental health
- Services at Husky Health Center
- Mental-health services at the UW Counseling Center
- After-hours and emergency care on and near campus
- International families: ISHIP insurance for your student
Stage 02
Before or during move-in week
Life skills and the neighborhood
- How to pay tuition, housing, and food fees, and add due dates to the family calendar
- Explore University Way (the Ave) and U Village for groceries, pharmacies, restaurants, and shops
Personal safety
- Have your student add or confirm current contact information
- Confirm sign-up for UW Alert
- Make a personal safety plan with emergency contacts (a friend, roommate, RA)
- Be aware of surroundings (transit, late at night, etc.)
- Save UW nighttime safety services in their phone (NightRide and Husky SafeTrip)
Physical and mental health
- Visit Husky Health Center
- Explore UW Recreation: IMA gym and the Waterfront Activities Center
Academic support
- Time-management and planning skills
- About two hours of study for every hour in class
- Seek tutoring and academic support before they need it
- Use general-education courses to discover career options
Student privacy and family access
- How to know about grades: only your student can access and share them, per FERPA
- Review the forms students fill out to give families access to billing, financial aid, and more
- Keep UW user IDs and passwords private as part of student conduct, data privacy, and academic policies
Transportation
- Public transit (buses, light rail, water taxi) with their Husky Card
- Transit safety day or night (Seattle and King County transit apps, etc.)
- Bicycle and scooter safety
- Connect with UW Transportation for commuting options
Stage 03
Throughout their first quarter
Staying connected
- Communicating after first midterms and finals
- Ask about time-management or test-prep, not grades
- Ask what types of encouragement and support they want or need
- Listen to frustrations and ups and downs. Empathize before offering solutions; ask what they’ve already considered. Sometimes they want a listening ear.
Living and dining
- How it’s going with roommates and others in their residence hall
- Managing conflict or roommate issues with their RAs
- Encourage them to seek out their Residence Life team: academic and social gatherings to build community
Physical and mental health
- Taking time for self-care
- How are they sleeping, eating, getting exercise?
- Do they know how and when to seek physical and mental health care if they need it?
Stage 04
Winter break and second quarter
The Husky Experience
- Looking for campus jobs or internships, scheduling a meeting with a UW career coach
- Finding and building their UW family on campus, balancing academic and social life
- Seeking research opportunities, or applying for UW Honors
- Spring quarter is a great time to try a class in a new subject or department
Physical and mental health
- Check in about physical and mental health
- Time for self-care, exercise, being outdoors
- Eating and sleeping habits, fun, friends
Spring break planning
- Spring check-in with their adviser
- Leadership skills and getting involved in UW clubs and organizations
- One or two new places to explore in Seattle by bus or light rail
- Cherry blossoms on the Quad
“I can’t thank you enough for the Parent & Family Guide. It’s tremendously helpful along with the contact information, resource and safety page.”
Kim, parent of a first-year
“The Parent & Family Programs staff are so responsive to family questions and quandaries. And they really bring vim and vigor to the Family Orientation.”
The Herron family, Washington, D.C.
More for UW families
The full 2026–27 Parent & Family Guide
A 26-page first read on UW family life. Conversation prompts on pages 22–23, plus academics, health, finances, and the Dawg Dates calendar.