When speaking with UA families, Dr. Tre’ Finklea returns to the same core philosophy: be the resource you wish you had.
Dr. Finklea, a former first-generation student from Monroeville, Alabama, navigated uncharted territory during his college journey. From managing scholarships and financial aid to discovering opportunities for graduate school, many of the lessons he learned came through firsthand experience.
After earning a Bachelor of Science in biology from Stillman College and a Master of Education in student affairs from the University of West Alabama, Finklea continued exploring ways to support student success through higher education. While earning his Ph.D. in educational leadership from Liberty University, he focused his dissertation on the factors that contribute to first-generation students’ success and failure.
A decade and three degrees later, Finklea now serves as the assistant director for Parent & Family Programs at The University of Alabama, where he helps families work through many of the same questions and challenges he once faced himself.
Student Life Communications and External Engagement recently spoke with Dr. Finklea about the role of Parent & Family Programs, common questions from families and why he believes parents remain a powerful influence on student success.
Five questions with Dr. Finklea
For families who may be unfamiliar with Parent & Family Programs, describe your office and how it can support them
At our core, we are really a resource for parents and families to assist their students. We want to help parents with transitioning from the mindset where they make all the decisions for their student and just help them loosen the reins and allow their student to gain independence.
We provide resources throughout the academic year, including information about campus services, academic support, career development opportunities, wellness resources and important University deadlines. We also offer conversation starters and suggested questions parents can use to engage with their students in meaningful ways.
We work closely with offices across campus to ensure families have access to the information they need.
What advice do you most often give parents of new college students?
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer because every family is different. The biggest thing is finding a balance between staying involved and allowing students the opportunity to grow and make decisions on their own. We don’t have a formula for the best time to come visit, but we do provide some conversation starters to establish expectations.
We also have several projects to help families connect with their students. We’re doing snack bags for finals and midterms. We’re also now trying to partner with local businesses in the city to allow parents to send their students a pick-me-up, whether that’s a bouquet of flowers or a stuffed elephant before a big game.
Once again, we just really like to focus on being a resource for those families to help those students throughout their transition.
What are the biggest resources families should be aware of?
One program I always encourage families to attend is Tide to Town during Family Weekend. Because the University is so large and housing decisions come quickly, we partnered with Student Media to reach out to various apartment complexes and Realtors around town and bring them together in one place. Instead of parents relying on their 18-year-old to go out and sign the lease and understand all the things they need to, parents can actually be there with their student to get the information they need to make the best decision for their family.
We also encourage parents to sign up for our Crimson Connection newsletter if they haven’t. It’s located on our website and provides the same information we distribute through our calendar, with news and events coming up on campus.
Parent & Family Programs also has a new podcast. Can you tell us about it?
The Parent Perspective podcast is already underway and has released multiple episodes. Parent Perspective interviews campus partners to provide tips and resources for parents and families. We’ve interviewed people from the Career Center, Student Media, Admissions and various places across campus to get that information out to parents that their student might not necessarily share with them.
If there’s one message you’d like families to take away, what would it be?
Parents continue to play a critical role in student success, even after their students arrive on campus. We’ve seen families make meaningful impacts through initiatives like Beat Auburn Beat Hunger, support recruitment efforts, and help connect students to career opportunities.
Our office exists to support families and strengthen those connections. When parents have the right information and resources, they’re better equipped to help their students thrive.