Projects & Support
Through the years, the Parents' Association has supported various university projects and helped to fund supplemental programming. Following is a list of projects linked to the association:
Mini-Grant Program
The Parents' Association Mini-Grant program supports educational efforts in the Division of Student Affairs as well as in Academic Colleges across campus. Several projects were funded ($500 each) this year and included: OU-TX Health and Safety Awareness Health Hut; Closing the Gap - Equity in Women's Wages; Student Leadership and Self-Awareness Development Project; Career Development Library; Sooner Mascots Pet Adoption Program; and OU Native American Youth Leadership Initiatives.
Past projects include:
A Student Life Student Leader Development Project; A Career Skills Collection for the National Weather Center Library; A Health Promotion Resource Library and a Trebuchet Design Practice for First Year Engineering Students.
New OU Parent Calendars
A full-color calendar is printed each summer for new OU Parents providing month-by-month updates of what students may be experiencing during their transition to OU. It also provides ideas to parents each month.
New to OU publication
The OUPA covers the mailing cost for this piece each summer to parents and new students.
OUPA Member-Only Scholarships
This year seven $1,000 scholarships will be awarded to students who's parents are members of the Association. Scholarships are awarded for each class (3 freshmen, 2 sophomores, 1 junior, and 1 senior). The application for the scholarships are available each fall on-line and e-mailed to each parent member.
However, the freshmen scholarship applications are available in December and are awarded each spring.
Outstanding Senior Man and Woman
Each Fall, the OU Parents' Association presents an award of merit to the Outstanding Senior of each undergraduate college as selected by the individual colleges. The Parents' Association also recognizes the all-around Outstanding Senior Man and Senior Woman at the University selected by a university committee comprised of faculty, staff and students.
OUPA Business Meetings
Parents' Association Executive Committee meets on the Friday afternoons of Fall Family Weekend and Spring Parent Weekend. All Parents' Association members are welcome.
Under the Tent
The Parents' Association sponsors and hosts a parent information table "under the tent" during Sooner Orientation Weekend and Panhellenic Recruitment Move-In in August. OUPA volunteers also register and enlist new members and vice presidents for the Association.
PROUD PARENT
OU MOM and OU DAD stickers are distributed throughout the year at special university events by OUPA volunteers. Sooner Parent t-shirts are also sold throughout the year.
Other Resources
Purchase of paper fans for distribution at New Sooner Orientation; safety whistles for distribution through the OU Police Department; and informational booklets regarding topics such as Your Student Going to College: Test Anxiety; Time Management; and Stress Management.
A History of Supporting OU Students
Over the years, the parent associations have taken special stands in support of projects at the university. The Dads' Association publicly supported the bond issues that built Ellison Infirmary in 1927 and in 1964, its members passed a resolution supporting the creation of the OU School of Dentistry.
In 1940, the Mothers' Association sponsored and helped furnish Rochdale Hall for 38 needy women students. They also endorsed safety on highways and world peace.
The Parents' Association contributed $5000 to the building of the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.
In recent years, the Parents' Association has helped co-sponsor some of the events linked to Family and Parent Weekend activities.