Category Archives: Campus Perspective

Q & A with Matthew Mass

Posted on by

Matthew Maas joined the UP team last December as the Associate Director of Parent Giving. Learn about Matthew and his work of helping parents and family members build a stronger relationship with UP through philanthropic giving.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I joined the University of Portland in December of 2019 as the Associate Director of Parent Giving. My formative years were spent in the mid-west where I completed college and grad school in Minnesota. Without the cumulative experiences and friendships formed in this time I would not be who I am today. My family and I moved to Portland five years ago and we enjoy the Pac NW music scene and the hiking trails in the Columbia Gorge. 

Tell us a little bit about your role as the Associate Director of Parent Giving.

My role is to help parents and family member build a stronger relationship with UP. I want to hear how they imagine making a difference through philanthropic giving, and in turn share how philanthropy can make a direct impact in the lives of students.   

What excites you most about this role?

When I walk around campus, I hear story after story of how parents and families gave philanthropic gifts which funded the educational and campus programming which make UP renowned in higher education. I am excited to be a part of moving the University forward in several new strategic areas. We can’t do this alone, and that’s why our partnership with our UP families and parents is so important. 

What does philanthropy mean to you?

Philanthropy is giving to what you love. One of the best parts of my job is hearing what inspired someone to make a gift. While each gift is always unique, they all share this common thread.

What philanthropic opportunities are there to support UP?

There are several ways to make an immediate impact in the life of a student or the entire community. One of these ways is the Parent Impact Fund. This fund directly supports the student service areas of campus which make student life and well-being a priority. Without these funds, many students would not have access to the resource centers which help students successfully graduate.

What is your favorite UP memory so far?

Watching the women’s basketball team win the WCC Tournament with such brilliance and tenacity.

If you only had 24 hours to spend in Portland area, what would you see and do?

I would spend the morning at the Portland Japanese Garden for tea, then enjoy a mid-day hike/lunch on Mt. Hood, followed by a visit to one of our award-winning breweries.    

What is your favorite restaurant in Portland?

Han Oak remains one of my favorites with its non-traditional take on Korean cuisine.

Learn more about how parents and families can show their support through philanthropic giving, or contact Matthew directly at maas@up.edu.

Active Minds Session Recap

Posted on by

On April 19, the Active Minds student group and the Health and Counseling Center hosted an engaging discussion on ways to support your student during this time of transition. We greatly appreciate the student leaders and staff members who offered this opportunity. For those who were not able to join the call, we’ve compiled some of the information and resources that were shared, including insight into what students want parents to know.

Please see the UP Virtual Resources for Mental Health Support, which was compiled by UP’s Academic Health Network and shared during the session.

Student Feedback for Caregiver Support Meeting

Leading up to this parent/caregiver session, Active Minds surveyed their peers online to better understand how they were feeling about recent transitions and what they would want their families to know. While most of the survey participants were currently living with family during quarantine, about one-third were not. You can view answers to the survey below.

What has been the most difficult part of being home with family?

When asked what kind of advice caregivers would benefit most from, students ranked the following:

  • How to support my mental and emotional health during quarantine
  • How to give me privacy and respect boundaries
  • How to communicate feelings/emotions with me
  • How to support me in academics

What would you like your family to know/learn about in regards to your being back home for quarantine?

  • Even though I am living under your roof once again, I am still an adult.
  • Just because I am sad about missing school doesn’t mean I’m not thankful to be home.
  • Stop telling me to “suck it up,” “stop whining,” “be thankful for what you have,” etc. It doesn’t help.
  • Alone time is healthy.
  • Just because your coping mechanisms are different than mine doesn’t mean they are better or more helpful.
  • I have grown and changed since going away and my responsibilities are my own.
  • Just because I didn’t go home doesn’t me I don’t love you.
  • It is hard to be constantly checked up upon or micromanaged when I am at home when I am so used to being independent and on my own. Instilling guilt is not helpful – it is toxic.
  • It is really hard to be away from friends and significant others. Facetiming and texting is not the same as in-person interaction. And yes – we are excited to be with our families, but we are supposed to be at school and it is okay if we are sad about it. We also have routines at school that are just not replicated at home which is hard. I would say to my parents: I love you, but I miss my friends and school.
  • Part of the reason I am not coming home is to support their safety and well-being.
  • For parents of seniors who are not moving home until after graduation, please be gentle with them. Seniors are trying their best to figure out post-grad life, especially in this pandemic.
  • The importance of honest, non-accusatory, emotional communication with I-statements!
  • I would like them to know that schoolwork has not gotten any easier and that I am grieving for the loss of graduation and the closure I hoped to obtain with professors and classmates.
  • After being at college, we see ourselves as being different people from the people we were at the beginning of the year. We have gotten accustomed to living on our own and making our own decisions. Please be patient with us as we adapt to living at home again and we will do our best to follow what you would like us to do. Please also understand the quick transition we all had to make and that we are still feeling some emotional grief at losing half a semester and having to say goodbye to UP and our friends in just a few short days. There is some healing that needs to happen as well. We understand that this situation is for the greater good and we are doing our best to stay positive, but it is a difficult time for us to be at home and doing online classes nonetheless.
  • I do not have free time on my hands as my siblings who are also adults but not in college now do have. I am still taking 19 credits and trying to achieve the best grades possible. My schoolwork sometimes needs to come before chores for me and I should not get yelled at for this.
  • I’m not a child anymore and this isn’t a vacation – please understand that.
  • School is honestly the last thing many people are worried about at the moment, but it feels like such a determining factor for our future. How can parents/caregivers support us in figuring out how to handle our lack of caring about school? 
  • We are still students and still have an immense workload. Trying to finish off school in this scenario is stressful enough, not even counting in the fact that we’ve been ripped away from our in-person classes and the support of friends. In some cases, we have spent four or more years away from our parents to accomplish our school work. Being back at home now is not the same as it was in high school or being home for a break. Privacy and space as well as independence is crucial.

For more information regarding this session, please feel free to reach out to parents@up.edu, and we will connect you with the appropriate resource.

A Look Back

Posted on by

I am a planner, so existing in this space of chaos and uncertainty is a struggle right now. I imagine you also have a lot of questions about what the future holds. With so many uncertainties, the one thing that I am certain about is the strength of this community.

From student groups like Active Minds who immediately stepped up to ensure their peers had a virtual space to discuss the mental health needs of students, to the UP mom who offered to give rides to other students during move-out if they didn’t have a car, to the professors who stepped out of their comfort zones to transition to online teaching within a matter of days, to the over 75 staff members who banded together to make this time special for our seniors by assembling Commencement boxes, to the Nursing alumni on the front lines treating COVID-19 patients with care and dignity, to the Student Affairs professionals who worked quickly to ensure that students continued to have access to the same services and support virtually, the UP community has shown up for one another. Honestly, it has been a challenging time – we’re working in imperfect conditions with limited knowledge of what comes next –  but we’re all waking up each day and striving to do our best.

None of this would be possible without our UP families, so thank you. Thank you for your strength, resilience, patience, and kindness throughout the past academic year. Whether your student wrapped up the semester at home with you or not, you have been the catalyst, the never-ending support, and the foundational strength that they have drawn upon to succeed. Your support not only makes a positive difference in the life of your student, but it impacts the University overall.

Whenever I get asked what I do for work, I am often stumped on how to explain my job. I work with college parents? It isn’t necessarily the job I dreamed about having as a kid, but it is a job I have come to love and embrace over the past 3 years. I have the pleasure of working with UP families in several capacities – events, communications, developing resources, one-on-one support, and more. I have sat and shared meals with some of you at events such as Family Weekend, been inspired by the journey that led your family to UP, cried with a mom as she shared the struggles her student was facing, and laughed with a dad as he reminisced on how much UP has changed since his own time on The Bluff. Every day is different, but I am always proud to be a resource and advocate for you.

As we head into summer, please know that our office is still open and ready to support you. We will continue communicating with you via this newsletter and other important updates. The rest of UP is also “open,” even if remotely, and available to support your student.

So that we can continue to serve our UP families with the most helpful and relevant information, please take a few minutes to complete a brief survey about our UP Parent newsletter and other communications.

While many things have been lost during this time, what remains is the steadfastness and strength of our community rooted in UP’s mission of supporting our students and developing their minds and hearts.

Image of Katie Seccombe

Katie Seccombe

Associate Director, Parent Engagement

parents@up.edu