SF State has always been a melting pot of students, professors, administrators and other faculty members. As of this semester, we now add parents into the mix.

The Parents Council is an organization founded this semester, by the University, to increase the communication and community of student’s family members within the school.

The council was created with three main goals said Robert Nava, SF State vice president of college advancement.

First, to keep parents informed about campus events, budget issues and any other major announcements. Second, to be ambassadors for the school who can communicate with other parents about the University. Third, to be advocates of the University as a whole and of higher education in general.

To successfully achieve these goals the council will keep in contact with parents via email and through their growing website. They want to encourage parents all over California to attend recruiting events so they can tell others about their child’s experiences at SF State. Finally they want parents to write to their local and state legislators in concern for the well-being of their child and the California State University system, said Nava.

Janice Gumas is president of the Parents Council. She is a mother of three and this semester her oldest son Nick Gumas started as a freshman at SF State to study music.

She received her degree in business from SF State in 1985 where she also met her husband, John Gumas, who was inducted into SF State’s alumni hall of fame in 2010.

“We want the parents to be active, not in the daily lives of their kids, but to know what’s going on at their school, to understand the value of that education and to have things going on so that students can invite their parents once in a while and be proud of their school,” Gumas said.