Two West Virginia University student-centered initiatives have been recognized by a national handbook for parents of college-bound students.

WVU ’s Resident Faculty Leader, or RFL program, and Mountaineer Parents Club have been cited in the recently released �€?Parents’Guide to College Life: 181 Straight Answers on Everything You Can Expect Over the Next Four Years�€? by Robin Raskin.

The University’s one-of-a-kind RFL program that connects faculty mentors and students was initiated in 1995 by WVU President David C. Hardesty Jr. as part of the University’s first-year experience.

In the �€?Parents’Guide to College Life,�€? Raskin calls it a novel approach to easing the transition from high school to college.

�€?RFLs often invite students to dinner, arrange field trips and host other social and academic activities throughout the semester to help them meet new people and feel included as they adjust to life at school,�€? she notes.

The Mountaineer Parents Club �€which boasts a membership of 14,000, nearly 70 local clubs plus international chairs in Germany and South America �€has been leading the way in family support since 1995.

Raskin points to the club’s coordination of low-cost bus service to the Pittsburgh airport and other heavily populated student areas at holiday time as a convenience for students who choose to forgo bringing a car to campus.

Formed by Hardesty and his wife, Susan, the Mountaineer Parents Club is led by Mrs. Hardesty, who serves as national chairperson, and director Sabrina Cave .

�€?I think it’s nice that a nationally recognized publication has chosen to include our information,�€? Cave said. �€?It speaks to the Mountaineer Parents Club’s reputation as being in the forefront among college parent organizations.�€?

Besides these programs, the �€?Parents’Guide to College Life�€? lists the University’s PRT , or Personal Rapid Transit, as a state-of-the-art transportation alternative for students.

Readers can also find advice from Cave, WVU Parent Advocate Susan Lantz, Associate Dean of Students Robin Jones and Student Affairs official Bob Kent.

Published by Random House/Princeton Review Books, the �€?Parents’Guide to College Life�€? features �€?tell-it-like-it-is�€? comments from deans and administrators from more than 90 top colleges as well as financial advisers, health experts, college students and parents.