[Libby K]

Originally Posted by Monochron

That is some really fantastic stuff. Requiring the parents to be more involved may make a big different for our team.

One of the interesting challenges we have now is that a lot of our parents feel like they can be a part of the decision making process while not actually helping out with the team. For instance, we weren't able to have student dues this year because the parents got all up in arms at our parents meeting.
If we give the idea that, in order to be a part of the team, they have to contribute in some what it may help reduce the "too many cooks in the kitchen" situation.

We do have a distinction between 'parent' and 'mentor'. (We have some crossovers w/ engineer parents, but those are case-by-case.) The Parent Steering Committee makes a difference. They get a chance to have their voices heard, but the decisions are still made by the administrative mentors.

If you'd like, I can send/post a writeup of what the setup/handbook looks like for our team (may not be until after competitions, though - I'm at an event every weekend until after CMP...)