On behalf of the Bates Parents & Family Association (BPFA), welcome to Bates!

Each year of your son’s or daughter’s life at Bates, whether it’s the first or fourth (or your first or fourth Bates student) brings new excitement and enthusiasm, as well as new questions and needs for you as parents. We hope that this Handbook helps answer your questions about academic, residential and extracurricular life at Bates.

Bates Parents & Family Association volunteers serve as liaisons between all parents and the college through the BPFA office, which seeks to provide parents with the optimum level of communication and opportunity for involvement. Within the BPFA there are many volunteer opportunities (described on the BPFA website), and you are encouraged to consider this as a meaningful way to be involved and have a positive impact on your Bates student’s life — while giving him or her the space a college student might desire.

For more information about any of the volunteer programs, please email parents@bates.edu.