Many students go to college to get away from their parents. Yet some still see their moms or dads on a daily basis, even if they don’t live at home. These are the students whose parents work at UW-Eau Claire.

Sophomore Sarah Chmielewski attends Eau Claire, where both of her parents are faculty members. Terrence and Elizabeth Chmielewski teach in the communication and journalism department and have next-door offices.

“It helps that they’re pretty cool teachers and that they’re not weirdos,” said Sarah Chmielewski, a communication and journalism major and a dance minor who lives at home. While Sarah Chmielewski said she enjoys having them around, she would like to avoid taking a class that one of her parents teaches.

“I wouldn’t want her to take a class I teach,” her father said, adding that he and his wife would not like to put their daughter in a “weird position” with colleagues if they can avoid it.

Terrence Chmielewski said his daughter transferred here after her freshman year at UW-Stout because it didn’t offer dance. Even though Eau Claire wasn’t her first choice, it has worked out pretty well for the family.

“It’s actually really convenient,” Sarah Chmielewski said.

Advantages she enjoys include rides to and from school, a place to keep her bike and the occasional lunch money or meal partner.

Sarah Chmielewski said that while she hasn’t experienced embarrassment firsthand, her parents like to tell stories about their children in the classroom.

But Fredric Kolb, who works in the economics department, has had to change his teaching style since Katharine Kolb started at Eau Claire in the fall. Since he teaches two First-Year Experience classes, he is in contact with many freshmen who may know his daughter. In the past, Fredric Kolb would tell stories to make a point in class, often exaggerating, but now he can’t use his daughter as an example.

Katharine Kolb lives off campus with friends she met while participating in her father’s study abroad program last spring.

“I don’t see her as much as I see my students,” said Fredirc Kolb, “but the family does see her since she stops home a couple times a week.”

While he “won’t admit to keeping an eye on her,” Fredric Kolb said he likes having his daughter on campus. Katharine Kolb chose Eau Claire because it was the right fit – not because her father is on staff, she said.

Another father-daughter combination is found in Professor Robert Barth, who teaches anthropology courses, and his daughter Laura E. Barth, a fifth-year senior majoring in music performance on the flute.

Laura Barth has spent most of her educational life close to her dad’s work, since she attended Old Park Elementary and still lives at home for financial reasons.

Laura Barth added she also will go to his office just to visit, since they have a pretty close relationship. But this wasn’t the deciding factor when she was picking a college.

Robert Barth said his daugher goes to Eau Claire for its music program.

“It’s a good school for what she wants to major in,” he said. “In retrospect, it was probably a good choice.”

While Laura Barth never has taken a course from her father, she wouldn’t mind trying one out, she said. He said he wouldn’t treat her any differently in class.

Sophomore Erika Dinkel-Smith has to put up with friends making impressions of her mother’s teaching style. Dinkel-Smith said she doesn’t really mind, since she probably has already said the same things to her mother.

B. Jill Smith from the Anthropology and Geology department encouraged her daughter to go to a UW System school because of their excellent reputations, and Erika Dinkel-Smith ended up at the same school she works for, she said.

Erika Dinkel-Smith is a second-semester sophomore majoring in political science. She is involved in various campus activities, from Student Senate to the juggling club, the latter of which her mother encouraged her to try, she said. Because of her busy schedule, she said it’s just not logical to commute from her parents’ home in Menomonie, although going home does mean free laundry.

Erika Dinkel-Smith said she appreciates the support network her mom provides by being easily available. Her mother has given her time-management tips, she said, since that is an area she struggles with. Smith said her daughter will sometimes call her to “talk over issues,” but she doesn’t see or hear from her more than the average college student’s parent.

Another advantage Dinkel-Smith highlighted is the way she was taught to deal with administration and faculty because of her mom’s position.

Smith said she wishes that she would receive some kind of discount on tuition costs for her daughter. Schools like Johns Hopkins University and even some state universities will take off 50 percent or more for students who have parents on staff.

Admissions Director Kris Anderson said there is no policy in the UW System that gives any kind of tuition break for employees.