Ep. 277: Making the Most of FAACT's College Resource Center

Navigating college with food allergies can feel overwhelming—from choosing a school and touring campuses to move-in day and staying safe once you’re there. It’s a big transition, with added layers of responsibility.

That’s why FAACT created a College Resource Center, built from real questions our community is asking—such as what to ask on tours, how to set up accommodations, what to do when things don’t go as planned, and how to navigate everyday college life.

This podcast walks you through a few key highlights to help you guide your student with more confidence.

Resources to keep you in the know:

• FAACT's College Resource Center
• For Parents/Caregivers College Checklists
• For Students College Checklists
• Legal Considerations Center
• For Students: How to Conversations
• Disaster Preparedness at College with Food Allergies
• FAACT's Private Facebook Group for Parents/Caregivers of High School and College Students with Food Allergies

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 Sponsored by: Genentech

Thanks for listening! FAACT invites you to discover more exciting food allergy resources at FoodAllergyAwareness.org!

Transcript

Caroline: Welcome to FAACT's Roundtable, a podcast dedicated to navigating life with food allergies across the lifespan. Presented in a welcoming format with interviews and open discussions,

each episode will explore a specific topic, leaving you with the FAACTS to know or use.

Information presented via this podcast is educational and not intended to provide individual medical advice.

Please consult with your personal board-certified allergist or healthcare providers for advice specific to your situation.

Hi everyone, I'm Caroline Moassessi and I am your host for the FAACT Roundtable Podcast. I am a food allergy parent and advocate and the founder of the Grateful Foodie Blog. And I am FAACT's Vice President of Community Relations.

Before we start today's podcast, we would like to take a moment to thank Genentech for being a kind sponsor of FAACT's roundtable podcast. Also, please note that today's guest was not paid by or sponsored by Genentech to participate in this specific podcast.

Navigating college with food allergies can feel overwhelming. From choosing the right school to campus tours, move in day and staying safe once you're there, it can feel like you've added a whole new layer of complexity to already big life transition.

But there's good news.

You're not alone. After listening to students, parents, caregivers, professors, coaches, legal experts and allergists,

FAACT created a few years ago a College Resource center built around the real questions our community is asking.

Questions like, what should you ask on a campus tour?

How do you set up accommodations?

What happens if those accommodations aren't met? How do students navigate everyday life like talking about food allergies or even dating?

The FAACT College Resource center is here to help answer those questions and more. I'm Caroline Mowassis, FAACT's Vice President of Community Relations, and today I'll walk you through some of the key highlights of the center so you can help guide your student through their college journey with more confidence and peace of mind.

So let's jump right in to exploring the College Resource Center. We're going to take a look at it through two lenses. One lens of information that is going to be very useful before your student arrives to college.

And then the other lens is going to be, once your student is on campus,

tools and information that can help them if they hit problems, information to help them enhance their time there.

So we're just going to look at it through these two lenses. But before we even start looking, let's just talk about two things that are just absolutely true. First one is every student is unique.

Every college is unique as well.

So when you're looking online or you're talking to people and someone says to you, oh, this college was absolutely great, or this college was absolutely terrible. In dealing with food allergies,

just know that that information from that person is based on their unique experience, their student, their student's style of communication and their needs. And your student is very different.

And I'll you an example of how things also change is my daughter started at college during COVID and eating on campus safely was really difficult because food was very limited.

And so there were very few things that she could actually eat in the dining hall. But then by the time she left in her senior year, her school had contracted with Menu Trenfo and had state of the art food allergy training and protocol in place.

So things change,

staff change, and again, schools are very unique. They go from small dining halls to lots of food outlets on campus, including outside vendors and fast food. And it's just a wide array.

So it's just really important to keep your mind open.

Now, this podcast is focused on parents and caregivers who are most likely listening. Although we would love students to be listening to, we know in reality if they listen to Facts podcast, they will choose specific topics that they're dealing with or interested in or they're going to want to listen to podcasts in our college series where I interview a lot of college students who give very authentic and real information about dating and emergencies and so many things.

And at the end of this podcast, I'm going to put all those links in the show notes so you can share those with your students.

First of all, please visit the center. We have nine centers within the overall structure of the FAACT College Resource Center. And I encourage everyone to get in there and dig around and look and pull out all the information that works for you.

But the two that I'm going to focus on right now,

one called for parents and caregivers and the other is for students.

And within these two centers, there are several checklists for the different phases of college, from exploring the college to actually moving in, and even the commuter student. And what the difference is between the two is we have our student checklist that gives questions and prompts and ideas on areas that students should be exploring or considering.

And there are questions within these checklists that provide information to students so they have an idea of what to ask. And it also prompts them to think about certain things.

Now, the for Parents and Caregivers checklist is slightly different because that checklist is created and designed to help you guide your student but there's going to be a little bit of different information on it than the students.

So for example, if you were to go in there and look at the Getting Started checklist for Parents and Caregivers, your checklist will parallel the Students. Except at the end, your checklist is going to have an area on self management and skills that are important to teach your students.

And let's dig a little deeper actually into this checklist on exploring colleges.

So there will be questions to ask while your student is taking tours. Questions to ask the disabilities office. And just a quick side note on that, some schools call that office the Office of Disabilities,

Disability Office,

Academic Support. There are a lot of different names. So go ahead and explore and find out what your college that you're looking at uses.

This checklist also will give prompts for accommodations, and that's establishing accommodations, housing, dining services.

And just a quick side note too, while you're going through this process with your student, we highly suggest keeping a notebook or notes on a computer or phone. So as you visit the different schools and you get this different information,

you're writing this down because it really gets confusing, literally after the second or third school that you and your student are taking a look at.

Another example of two other checklists in these centers, again for parents and caregivers and students is Admitted Student and Move In Ready. And these two checklists are somewhat similar where the admitted Student checklist is really deep and in depth and we're going to talk about that in a hot second.

And the Move In Ready checklist is more of a review to remind your student to confirm that all these different things are in place.

Let's talk now a little more about the admitted student checklist and what you can expect to see in there. This is when things get serious. Your student has accepted, everyone's very excited and it is time to jump right into action.

And this is where this tool is so important for you because it's going to remind you and your student of things to ask. For example, the first phone call and your first communication to the disabilities office.

And Louis prompts and questions to your student in there asking, do they want their parent involved in this phone call? Do they want the parent just in the room? Do they want to do it on their own?

And then just a side tip, encourage your student to take the lead because one, they might be 18 and considered an adult, and two, the college will be working directly with your student and they need to establish this rapport.

It's very important.

But back to the Checklist. Now, it will cover things like how to establish accommodations.

It's going to prompt your student to ask what information is needed to establish the accommodations.

For example, does the school have forms that they want the student to use, or does the student go back to the doctor and get a generalized letter?

On that note too, you'll see on this checklist there'll be a prompt asking, do you need to submit results from a current physical or medical appointment? A lot of schools want a student to be current with that physician within that first year.

And so that's where these checklists are very helpful because they're going to remind you of all these different questions and things to think about, like ongoing treatments. If your student is receiving treatment right now, how are they going to receive treatment when they're on campus?

Do they go home to see their doctor on break? Will they be seeing a local allergist? Will they be going to the student health center for assistance?

This checklist also discusses housing and single rooms and what's in the room in terms of microwave and fridge. Can your student ask for a private microwave and refrigerator? Is it shared?

Is it something that you buy and bring in, or does the school provide it? You'll also find in here information and questions to ask about campus dining and how your student is going to eat safely every single day while they're on campus.

Another important area that you're going to discover is emergencies. And this is very important because it's really critical that your student understand before they get on campus how emergencies are handled not only by themselves and what strategy and protocols you're going to create with your doctor, but also how does the campus handle emergencies.

So for example, on my daughter's campus, if there was an emergency, they needed to call campus security, who then called 911 and would direct the ambulance to the right spot on campus because they had a lot of roads on campus that were blocked off for non campus vehicles.

And so they had to go unlock gates,

unlock chains, and so forth. But my son's school, you call 911 and the ambulance would go to wherever the student explained. So it's really important for your student to know this.

Also,

Disaster Preparedness, FAACT actually has a college student checklist for disaster preparedness because it happens. Back to my daughter again, there was a wildfire near her school, and it happened during spring break, and she was home.

But for several days, students who were on campus had to voluntarily evacuate. So it's really important especially for our children who deal with food allergies and other related conditions, that they have a go bag that has items in it that will help them sustain for the next couple days,

whether it's money,

food,

high protein foods, emergency action plans, lists of phone numbers.

I will put the link in the show notes to that particular checklist so that way you can share that with your student. But as much as we hope disasters don't happen, they really do.

And as long as we're prepared, everyone will feel just so much better.

Next, let's discuss the commuter student who has a checklist within these two centers as well. It is really important for the commuter student and trade school student the types of accommodations that they might need.

And again, all these prompts are in these checklists are about if they need extra time, if they're ill and they have an allergic reaction and they need a few more extra days to recover,

if they are participating in treatments and need extra medical appointments. Also eating on campus, establishing how they will eat safely on campus and establishing accommodations so they can eat on campus safely.

Also field trips if they're attending conferences and even campus catering,

turning to classrooms and labs. There are prompts in there that will remind your student to determine how professors be informed about their allergies, including TAS or other students, and then also if there are going to be allergens in the classroom based on what they're studying and what's going on.

In addition to a commuter student needs to understand emergency services and medical management. So they also too need to know what to do if there's an emergency on campus and how do they call for help.

And overall,

for not only commuter students, but actually if you go through the other checklists, there's going to be information as well about managing stress and socializing.

Now let's move on to some of the other centers.

We've talked about information that's important before getting to campus, but there actually is one more center that applies to before arriving to campus and once you're there, and that is legal considerations,

this is a real critical center that should not be missed by anybody. And what's important about this center is it talks about the Americans with Disabilities Act. So dining services, accommodations, accommodations and housing accommodations are two very unique and important areas of accommodations in the college setting.

Title I and Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, also known as ADA,

prohibits schools from discriminating against students with disabilities,

including students with food allergies. The ADA also requires that schools provide students with disabilities reasonable accommodations necessary for these Students to have a full and equal access to the school services, facilities, accommodations and goods, including housing, food services and meal plans.

Visiting the center, you will find more in depth information on your student's legal rights.

You will also find information about medical singles. And that is a really important topic to talk about for just a hot moment here. If your student requires a medical single, then your student should pay the price for a standard double,

not a medical single, because that single is necessary because of the food allergies.

You will find all the information on this in this center. And I will share that both of my students got charged for a single and then they had to go back to the disability's office and then back to finance and have them provide a credit so that they would be charged a standalone double rate.

Also in this center you will find information about legal documents that might be of interest to your family, such as a health care power of attorney or healthcare proxy, durable legal power of attorney, and even access to student records because your student is going to be 18 years old and they will be considered a legal adult.

So if your student still wants your help regarding their healthcare or even financial affairs, then read this section here and take a look at this. In terms of access to student records, it's called FERPA, and each campus will have forms for your student.

And this gives you access to student records and certain things on campus so you could speak to the campus on behalf of your student. So for example, let's say your student went to the hospital for an allergic reaction.

Now you can call the school and speak for your child and make arrangements with their professors and things like that. And this is just an area that you want to discuss with your student as to what they're comfortable with and what they would like you to do.

For my students,

they just wanted me to have FERPA and they wanted me to be able to speak to the school, but they wanted to handle their healthcare and they wanted to handle their finances,

which was totally fine and good for our family.

Next, there's a center called for Students how to Conversations. And this is a very popular center.

And what it is are checklists provided to your student on how to talk to certain people within that college environment. And so it gives prompts for questions and then it even gives statements of words that your student can use.

So in this center, I'll tell you the names of some of these checklists which are really great.

How to tell potential roommates about your food allergies, how to talk to your resident advisor, how to talk to dining hall staff,

how to talk to your professors, how to talk to friends about food allergies,

how to talk to dates about food allergies, and how to navigate alcohol at a party.

Although fact does not condone or support underage drinking, we do know alcohol needs to be discussed. And so that's why we have this here.

So let's just take a look at one of the checklists, how to tell potential roommates about your food allergies.

On this checklist, there are prompts that your student can use while talking to somebody else. So for example, I'm just going to read you one of them. I'm so excited to room together.

I wanted to let you know right away that I have food allergies. We wouldn't be able to have blank allergens in the room. Is that going to be okay with you?

And so there are these prompts that gives questions that your students can use to actually start the conversation with some somebody else.

Another important center is our behavioral health center.

And here your student can actually download the Behavioral Health Resources checklist.

And this checklist is designed to help your student create a toolkit for their mental wellness. And so it has links to interesting information about navigating a new diagnosis. So just in case they just have a new diagnosis or a new allergen was added in that has links to the food allergy podcast that are related to mental wellness.

There's information on self care, coping skills, anxiety and depression, and then even resilience and food allergies.

We know college can be really stressful just in general, and then adding that food allergy to it can take it to a new level. And so we just want to make sure that all of our students in our community have access to information and just to know that they're supported by us.

And now before we end, we're just going to spend a couple of minutes on some just tried and true tips from many of our food allergy families.

And first tip is suggesting to your student that as they work through this process and they establish their accommodations to find out who is their champion. So as they're talking to the disability office,

just frankly ask, who is my champion in this office? If I run into trouble, who do I speak to? And that is so important for your student to develop a relationship with the person who might help them if they run into trouble with housing or in the dining hall or with the professor.

It's very important for them to know who's their champion and who's their contact.

Next communication is Absolutely. The secret weapon for managing any type of food allergy or health condition on campus is encourage your student to develop their communication skills. And if they're the type of person that just doesn't like direct verbal conversation and they prefer to do things with an email,

then teach them how to write an email and teach them how to do follow up at that email. I actually sat both of my kids down and said, this is how you write an email.

This is how you sound very respectful. Here's how you outline the points of the conversation and then this is how you write out your follow up and then you let them know when you'll be following up.

So you can always answer your email with saying, I appreciate your help and time. I will be following up next Tuesday with you and it worked out very well for both of my students.

Another hot tip, always store backup medications in the dorm room and let people know where they are. Also, if they can put them somewhere visible like on a shelf that's very easy to see or hanging a hook near the door, that is very helpful.

So if your student's having an allergic reaction and they need someone to help them, they know exactly where to find the medications,

action plans, contact numbers, everything. I also want to note that students should be carrying their epinephrine with them on their body every day at all times, plus emergency action plans and anything else that their doctor has advised.

I am just speaking about the dorm room in regards to reactions in the dorm or as bathroom backup. Also, it's real critical that our students keep enough food in the room so if they have to miss a meal or two and things go awry,

they can eat. So for my students, they kept safe bread, they used a sunflower type butter, they had crackers, they had energy drinks. Both of my kids actually had these little rolly racks with drawers in them and they had all the different snacks and foods in the there.

If humanly possible,

it is great to give a few gift cards to your students for restaurants that are safe or fast foods that are safe. So again, if they miss a meal they can quickly get one and not worry about it.

It's also important for your student to know how to eat from a grocery store that if they're out with friends or they during athletics and the bus stops somewhere to know how to walk into a grocery store and just create a meal that they could eat right then and then there.

So for example, again, back to my students,

they knew which breads were safe, they knew which lunch meats were safe,

cheeses, cottage Cheese yogurt because they could have dairy and they knew how to go into a grocery store and create a meal. And that was so helpful and they used that so many times.

Another tip I've heard from a lot of students is before they get on campus, they do their research to find out which fast food places and pizza places and all sorts of restaurants that students typically visit.

And they did their homework and found which ones were safe. So then as they were meeting new friends,

they would say, hey, do you want to go over to Blank pizza parlor? I heard it's really good.

Where in reality the student was trying to direct the group to that pizza parlor because they knew it would be safe for them.

And lastly, for everyone with us today,

we just want you to know that you're not alone. And Fact does offer a private Facebook group for parents and caregivers of high school and college students. So please consider joining that.

But just know that so many people have have gone before you. So many students are successful in college and even though sometimes it can feel very overwhelming, it is very doable.

And some of the magic is just knowing when to pivot, knowing to strategize, and knowing when to turn and walk away from something, or knowing when to call somebody up and say, hey, help me brainstorm something.

But there are solutions out there. And actually on that one final note, if you do run into trouble from a legal perspective,

Go to our legal considerations section, and FAACT's General Counsel Amelia Smith is available not to give you legal advice, but she can brainstorm with you solutions as a fellow food allergy parent who does understand the legal system.

So just go to that legal consideration section and you'll find her contact information.

I just want to end with saying congratulations to everybody.

This is such an exciting journey. It's so fun to watch your student change from when they first enter college to to the very end. Both of my students are done with their undergraduate work and my son is done with his graduate work.

And it's just so fun to see the journey and to see their food allergy journey and how they start to take responsibility and how they get even creative about it and how they just step into themselves as people and it is just so fun and beautiful to watch.

So congratulations to everybody. I will put all the links in the show notes so you can find all this wonderful information.

And thank you for joining us today.

Before we say goodbye today, I just want to take one more moment to say thank you to Genentech for their kind sponsorship of Facts Roundtable podcast. Also, I want to note that today's guest was not paid by or sponsored by Genentech to participate in this specific podcast.

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Have a great day and always be kind to one another.