Parents present something of a conundrum to higher education administrators. They know that parents play a very important role in student success, especially during the first year, but institutions are also committed to ensuring that students successfully transition from childhood to adulthood. While they want to encourage parent involvement in the university experience, they also must urge parents to "cut the cord" with their children. Parent programs are often a helpful way to both support parents and productively channel their involvement with the institution. Although these parent issues and the desire to deal with them are likely universal, higher education parent programs, particularly those run out of the advancement office, are most often found at private liberal arts colleges. This article discusses how California State University, Chico, a 17,000-student public university, broke the mold by building a parent program within the alumni office--with great assistance from many other campus departments.