Parenting students make up a meaningful portion of MCC’s student population and often balance coursework with significant caregiving responsibilities. In recent focus groups, MCC students described how policies related to attendance, deadlines, and participation can affect their ability to stay engaged in learning when family demands arise. This session will share key insights from student data and highlight structured flexibility as a strategy for course policy design: maintaining clear expectations while allowing limited, predictable flexibility when life circumstances arise. Participants will review practical examples and examine their own syllabi to identify where flexibility could be built in to support student persistence while maintaining academic standards.