Podcasts about students office

Heather Callison is the Director of Student Outreach & Support Office; housed within the Dean of Students Office of Student Affairs. Her formal academic education includes Psychology and Sports Conditioning & Performance. She is QPR Trainer trained, Safe Zone trained, and is a member of the NABITA & NASPA Communities. Heather has worked on SUU campus in a professional staff setting for five years and is currently a Student Affairs Representative in the Staff Association Board. In her role in the Student Outreach & Support Office she hopes to continue to collaborate with all students, faculty, and staff to meet the needs of students and help them achieve their version of success. Rachel Brindley is the Assistant Director in the Student Outreach & Support office at SUU. She has been a full-time staff member for five year; both in Enrollment Management (Registrar's Office) and Student Affairs. She has her Master of Public Administration with an emphasis in Higher Education from Southern Utah University. Her passion lies in helping students remember why they started their academic journey in the first place and finding the resources and support necessary to help them continue to fulfil their goals and dreams, despite life getting in the way sometimes. Rachel enjoys volunteering as a member of the Iron County Search & Rescue. In her free time, she loves to spend time outdoors with her husband and three kids.  These comments made as part of the podcast reflect the views of the episode participants only and should not be construed as official university statements.

***Content Advisory: This episode will include discussion around suicide, mental health distress, and suicidal ideation.  Today our hosts interview UHS Prevention's Val Donovan and KK Kothe, particularly on the topic of suicide prevention. Learn more about how to spot potential warning signs for someone who may be experiencing suicidal ideation and some tips and examples for how to have these conversations, provide support, and refer to other resources available.   UHS suicide prevention resources: https://www.uhs.wisc.edu/prevention/suicide-prevention  Recognize, Respond, and Refer student suicide prevention training: https://canvas.wisc.edu/enroll/393FJ7   UHS' 24/7 crisis line: 608-265-5600, option #9  988 National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: call, text or chat 988  National Crisis Text Line: text ‘start' or ‘home' to 741741 to get started  Dean of Students Office: https://doso.students.wisc.edu/student-assistance/   McBurney Disability Resource Center: https://mcburney.wisc.edu/   General information on Mental Health Services at UHS: https://www.uhs.wisc.edu/mental-health/     Our intro and outro music is ‘Storybook' by Scott Holmes: scottholmesmusic.com 

Whether it's the first day at daycare or preschool, the beginning of kindergarten, or the transition to middle or high school, sending our kids off into the world at any age is a scary thing. But for college, it can can be downright terrifying. According to both the experts and the people in my life, it's the biggest leap of faith of all - especially these days with the high rates of depression and anxiety among college kids (both of which have doubled since 2014!) Luckily, there are people like Dr. Marcia Morris out there to support both our kids and ourselves. Marcia is a psychiatrist at the University of Florida and she provides mental health support both on campus and virtually for students at the university. Marcia and I sat down to talk about the best ways that parents can help their kids succeed in school, how medication may play a role in that success, and how kids can find joy in both their academic and social lives.Here are some resources related to the topic of college students' mental health.988 LifelineLearn More about Dr. Marcia MorrisMarcia's websiteThe Campus Cure: A Parent's Guide to Mental Health and Wellness for College StudentsPsychology Today BlogCollege Mental Health ResourcesHealthy Minds StudyHow Colleges Today Are Supporting Student Mental HealthStudent mental health is in crisis. Campuses are rethinking their approachBefore Heading to College, Make a Mental Health ChecklistTaking a Mental Health Leave from CollegeGap YearsTaking a Gap Year Before Grad SchoolTaking a Gap Year Before CollegeLearn More About Gap Years Contact us!Reach out to us at podcast@beyondbooksmart.comIG/FB/TikTok @beyondbooksmartcoachingTranscriptHannah Choi 0:04 Hi everyone, and welcome to Focus Forward, an executive function Podcast where we explore the challenges, and celebrate the wins, you'll experience as you change your life by working on improving your executive function skills. I'm your host, Hannah Choi. Happy New Year, everyone. We made it through another year. And I have to say I am super excited about what's to come in 2023. I'm so glad you're here with me. And I hope you continue to find this podcast useful, and relatable and easy to listen to. We're always open to new topic ideas. So if you've got anything you'd like me to explore, please reach out. Sending our kids off into the world at any age is a scary thing. Their first day at daycare or preschool, when they start kindergarten, or transition to middle or high school. Both of my kids will be starting at new schools next year, high school for my daughter and middle school for my son. So you might want to check in on me and see how I'm doing later this fall. But I think the scariest is probably going to be when they head off to college. From what I hear from friends and family is that it's the biggest leap of faith that you'll take as a parent. And especially these days when we hear that the rates of depression and anxiety among college kids have doubled since 2014. And we have way too much access to news which can really make it seem like bad stuff is happening all the time, even though it's not. But luckily there are people like Dr. Marsha Morris out there. Marsha is a psychiatrist at the University of Florida. And she provides mental health support both on campus and virtually for students at the University. She's also written a book, which she'll talk about and she writes a blog as well. Marsha and I sat down to talk about the best ways that parents can help their kids succeed in school, how medication may play a role in that success, and how kids can find joy in both their academic and social lives. Before I dive into this important conversation, I want to share a critical resource that everyone needs to know about the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline. This completely free service offers 24/7 Call, text and chat access to trained crisis counselors who can help people experiencing suicidal substance use and or mental health crisis or any other kind of emotional distress. People can also dial 988 If they are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support. Do not hesitate to reach out for help if you are struggling, or you suspect a loved one might be okay. Thank you for listening and now on to the show. Hi, Marcia. Thanks so much for joining me for today's episode.Marcia Morris, MD 3:06 I'm so glad to be here today, Hannah.Hannah Choi 3:09 Great I'm really looking forward to this conversation about supporting college kids. My kids are are not yet ready for school or college. My daughter's my eldest is in eighth grade. But I know it's gonna happen in a blink of an eye. So could you introduce yourself to our listeners? Marcia Morris, MD 3:26 Sure. My name is Dr. Marcia Morris. And I've worked as a college psychiatrist at the University of Florida for nearly 30 years. I became a college psychiatrist right after I finished my training. And I chose to work with university students because it's such an exciting age where so many changes are going on and people are finding out their path in life. So, but one thing that I've noticed over the years is it's kids are facing more challenges and having more mental health issues. And as a result of that, I'll mention a book I wrote for parents of college students called The Campus Cure: A Parent's Guide to Mental Health and Wellness for College Students. It really takes a team you need providers, parents, professors to all help students be successful in school. And I write a blog for Psychology Today called College Wellness: Promoting Happiness and Health and the College Years. Again, for parents who can be great facilitators and helping college students have a joyful college experience.Hannah Choi 4:39 Before I had my kids, I worked in the Office for Students with Disabilities at a community college in Santa Barbara, California, back when I lived where it was warm year round, and, and and a lot of the work that we did was helping parents figure out how to best support their kids. And so I'm really excited to dive into that today with you. So good. Thanks. Thank you for joining me. So what are some, I mean, let's dive right in. What are some, what's some advice that you can give to parents who have kids that are heading off to college?Marcia Morris, MD 5:16 Well, I have a an expression that is, uses four Ts. It's tell, teach, talk and take action. And the tell part is really letting your kids know that you love them, you're there for them, you support them, they can call you any time. And it's really important to say that because kids say, Oh, I go into college, I should be totally on my own, but you're a good sounding board for them. So tell them you're available, you should teach them about some of the challenges that they could face, whether it's related to availability of substances, like alcohol, and kind of setting limits for themselves, but also teach them about mental health issues. Because unfortunately, rates of depression and anxiety are going up in college. And so you, if your child is experiencing this, you want them to get help as soon as possible. So talking openly about mental health is really important teaching them about that. Talk regularly. When you go, your child goes to college, or it could be like talking on the phone doing a video chat. I know there's a lot of texting going on. But there is value to having that either phone contact or face to face contact at least once a week, if not more the first year just to see how they're doing because it's a very...the first year is a pretty vulnerable time. And take action if you think something really bad is going on. And that could be visiting your child at the school if they just sound really bad. Well, that might be the last step. The first step might be saying, Hey, I'd like to speak with your RA and check in with them and maybe talk to both of you because I I'm concerned about you. But But things can, things can be really stressful and kids can get in a vulnerable place. And sometimes kids even stopped going to class. So it's if that's happening, if something seems like your child is very depressed, it's it's time for a visit to the school. So that's the take...you hope you that that doesn't happen. Or it might be a visit that weekend to check in. It may not be that dramatic, it might be Hey, you know, you sound like you're having a tough time. I'd love to just visit over the weekend and check in. I like that. Yeah, calling every day even if you're think someone's in a bad spot. Yeah,Hannah Choi 7:49 I like the story that you shared in your book about I think the girl was called Sarah. And just her experience, how her mom kind of went through that process that you just explained. And, and I and I really I liked, I liked hearing that story, because I felt like, I felt like she supported. She She helped her daughter both figure out how to solve it by herself and gave her some actual nice support for her as well. SoMarcia Morris, MD 8:20 right and you don't want you know, you might need to come and visit but you don't want to be there all the time. But it it it just there might be some moments in the college experience where students need more help. And hopefully, when that's happening, your student is already speaking with a therapist or a psychiatrist. And it's worthwhile encouraging your student to sign a HIPPA release of information form so that you can the you your child and the psychiatrist or the therapist can talk together and problem solving. Find out what's going to help your student get through their the crisis they might be experiencing.Hannah Choi 9:04 And do you do you ever find in your experience where the student doesn't want the parent involved but still needs that support?Unknown Speaker 9:16 Sometimes if someone's having a severe problem, they don't want the parents involved at the beginning. But I would say in almost all instances if things if they're not feeling better, they're more depressed, they're having trouble functioning. Most of the time they'll allow a family member or a friend and might not be the parent but they they will allow someone someone that that but so they might say oh I can handle this on my own I'm fine. And a year later they're still struggling. And they say yeah, let's call my... dad and get him involved. So but it's you can't force it on someone and legally the only way you can call a parent with about a student's consent is if there is an immediate risk of danger to self or others. And maybe twice in 30 years, I've done that it's such a rare event. And it has to be really important to talk with other people and get even legal counsel and make sure you're not overstepping the bounds of the law, because you really want to protect people's confidentiality. But most most students at some point, recognize you they can't go at it alone. If their depression is really bad, they need to involve someone else for support.Hannah Choi 10:33 Yeah. And so that, that makes me think that the importance of maintaining a good relationship with your child when they're away at school, and so how do you what do you suggest for parents for ensuring that happen? Unknown Speaker 10:49 Well, I have another acronym. It's love. Hannah Choi 10:54 Oh, I love it. Marcia Morris, MD 10:55 So the L is laugh and enjoy. And the point of that is, you have to have a good just have a fun relationship with your child, it's not always going to be fun, you're, you're not their best friend, you're still their parent, but But you have to have that enjoyment together, because they're not going to listen to you otherwise, right? You know, a show, there might be a show you watch together, if when they're home, take a walk together, it can't be all about, you need to do this. Hannah Choi 11:22 Yeah, you need to connect with them. Unknown Speaker 11:24 We right we have to have that initial kind of bond, this the bond makes sure there's that loving bond first before you can do anything other, otherwise, your kids aren't gonna want to listen to you. But anyways, the other thing that I think it's really important for parents to is, O, part of love observe. We can get very wrapped up in our kids, and we think they're the greatest thing on earth. And sometimes we don't see when they're having an issue or they're struggling with something, we want to think everything's good. And there are some parents who are negative and just find fault. But try to find that that happy medium of just seeing your kid seeing - Are they making friends at school? Are they Is it the end of freshman year, and they're still very lonely, and they haven't made a friend and that that's a time where you might make some try to get them connected with a counseling center or encourage them to join clubs. But are they making the development are they developing academically and socially? But see, see how you think they're doing and then then also, but validate where they're really are shining and progressing. And let's say they got a C in a class and they they took a similar class next semester, and they worked hard and got a tutor and got an A, like, say, Wow, that's so you know, I saw you do that, that's, I saw you put the effort in, that's really great. And also validate when they're, they're having a tough time. And, like, I think when I went to college, it was easier than what my kids, I just in general, less stressful than when my kids went to college. So sometimes parents have a tendency said, Oh, it wasn't that bad when I went to college, but some things are just harder. Now. It's more competitive, it's harder to get into grad school. So validate that there might be struggles, but also, the last part of love is encourage, even if they're struggling and there, you still encourage them problem solve. I use that word a lot. But problem solved. If you're really stuck, say, Listen, I want to sit down with you and look at we'll go on the website of school and let's think about what resources you can do to you know, make this work. And so that it's really important to you don't want to be totally you don't want to say goodbye or going to college. But most don't. Most parents are pretty involved now. Yeah, but but it's it's important. You don't want to be overly involved either.Hannah Choi 14:00 Right? You have to find a good balance. Marcia Morris, MD 14:02 Yeah, right. But but you do. I think kids need a lot of encouragement toHannah Choi 14:08 Yeah, I mostly work with college age students, for my executive function coaching clients. And this is all sounding very familiar to me experiencing like challenges freshman year, and then heading into sophomore year with a little bit more support, you know, from a coach or from like, mom had to step in and help a little bit and now and then they then they really start to do well with a little extra support.Marcia Morris, MD 14:37 So right and I like you know and I your company does great coaching I know that and and sometimes there's something called Success Coaching on campus. It's not at every school but though they will they those coaches will take a look at students holistically and see how they're doing socially, academically and often they can access the grades. And sometimes students, if they're doing badly might not want to admit it. So they'll just sit with a student be very supportive and direct them, they might direct them to a different major, some kids start, it's actually I read something, at least 30% of students switch majors, at least one time, I've heard a range of statistics, but it's very common to switch majors. So they might have helped them switch majors, they might suggest a different club to join. So that guidance is so helpful.Hannah Choi 15:38 Yeah, right, helpful. I know, I always encourage my clients take advantage of your academic advisor. Or if you qualify for services at the Disability Resource Center, go and get to know them, even if you don't go regularly just know what they offer. And, and so is that is that something that you recommend to your students as well? Marcia Morris, MD 15:59 Absolutely, absolutely. For all the patients in our clinic, we generally encourage them to sign up for the Disability Resource Center for whether they have anxiety, depression, or ADHD. Because they you never know when they're going to need the resources. Sometimes they they register, we have to write a letter and they submit it and they register. And they may not even use it, but then there might be a point where they need it. And the accommodations could include time and a half for testing or testing in a quiet room. And then to get additional accommodations. It's more of a kind of a discussion with the Disability Resource Center about whether they can hand and work late. And and so there's Yeah, it's a process and that has benefited many students that I've worked with over the years. Yeah, very appreciative of the disability resource centers on campus.Hannah Choi 16:57 Yeah, that was that's always my one of my first questions for anyone who might qualify for services there. Have you checked in with them? Have you gotten to know them. And I saw that a lot when I worked in, in, in the office that I worked at is sometimes some semesters kids needed it, you know, for everything and other semesters they didn't. But just having itMarcia Morris, MD 17:20 Right, and with mental health issues, with some mental health issues, there could be an exacerbation of symptoms, ADHD, tends to be pretty steady. And you know, what kind of some of the issues are with depression, something might happen in someone's life, and they might have a more severe episode and need more accommodations at that moment. Get registered, and then going back in and, you know, adding accommodations can be very helpful. One thing I was going to suggest also is students should register at the very beginning of the year. We had talked before about how with COVID. It's sometimes it's there's students have been more overwhelmed, at least on our campus, they're accessing the disability resource center. Yeah. But so you want to get ahead of the line as much as possible. Because if you wait till the middle or end of the semester, it can be hard to get an appointment to discuss options. Yeah. And also counseling services. Hannah Choi 18:25 Yeah, yeah. And if you, the student, are feeling overloaded or stressed, because it's midterms, you adding an additional appointment of getting to know the place is just an additional thing to do. If you've already connected with them during the time where you're not stressed out schools just beginning, then it's, it's gonna be a little easier for you won't feel like such a hurdle.Marcia Morris, MD 18:48 That's absolutely true. Yeah. Hannah Choi 18:51 So speaking of depression and anxiety, do you are you and COVID are you seeing a difference? Pre and Post COVID?Marcia Morris, MD 19:00 Well, yes, absolutely. And but what's been interesting and unfortunate is the trend has been upwards even before COVID. But in 2020, there's a national survey called the Healthy Mind study that's been tracking rates of depression and anxiety on college campuses. And so, in 2021, the study found that 41% of students screened positive for depression. And that's what's actually high number and 34% for anxiety. It uses a screening test. And again, the students who might take the survey perhaps they might have more issues anyways, but yeah, nonetheless, the trend has been upward. And the rate that is that rate for depression is double what it was in 2014, and the rate of anxiety is up by 50%. So that's a huge, huge increase. And we actually, I worked with a research group and we did a study that showed the rate of depression combined with anxiety, like having both. We use Healthy Minds data, by the way, but it has doubled since 2013. So, so and so we see more students experiencing the symptoms. It's not just happening in college, though we've there's been an increase of depression and anxiety and high school, but it is. So the COVID certainly made things harder. And I know it's a sign of the times there are stressful things going on in the Yeah, yeah, the economy. And COVID was just hard for everyone. But there's hope people can feel better. They can do therapy, they can, if needed, take medication, they can exercise, it's not going to cure depression, but it certainly helps really. I was gonna say one other thing, though, related to the depression and anxiety. I think the biggest problem of COVID was the social isolation where kids were, for safety reasons. And we didn't know how to handle COVID like students, high school and college students were often isolated. And that in that instance, their social skills fell behind. They were lonely loneliness can increase anxiety and depression. And what's interesting is now they're back. They're in class, they're interacting. But they're having some more anxiety about the interactions. It feels different. And I think it's the same for people outside of college.Hannah Choi 21:47 Oh, absolutelyMarcia Morris, MD 21:48 We're all adjusting. So but so, I'm a big supporter of therapy, individual, group therapy. And I think I want to encourage students to take advantage of those resources, whether it's on campus or off campus to deal with any, like strong feelings of depression and anxiety. And that would be like the first line of treatment before going to medication. Yeah.Hannah Choi 22:15 Yeah. And and every campus out there is going to have some kind of support center for students. And it can be hard to take that first step of making the phone call or going and walking in the door, but or maybe it's virtual, maybe it can be held virtually now. Do you guys do virtual, which can make it easier?Marcia Morris, MD 22:39 Yes. During the, during the first year of the COVID pandemic, I was doing 100% virtual psychiatry, working from home. Yeah, I'm back in the office. But what is very interesting to me, is that a lot of students like the virtual, you're good at technology, if they don't want to drive across to the apartment and deal with parking. Yeah, they might be. I sometimes work with medical students, they're on rotations. They can go into an office and do their session and then go back to work. In my opinion that telehealth has been a silver lining of the pandemic where we've we've improved those resources.Hannah Choi 23:25 So if a student or if a parent feels like their child, or a student feels like they want to take advantage of therapy on campus, who would be their first person to go to?Marcia Morris, MD 23:39 They should call the counseling center on campus directly. And then they would generally they either might speak with someone on the phone or see someone. And what's happened on a lot of campuses, the therapy is tended to be more short term. It does vary from campus to campus, so some will do long term therapy. So this, the student needs to maybe go on the website, see what the services are, and decide what what they need. So it might be doing some short term therapy on campus in transitioning off campus or doing a telehealth kind of therapy or psychiatry. I like one of the things I like about my job on campus in particular is I get to see students from freshman year and is through. Yeah, it was psychiatry, it's hard to do short term treatment because they might be on medicine for a while, right. So so we really they really do need, you know, consistent follow up. But I do think also some students would benefit from long term therapy and I would like to see campuses make that more available to students. I know the resources are limited and they're being stretched, but I think it's so important for young adults to get therapy early on to prevent problems getting more serious. So I'd like to see more access to both therapy and psychiatry on campus. And if not on campus, and even through through community mental health centers with affordable resources, I think, nationally, we need to really get young adult mental health improved.Hannah Choi 25:23 Absolutely, I completely agree. Marcia Morris, MD 25:26 But, but parents can get involved in trying to figure out what where the resources are. And because it's, if you're depressed, it's hard to kind of work through situations. And the other thing I wanted to mention is a lot of campuses have a case manager, who might be may or may not be a social worker, but they can cut, they can help the student connect with resources. Sometimes the case manager is in the counseling center. Sometimes it's might be in the Dean of Students Office. But there's each campus runs a different site, it's very, very as you work varies tremendously. But if you need to find a helper to connect you, that's the key to and the parent can be critical in that process.Hannah Choi 26:15 And so you mentioned medication, how does? How do how do medications come into play here, and how can parents support their child if they either are on medication already, or might need to look, go down that path.Marcia Morris, MD 26:30 One way they can support the students is if they're coming to school on medicine, to try to facilitate them having continuous treatment, because one of the worst things that can happen, especially with antidepressants is stopping the medicine. Right? If someone wants to come off of a medicine, they need to taper slowly and work with a provider. So continuity of care is extremely important when they're coming to college. The other issue is the sometimes parents have doubts about the need for medicine, or they worry about side effects. And with antidepressants, by the way, there is a blackbox warning, talking about increased risk of suicidal behavior. Teenagers up until 25. The study showed that the concerning time is really under 18. But nonetheless, occasionally, when a young adult starts any antidepressant they can have kind of new suicidal thinking. So the important thing is, let's say a parent is said I don't want says to the child, I really feel uncomfortable with you starting any antidepressant, it's worthwhile to ask the child to say, you know, let's all meet with the psychiatrist so I can learn about how these medicines work. And know like we have an on-call system. So if the students having a problem, they can reach us, we're not just going to hand them a medicine and say there you go! We don't do that. But what we do do is that we do have follow up visits with the student and more at the beginning to see how are you feeling on this medicine? Are you having side effects? Is this the right dose, and I increase medicine very slowly, because you do not want to cause side effects in college students affecting concentration or energy level. So So parents, if they're having worries about the medicine, or even if they feel the student is not doing well, on the medicine can say, I want you to let the psychiatrist know that you need you need to call your psychiatrist or I'd love to meet with you and this psychiatrist because I'm observing things that concern me. But again, don't stop the medicine.Hannah Choi 28:50 That's really, that's the takeaway. And then that reminds me of like, I had a client who one thing that we were working on was making sure that he had reminders and a system to help him remember to get his refill, so that that wouldn't happen. And so that can be something that has to be learned to by the student.Marcia Morris, MD 29:14 And and you're bringing up, right. And also in the past, the parents might have picked up. The student has to, and there's an issue coming up now and hopefully it's getting better, but there's an Adderall. Sure. Yeah,Hannah Choi 29:28 I read about that. Yeah. Marcia Morris, MD 29:30 So what we're doing now with students is we're saying make sure you fill the prescription right on time. And then sometimes we end up calling around to pharmacies to see where they haven't. I hope that's gonna get better soon. And what we usually are able to find it's at somewhere, but that can be a challenge. And so let's say a student goes to the pharmacy and they don't have the Adderall they need to call the psychiatrist and sometimes there's a psychiatric nurse practitioner and my thought, like, if you need to call the clinic and say, I'm facing this challenge do I've called a few pharmacies, they don't have it, can you tell me where to go? Or what to do?Hannah Choi 30:15 Yeah. And so that's something that comes up a lot for college students is learning how to ask for help take advantage of resources. And it's and it's okay to ask for help. And there are people out there that really want to support you. So that's a good example of you might have to do that.Marcia Morris, MD 30:34 Yeah, right. And, and even for my patients, sometimes, though, they might be having a side effect. But they might wait to tell me until the next appointment, I said, you can feel free to call and we've structured our clinics. So nurses will take the preliminary call and then let let us know if there's something serious going on. So you know, we tried, we try to, you know, have a team of resources, we even train our support staff to kind of figure out where to triage different calls. That's good. And yeah, we have a really, I'm really happy with the team I work with there. It's it's a very caring team. And that's also Yeah, important to make sure your student is working with a group of people or one person who seems to, you know, care.Hannah Choi 31:20 Yeah. And then that goes back again to getting in early and meeting with the people in that office and getting to know that team and having them get to know you and your child and making sure that you that they are familiar with your case. And it can just really help in times of crisis, I imagine definitely.Marcia Morris, MD 31:42 I will add one more last thing about medicine, for antidepressants, which actually treat both depression and anxiety. The question often is asked, How long will my child be on this medicine, it's pretty hard to predict. But I can say that I've had students who, let's say, have pretty bad anxiety and depression. And they do a good course of what we call cognitive behavioral therapy, which is the gold standard treatment for depression and anxiety. And sometimes after a good course of therapy and making life changes, like finding the right major, finding the right friend group, they find they can taper off of the medicine, but with the help of a psychiatrist, and I've seen that happen. The important thing is, though, generally, if someone's on an antidepressant, they they stay on it for approximately nine months to a year, because that's the timeframe it takes to have a full recovery, particularly from depression. Okay, so, so but but it doesn't have to mean forever. It really doesn't. Because I know, and I'm sorry about that. Hannah Choi 31:42 Yeah, I was gonna say that I'm sure that's comforting to parents who are concerned about their child being on medication, that it's not a forever thing. Marcia Morris, MD 32:37 And the only time it might, it's might be forever as if someone has a more severe mental health problem, like severe bipolar disorder. Sometimes that requires lifelong medicine. And that's about 1% of the population, but, but when people do well, you can keep them on lower doses, and they'll have fewer side effects and utilize therapy along with it, though, you can do it the way in that people can function and not feel overmedicated.Hannah Choi 33:40 Yeah, that's good. Yeah, find like, again, finding that balance, and making sure that the choices that the life choices that they're making, in addition to medication are also being supportive, which reminds me you just said something about a friend group. And it reminds me of a client of mine once who had a friend group that that was, was not a healthy friend group for her. And, and so and so she changed her friend group and now and you know, and then ended up having a much better experience. And that makes me think about the social experience of kids in college. And how important that is,Marcia Morris, MD 34:20 It is equally important to the academic experience is all about your social development, deciding which friends you want to hang out deciding which romantic partners you want to be with, and learn and learning how to deal deal with people in difficult situations. And having fun, I mean, college should be fun, too. It shouldn't be a total grind. It is hard. I mean I I studied pretty hard in college, but I also had some fun. And so it's important for students to find the activities they enjoy. It might be intramural sports, it might be going to to church or temple or a mosque, it, it might be. I'm trying to think of the interesting groups, I think there was an acrobatics group one time. You know, like,Hannah Choi 35:13 There's something for everyone,Marcia Morris, MD 35:15 Some of the clubs, but but it you have to find something, it's important to have fun. And that's, that's, it's just part of life, we should all have fun. But maybe do your studying during the weekend, have fun on the weekends, don't have fun, every won't be able to you know, pass your classes. School should be fun. I think the academic part there should be joy in the academics too. And it's it's important to find what you really like. And so if you're, you know, kind of pre med and you're think that's what I should do, but you say, I really liked this. It's a long, four years undergrad and four years of medical school and four years of residency to like,Hannah Choi 36:00 yeah, that's a long time. It's really,Marcia Morris, MD 36:03 But it's really important to find things you enjoy. And I think parents worry of my kid majors in English or history, they're not going to get a job. But in reality, kids get jobs doing social media for companies after graduation when they're majoring in English. It's so interesting, all the different things they do post graduation, but I think it's important to find a major you enjoy it, but still go to a Career Resource Center started. Yeah, as a sophomore beginning of junior year and start planning. Okay, I love this major. But here's I'm also going to think about a job after school. Or maybe it might be graduate school.Hannah Choi 36:43 Yeah, I was just thinking, Gosh, I don't think I went to the Career Center once when I should have done that. I'm very happy with my, my career, how it all worked out.Marcia Morris, MD 36:53 Imagine, you know, with the experience I have working with students with my kids, I said you need to go found me a little too much sometimes, but it kind of helped to you. In terms of your that you have this resource on your campus? Use it take advantage of it.Hannah Choi 37:11 Yeah, yep. I, whenever I start working with a college student, I always say to them, okay, yes, you're in, you're in college for academics. But let's make it so that your academics are, you know, as not easy as possible. But let's figure out ways systems, let's build systems, so that you have more time for your socializing, because you're right. I mean, yes, college is about academics, but it really is also about finding about who you are as a person, and learning social skills and learning the kind of people that you'd like to be around and the kind of people you need to avoid, and learning how to ask for help and become part of a group and how to function in a group. And you can't learn all that if you just do the academic. And so you need to leave time for the, that social aspect. Marcia Morris, MD 37:46 And studies actually, so show that a sense of social belonging on campus is correlated with better grades. So parents who were worried about that say, yeah, they might actually say have time to restore themselves and have some fun. They might do better academically.Hannah Choi 38:24 Yes, yes. Yep. And that's why it's so and also how you said, the adding joy to your academics, and finding something that works for you. Yes, you're gonna have to take classes that that are in your major, that that don't work for you. But if you can build systems, and figure out the tools and the strategies that you need to use to make it more bearable to get through those classes, take advantage of your resources can just make it everything so much more enjoyable. Yeah, great. Well, thank you so much. Is there anything else that you'd like to add that we didn't cover today?Marcia Morris, MD 39:01 Yes, one one last thing. When your child is applying to colleges, again, take a close look and see what kind of what kind of coping skills they have where they thrive. Because some kid I have, I have one child who went to a small private college I have another tiles we went to a large state school because their needs were different. And they both they thrived in the those settings they were the right settings for them. So that's important as you're in that you can you know often work with the guidance counselor at school it's now popular and a high hire people to help with the whole application process. But if you do hire someone, find someone who's not just looking at all the best school your kid will get. Yeah, really look at your child and see where they're going to thrive. And um, the the last so I'm talking about kind of getting into school and I just also want to talk About the exit from school that yeah, that can be tricky time too. And sometimes the challenge is some kinds of classes for certain majors like engineering can get super hard at the very end, there might be a design project where you have to develop this whole system. And so that's a time to check in with your child to and see how they're doing. Because for some kids that last year can be pretty stressful, stressful, and there can be some tough classes to get into. And the other stress is for kids who haven't figured out what they want, right? Might want to go to medical school, but haven't fulfilled the requirements, help your child calm down and say, Listen, you can do a gap year you can apply to med school or another graduate school, you don't have to go go straight to grad school. So kind of paying attention to the transition into college. And the transition out is really, those are kind of tricky times where kids might need more support.Hannah Choi 41:00 And also helping helping kids realize that you don't have to follow the sort of traditional path that, that you feel like everyone else is following and because not everyone is following it and not and that's not the right path for everyone. And yeah, and taking the time to figure out what what would be best for me and what would be best for my happiness. And I have a friend who he did two years of college, and then he took a few years off, and now he's back as a student in his later 20s. And he's loving it so much more. He's having a completely different experience than he did when he was in his late teens and early 20s. And he's so glad that he didn't follow that sort of traditional path of you know, finishing the four years. And so it's, it's, and I've heard that from multiple people.Marcia Morris, MD 41:51 Yeah, yeah. And also you have for parents take good care of yourself. Because one thing I've observed with young people, they're not going to open up to you, if they think you're stressed out, or you're going to take some deep breaths, reassure your kids, everything's gonna be okay, reassure yourself, everything's gonna be okay. But it's really important to stay calm, because your kid cares about you a lot, too, and they don't want to stress you out, but just can handle things, and you guys will work things out together.Hannah Choi 42:22 Yeah, remember, I really liked how you address that in the book about how sometimes in your book, how sometimes kids will hold off on sharing something with their parents, because they they don't want to, you know, add out a burden to them or disappoint them or anything. And, and, yeah, and so that goes back to what we were talking before about maintaining that relationship with your child and the trust and keeping that rapport. It's so important.Marcia Morris, MD 42:52 You know, and who have been through grad school and you're in grad school, and that it's interesting, because the relationships continue. It's changes a lot as kids get into their late 20s. But that parent child relationship is really important. Yeah, we got to maintain the positive relationship.Hannah Choi 43:11 Yeah, it's what I've talked about with with a number of our other guests on the podcast is how, like, different strategies to you know, keep that relationship and how just just being with your child validating, like you said earlier, and just letting them know that you're there if if they need you, and that it's okay to share. And yeah, it's, it's, it's, I keep hearing that from everyone that I'm talking to. So it's something that's worth putting effort into and trying so. Well, thank you so much. It's just been a great conversation full of really good ideas. And I feel like there's a lot of like actionable advice in there for people. So yeah. And where can where can you mentioned a little bit in the beginning, but where can our listeners find you?Marcia Morris, MD 44:01 Well, I have a website, and my name is spelled Marcia M-a-r-c-i-a, but MarciaMorrismd.com. And my book, the campus cure is available on Amazon and other websites. But it's easiest to get it through Amazon. And I'm also if you Google college wellness Psychology Today, you can see my blog, I'm having a new blog coming out and it probably this weekend called "Dear College Student, You Deserve to Be Happy. You know, I want college students to be able to find joy in their experience, even though times are challenging right now.Hannah Choi 44:46 That's wonderful. Yeah. Life is life is more fun with joy in it. Yes. All right. Well, thank you, Marcia.Marcia Morris, MD 44:53 Right. It's great talking with you, Hannah.Hannah Choi 44:56 Yes, you too. And That's our show for today. Be sure to check out the show notes for links to Marcia's resources, plus some more that I found to share with you. Thank you for taking time out of your day to listen, I hope you found my conversation with Marcia helpful. I know I will be listening again when it's time for my daughter to go off to college. We hope to help as many people as we can with the important conversations we have on focus forward. So please share our podcast with your colleagues, your friends and your family. You can subscribe to focus forward on Apple and Google podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts. If you listen on Apple podcasts or Spotify, you can give us a boost by giving us a five star rating. Sign up for our newsletter at beyond booksmart.com/podcast and we'll let you know when new episodes drop and we'll share information related to the topic. Thanks for listeningTranscribed by https://otter.ai

By: Gabriella Raful, WXVU News Director All residence halls and apartments will close at noon on Wednesday, December 21. Unlike other vacation periods during the academic year, residents are not permitted to remain in their rooms or apartments over the break unless they are approved through the Winter Break Housing application process. The Winter Break Housing application will be available tomorrow on November 29. For reasons of safety and security, requests to return to campus prior to that date and time not associated with University approved activities will not be approved. However, students are permitted to leave their belongings in their room. University residence halls and apartments will remain closed until Saturday, January 14th at 9:00 am. Residence life would like to remind students to remove all perishable food items from storage areas, recycle and discard trash in appropriate receptacles, close and lock all windows, and leave heat set to ‘on' and no higher than 72 degrees. In other news, Father Peter recently sent out an email explaining Villanova's commitment to a community that is free from substance abuse. If you or someone you know struggles with drug and/or alcohol dependence, the University can help coordinate or provide counseling and education through a variety of programs. For students, the University offers services through the Dean of Students Office in Dougherty Hall, or the University Counseling Center and the Office of Health Promotion, both located in the Health Services Building. For members of the faculty and staff, the University provides an employee assistance program made available through Human Resources that includes referral and counseling services. For more information, view Father Peter's most recent email.

Jason Roberts Bio Family Background:Born August 5, 1975 in Bryan TX to Mary and George RobertsTwo brothers Michael (8 yrs older) and John (1 year younger)Dad (George) was a college professor at Prairie View A&M University HBCU for many yearsMom (Mary) was a high school teacherGeorge was the first black to receive a PhD in Mathematics from the Texas A&M UniversityGeorge was a twin (brother Roy) and one of 11 children. He was born and raised in East Texas (Carthage) very poor but his parents (Baker and Thelma) stressed education for all of their children.Mary was one of 4 girls (also from Carthage). She met George in college (Wiley - Marshall TX - HBCU) George was a math genius but committed suicide at the age of 65.Mary retired shortly after his death and after 40+ years of teaching.She still lives in Hempstead TX.Currently married (to Tiesha aka Tie) with three children: Jalen (22 - Sr. SDSU), Karis (18 - Fresh Penn State), and Kaden (13 - middle school)Childhood and Young Adult:I grew up in Carthage (rural east Texas) prior to moving to a small town outside of Houston (Hempstead) shortly after my dad started teaching at Prairie View - 5th grade.I have fond memories of growing up with 30+ first cousins, working and fishing with my favorite uncle during the summers, helping my dad who also raised cattle.Work ethic was a key part of how I was raised. All of my role models (mom, dad, uncles, aunts, etc.) were always working, all the time!After moving in the 5th grade I went to school in a small town next to Prairie View (Waller). Graduated from there and then went on to college at the University of Texas at Austin.Majored in Mechanical Engineering, but realized later that I didn't want to be an engineer, so I got a minor in business.Was very active on campus (president and step master of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc, active with Dean of Students Office, etc.)Met my wife (Tiesha aka Tie) in college.Had our first child shortly after graduating and getting married in 1999 (son - Jalen)Early Career:First job out of college was as a Production Facilitator with Johnson and Johnson (Ethicon) in West Texas ( San Angelo). Jalen was actually born there.Worked the 2nd shift in a production plant where they manufactured sutures, bone mesh and other medical products. Lead a team of employees that pieced together the sutures.Loved it there, but moved to Houston after one year to be closer to family and after a difficult pregnancy.Took a job in Houston with then Anderson Consulting (now Accenture). Started as a Tibco Developer (programming) before eventually moving into more business consulting in addition to systems integration consulting.Enjoyed the fast pace consulting environment and the learning, achieving early promotions to both Consultant and Manager levels.However, the fast pace took a toll on my personal life. Especially after our daughter was born, so I stopped traveling and took a local project in Houston.Shortly after that, my dad committed suicide (February 13, 2006). To this day, I feel that if it was more acceptable to discuss and be open with how you feel (especially as a black man and our challenges) that my dad would be here today.His death affected me more than I realized which I would come to understand later. It was also the catalyst for change in my early career. Shortly after, I decided to leave consulting and move into an industry - to allow me to go back to school and get my MBA. It was there that I met one of my lifelong mentors (Darily Jones). She was one of very few Black women executives in oil and gas in Houston at the time. Encouraged me to follow through on my plans to get my MBA and even supported me at work. Even went out of her way to get the company to cover more of the costs for my MBA (at Rice University).  She has helped me tremendously over the years and we still stay in touch to this day.Mid Career:After getting my MBA an opportunity presented itself to use this new found knowledge with a larger company. So I made the transition to the waste industry (i.e., trash and recycling) in 2011. Becoming a Director of Innovation and Business Optimization at Waste Management.The guy that hired me is another one of my lifelong mentors and someone who has helped me grow - Dave Murphy (aka Murph). He specifically hired me into his small - but high profile - innovation group because he wanted someone who did not grow up in the industry and was not white. Get that, a white dude who understood the power of diversity, and actually sought it out.Murph was a huge part of my growth and development at WM. He made sure I had opportunities to interact with the C-Suite, and eventually honored his promise to me to get me P&L responsibility.My first P&L responsibility was running a small retail product business called Bagster (~ $50 Million business).  Loved having the opportunity to run a business and make strategic decisions that impacted the top line. Not just run a department that was a cost center - which in my experience (at the time), was where you would find the black folk in leadership. Not in operations or sales, but in support functions.After my success with Bagster and an internal leadership development program, I was promoted to General Manager and asked to move to California to learn frontline operations in depth (2016).Before I left for California from Houston, I remember Murph telling me that “If I didn't figure out what made me tick, I would kill myself”. I didn't understand then the power of his words, but I would later.This move is truly what provided me the opportunity to see frontline operations upfront and personal. It's also from this experience that I got the idea to start my own company. More on that later.After moving to CA and running a large collections operations (i.e., 100+ drivers and staff that pick up your trash, recycling, and green waste) I quickly realized that the men and women doing the lion's share of the work were not treated as the valued assets that they were.  And this didn't sit easy with me. I struggled internally with whether I could continue to climb in a company knowing what I now knew. I felt like my values didn't align with the trajectory I was on, and on top of that, I was set up to fail. But I also felt so much pressure to keep climbing that corporate ladder, since I was the ONLY black executive in operations at the time. That, along with the stress of transitioning to operations with very little support, took a real toll on me.In fact, at the age of 42 (Oct 7 2017), I had a stroke while at Big Bear vacationing with my family and friends. I was airlifted to Loma Linda hospital where I spent several days in the hospital. Luckily I had no long-term damage, but I remember sitting in the hospital thinking that I needed to make a change or I would die.  Murph's words to me before I left Houston all of a sudden became crystal clear.Shortly after my stroke, I decided to see a therapist for the first time. This was probably the best decision of my career, and potentially life saving. She helped me understand “what made me tick” and how my childhood played a huge role in what was happening in the current day. She helped me better manage the stress and tension of life. To this day, I credit her not only with saving my life, but with making me a better, more self-aware, compassionate person.Current Profession (Story Behind Frontline Careers):A few months after my stroke, I was at a golf tournament in Scottsdale AZ (Waste Management Open). There I had the opportunity to hear Mike Rowe (the TV celebrity) speak. He virtually called out business leaders in the room for devaluing the skill trades and putting too much emphasis on college degrees. His words resonated with my experience on the frontlines. It was at that moment that I had the idea to start what would later become Frontline Careers. The idea: help frontline workers find companies that did understand their value and worth. After having the idea, I first called my wife and then a long-time friend (Ari) with whom I had countless conversations lamenting my displeasure with the work environment and how folks were treated. His background as a PhD IO Psychologist was perfect for what I envisioned.They both loved the idea, and after a year and half getting my affairs in order, I made the decision to leave Waste Management, and co-found Frontline Careers with Ari (Jan 2020).  Tie helped us as an outside consultant initially (via her non-profit consulting company) but we later brought her on as a co-founder given her direct and tireless involvement from the early stages of the company. Tie currently serves as Chief Digital Officer (she's got mad marketing skills), Ari as our Chief Operating Officer (he's one hell of a scientist), and myself as CEO.Shortly after we founded the company, the world stopped moving due to COVID, but we did not. We used the time to launch our website, conduct market research, and eventually build and launch beta versions of our job site and proprietary frontline workplace assessment.Today, we have a growing social impact startup focused on connecting frontline workers looking for more with companies that offer more. We use our proprietary Frontline FriendlySM assessment to get anonymous feedback from frontline employees (only) in an effort to determine if a business or company truly does care and invest in their frontline staff.  Those that are, earn our official Frontline FriendlySM company certification which is good for one year.In addition to our certification, we also offer a job site that only features frontline jobs offering more than just pay.We recently certified the first-ever Frontline FriendlySM company (Little Cakes Kitchen in Vista CA) and are in the process of beginning more assessments in San Diego.For years I have thought of writing a book titled “Corporate America is not for Me”. Speaking to the corp america experience as a black man.  However, the point of the book is that Corp America actually is for us (hence the “not” is struck through), because it provides the perfect opportunity to learn on someone else's dime and build the skills necessary to gain the freedom you need and desire.At least that has been my experience. My time working as a supervisor in a plant, learning to code as an analyst, planning and leading large projects as a consulting manager, overseeing a p&l with a large marketing budget, and even running frontline operations consisting of hundreds of hard-working men and women,has all better prepared me to lead my own company.And most importantly, my personal mental health journey has also equipped me with the tools necessary to handle the inevitable pitfalls and setbacks you suffer as a startup founder.  PersonalEmail: jason@frontlinecareers.comFacebook: facebook.com/jason.roberts.14473426Instagram: jjroberts06Clubhouse: @jasonjrobertsLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jason-jerome-roberts Frontline CareersWebsite: frontlinecareers.comEmail: info@frontlinecareers.comTwitter: @FrntlineCareersFacebook: facebook.com/frontlinefriendlyInstagram: frontlinecareersLinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/frontline-careers 

Start a new semester right! Know the network of resources here to support you to help you build community on our campus. Our guests today are with Student Success and Engagement and the Dean of Students Office. They share tips and give guidance to students to help set them up for success. Tune in on how to get involved and engaged with students, faculty and staff on campus. Resources: Student Assistance Center: https://odos.illinois.edu/community-of-care/student-assistance-center/ Campus/Community Resources: https://odos.illinois.edu/community-of-care/resources/campus/ Student Engagement: https://studentengagement.illinois.edu/ Involved at Illinois: https://illinois.campuslabs.com/engage/ Mental Health Resources: Wellness – Mental Health Resources and Support Services (illinois.edu) ----- Want to connect with us? Leave us a voice message through our Anchor Homepage (anchor.fm/mckinley-health-center) or email us at mhcmarketing@illinois.edu. Also be sure to follow us on our social media pages for more health and wellness content. Instagram: @mckinleyhealthcenter (https://www.instagram.com/mckinleyhealthcenter/) YouTube: @McKinleyHealthCenter (https://www.youtube.com/user/MHCMcTV) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/mckinley-health-center/message

Beth Elam is the Associate Dean of Students & Title IX Coordinator at Augustana University. She has been at Augustana for 13 years and serves the university in the areas of student health & counseling, mental health resources, crisis management/response and Title IX.As part of the Dean of Students Office, Beth helps to create a culture of care that surrounds each student as they navigate their college experience. Beth earned her B.A degree from the University of Sioux Falls and her M.S. in Counseling & Human Resource Development from South Dakota State University.

As we have discussed in previous episodes, the start of the 2021-2022 school year is hardly a return to “normal.”  Recently highlighted in the Chronicle of Higher Education, a team at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has taken a trauma-informed approach to crafting the start to this new academic year - an approach that honors the last year of pandemic learning and life.  Dr. Scott Gonert, Dr. Adam Jussel, and Dr. James Topitzes discuss what they've learned about their own community's COVID experiences and how their research has informed their reopening plans for students, staff, and faculty. This promises to be a critical conversation you won't want to miss!Check out the Campus Cares website of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Dean of Students Office.

This month we talk to Embry-Riddle Worldwide's Dean of Students, Pablo Alvarez. Pablo discusses the evolution of the Dean of Students office and how faculty members can utilize the resources provided. We also learn about simple ways to integrate the eUnion into our teaching practices and how establishing a Worldwide SGA has ushered in a new sense of community for our online students.

Carmen currently works as an Assistant Director of Employer Engagement & Internship Development for the Career and Professional Development Center at the University of Utah. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in Art Education and Art Technology and Master's Degree in Education Leadership and Policy, both from the U. During her Master's Degree Carmen worked for the Dean of Students Office as a graduate assistant for student conduct and policy. From that experience she learned that she wanted to worked more closely with students which led to her interest in applying for a career coach position with the Career and Professional Development Center. After a year and a half of career coaching she was promoted to her current position where she now builds partnerships with employers to generate meaningful student internship opportunities. Join us as Carmen shares her unique insights about internships and co-op experiences from a student and employer's perspective.

Join us as we chat with Brandon Shamoun of the Dean of Students Office on ways to get involved on campus and impact your community!

 - Gale Nichols  I think it's important to meet someone where they are and to also recognize that not everybody's path is the same some; people's paths through grief or through illness or family illness are kind of a straight line, but many people's paths or maybe even most people's paths are not a straight line.   Intro   Today’s episode is packed with nuggets of managerial wisdom.  My guest is Gale Nichols.  She shares about the death of her father.  Yet, Gale’s insights range widely.  I first met Gale as she welcomed me and my classmates into the Kelly MBA program in 2010.  In her role as the Director of Student Services and Global Programs at the Kelly School of Business in Bloomington, Gale regularly finds herself sitting in a room with men and women who are experiencing sudden, painful, disruptive life events.  She shares wisdom and actionable tips on how to respond well when faced with disruption.    Gale is bright eyed and quick with a laugh.  In her work with global programs, she travels widely.  Earlier this year, she sent me a LinkedIn response that read: Would love to catch up; I’m in Indonesia this week…”. She also exudes care,      - Gale Nichols The students kind of joke amongst themselves and with me that I'm the MBA mom and I think that actually captures my role fairly well. I'm responsible for a lot of the programming and student life that happens from the time that students decide that they're coming to the MBA program. They sign their paperwork so to speak virtually that they're coming here from the time that they graduate from the program.   Gale works with student leadership, does academic advising, and is responsible for all of the global programming (hence her many travels).  Beyond academic advising, Gale welcomes students into her sunny office, wooing them with the overflowing candy dish that sits, perched, on the corner of her desk.     - Gale Nichols I do a lot of personal advising of our students too. They often come in to talk with me about academic struggles, personal struggles, things that are going on in their lives that might be affecting their career or their studies here in the MBA program.   Gale practices empathy daily.  One reason that she does this so well is because she was well cared for in her own journey of grief.       - Gale Nichols Well, my father developed metastatic colorectal cancer and he was doing fairly well with it for several years after the diagnosis but not too, too long after I came to work at the Kelley School, his condition really began to deteriorate and he began going through treatments again and things slowly went downhill for him. And back in think 2006, late 2006/early 2007 after I'd been working here for a couple of years, he really went in to his final decline and ultimately went into hospice care at home and finally died. In fact right around this time of the Year in 2007.    - Gale Nichols So in his in his final couple of months it was also the final couple of months of the school year the academic year and I was trying to juggle visits to Philadelphia where he lived every few weeks with fulfilling my responsibilities here at Kelly.    - Liesel Mertes That sounds like a lot to manage, both logistically and emotionally. What was really helpful to you that Kelly was able to do or your community here as you were going through that back and forth in the spring time of 2007?    - Gale Nichols My supervisor, who was the director of the graduate career services office where I was then working, Pam Roberts was really wonderful and I had two colleagues in particular at that time, Nina Canfield and Eunice Donovan, who were incredibly supportive. Everyone in the office was very kind. But Pam and Nina and Eunice were really great about, first of all, allowing me space to leave when I needed to. Pam said to me, do what you need to do. Go visit your father. Don't worry about a thing. And Nina, in particular, would say to me:  we've got it covered; don't worry. Don't think a thing about what's going on here; we'll take care of it. And I so much appreciated that because she gave me the freedom to go visit my father, to be fully with him when I was there, and not be thinking about things back here that weren't done or students who needed attention. I knew my colleagues were handling that.    - Gale Nichols The other thing that they did that was really kind was my stepmother would often call me in the middle of the workday with some kind of update about what was happening. For instance, I remember the day that she called me in the middle of the afternoon to tell me that my father's doctor had said there's nothing more we can do; we're gonna turn him over to ask hospice care, and my stepmother didn't really fully understand what that meant. And I was trying to balance sitting there in my cubicle, how to explain to her what it meant that my father was in hospice care and leaving it alone and letting her understand what what that was about in her own way.    - Gale Nichols And I was able to get up out of my cubicle when these kinds of things would happen and go talk to one of my colleagues and say, well    - Liesel Mertes I imagine it's difficult because you're then trying to go back to work after integrating this news. What was that like for you? Did you have anything that helped even bring a modicum of attention back to what you were doing in the day? And, it seems like it would be really hard.    - Gale Nichols It was really hard. I don't think I had a good way of doing that honestly because, after getting a piece of news like the oncologist or the gastroenterologist thinks there's nothing else to do. Well how do you how do you go back to looking at somebody’s resumé or doing some ordinary work task?   MUSICAL TRANSITION    - Gale Nichols I was really lucky to be working with colleagues and a boss who were so kind and sensitive. I also have to say that my students were wonderful and I have some funny memories. In fact, it's sort of weird to think about funny memories of that time, but I remember in particular that my father died just before graduation and I was, I'm I'm Jewish and I was sitting shiva for my father. I was observing the traditional Jewish mourning rituals. So I was at home and couldn't go to their graduation and some students wanted to come and pay a shiva call to pay respects to me while I was in my mourning period. And one of the international students came over, he was,    - Gale Nichols he was a student from China who hadn't been in America for very long but he wanted to come over and he walked into my house in the middle of the prayer service the shiva minion and he just had a look on his face and he, what's going on? Of course he didn't. This is a new experience to him and someone kind of plopped a yarmulke, a Jewish head covering, onto his head and their prayers were going on in Hebrew and this Chinese student it was just kind of looking around wide eyed.    - Gale Nichols And I so much appreciated his coming over, getting a friend to drive him, drop him off at my house and putting on his yarmulke and being a part of what was going on too to be there and to support you. It's really sweet.   The grounding rhythms of ritual were important for Gale as she felt the weight of her father’s loss.   - Gale Nichols I really believe in the wisdom of Jewish ritual, especially when it comes to death and mourning. It's something that I've read a lot about, I've studied over twenty five years or something like that and I believe the Jewish tradition brings a lot of sensitivity to the grieving process that people go through.    - Gale Nichols And prescribing certain rituals at different points in time, you know are rituals that we are supposed to engage in during the first week after the after the loved one has died. And then at the point a month from the time of death and then throughout the first year and then on the anniversary of the person's death each year; there are certain things that we're supposed to do, prayers that we recite, lighting a candle at home and things like this. And I think it's very wise that our tradition prescribes these, these rituals because naturally, most people remember their loved one on the anniversary of the loved ones death where they're thinking of them at certain points throughout the year.   MUSICAL TRANSITION Gale was shaped by her own encounter with loss; she was well-cared for, and she has been very intentional about shaping a culture of caring in her capacity at the Kelley School.     - Gale Nichols For each person that comes for support, one really important thing that I want to create is a space for students to come talk about what's going on in their lives or in their families or their their close circle, whatever that is for them. Whenever the student feels the need to do that. Not every student wants to come talk about what's going on. The minute they find out that, they might want to come talk about it days, weeks, months later. But sometimes, they do want to come talk. Right at the moment that they find out. So I have an open door policy here. I tell students at the very beginning of the program that my team and I are here to talk with you. I give them my phone number they give them a little, a little card with it a tag that they can hang on off their key ring. Sort of like those grocery store frequent shopper   - Liesel Mertes Its the Gale rewards program.     - Gale Nichols That's right.    - Gale Nichols So they have my cell phone number and I joke with them about how they should use it. If they need a late night ride home, this is not the number for them to call but.    - Liesel Mertes That's your Uber app.    - Gale Nichols Yeah exactly. But they can call me anytime if they need something; if they need help. If they have a problem and I tell them also that what they discuss with me or with my staff remains in confidence unless they give us permission to share.    - Gale Nichols So I think that the students feel comfortable coming in and talking about things and I understand that the word has kind of gotten out there to that students have come to tell one another that they should come talk with me that I could help them with their problem and so I try to do that.   - Gale Nichols  Sometimes just giving them the chance to air whatever is going on is enough and sometimes it's not. And so I can refer them to other resources around campus:  the counselling and psychological services office or the Dean of Students Office or the health center or other resources that we have here or in the community.   MUSICAL TRANSITION    - Gale Nichols I have to say I am so proud of the culture here at the Kelley School and how supportive everyone, from the deans to the faculty to the staff to the students, are of everyone else. When there's been a significant problem that a students had:  a health problem or something like that or a family situation, sometimes I'll tell the Dean and the deans will often say, well keep us posted; whatever we can do, let us know how we can help. Which is great. Deans are really busy.    - Gale Nichols They've got a lot going on and I so much appreciate that they want to help the students and that they want to help someone like me in, and in my job, to be a better resource for our students and faculty are amazing and really understanding.    - Gale Nichols So if a student goes in or I contact a faculty member directly and to let them know that a student is ill, the student has had a family emergency or something, the faculty are completely flexible, accommodating, kind    - Liesel Mertes I found that to be true in my own experience; I would echo that.    - Gale Nichols That's great. I have also had, and I I think this is extraordinary, I've had faculty members contact me out of the blue and say, I'm really worried about this student:  the student hasn't been to class in a few sessions or the student came in to meet with me and seemed very upset. I wanted to let you know, Gale, so you could follow up or do you know, do you know what's going on with this student? I think that is so kind and so sensitive and unexpected   MUSICAL TRANSITION   When Gale talks about the broader culture of the business school, I cannot help but reflect on how connected and invested the entire organization is in the care of students.  In many organizations, a member’s disruption is seen as something to be quickly handled. “Her problems aren’t my responsibility…why can’t they just get it together?”  This sort of silo-ed thinking is the opposite of what Gale descried at Kelley:  from the Dean to the professors to the office of student services, student well-being was seen as an important task that everyone took part in.  And this intentionality around care has created new movements in the graduate student body.   - Gale Nichols One thing that I'm really pleased about and proud of that we've launched here in the MBA program this year. It's called Kelleys helping Kelleys and it's a kind of support group. It's student facilitated, just for the students who are going through a family illness or have experienced a death in their family or their close circle. And, at any given point in time, we have six or eight students something like that who are participating in this group. They meet every other week and they're just helping each other and talking about what's going on. What they need. They're checking in on each other in between meetings and they've really valued that connection. The genesis of that group was this:  for whatever reason, back in the fall, I had what seemed like an unusually large number of students coming in to tell me about difficult situations that family members who were seriously ill or family members who had died recently. And the students were often saying, I don't want to tell any of my classmates about it. I don't want to burden them. Everybody's so busy or they wouldn't understand or what have you. But yet, they really needed somebody to talk to, somebody who was in the same circumstances with the courses, with the job search, with all of the things that MBA students are going through. And I wondered what it might be like to form a support group of students who are going through or have recently gone through these same kinds of situations and I tossed the idea out to some of these students and they said I would love that. And it's taken on it's taken off and I really don't have any role in it at this point except for arranging a room for them to    - Liesel Mertes And maybe snacks.    - Liesel Mertes It touches on the feeling that can be unfortunately common is the sense of isolation. Oh I, there's no one who would understand this and what that can do within cultures. And then, as individuals internalize that I am alone in this, and touching on that. So this sounds like a great initiative.    - Gale Nichols Yeah. I wonder what it would be like in a workplace to organize such a group to have that energy. Yeah yeah. HR or some function, sort of organizes it and creates the space for it but doesn't manage it, doesn't facilitate it, just lets people know about it. Yeah. And if they care to join the group, great, if not: great. I see how it's helped the students. And it doesn't need a formal facilitator or a psychologist or anybody to be part of it.      - Liesel Mertes Now you have the experience and I'm struck that different managers or coworkers could really benefit from this because, as you sit across the desk, these are not always people that you know well; you don't know what story or personality or emotional-like moment is walking through your door with that person. What are things, as you reflect on how you care for them, not knowing what moment that they're at. What are things that, is there anything that you think everyone benefits from this or, in those moments where you're sensing, Oh this isn't going, this response isn't necessarily what I had anticipated. How you pivot in that moment to really be what that person needs?    - Gale Nichols I've drawn on my coaching training a fair bit in helping students in these moments. One of the most important things that I try to keep in mind is asking questions is about the best thing that I can do.    - Gale Nichols There is a piece of coaching advice that I got from a book by a coach named Michael Steiner and it's in the form of a haiku and I really love this, and I think it applies to this situation too. So that the haiku is: tell less and ask more. Your advice is not as good as you think it is. Applying that wisdom to these kinds of conversations with students who were having a disruptive life event is really valuable. I could tell them all I wanted to about what happened with my father and here's what I did when my father was sick and you should do the same thing. But that probably is not the right thing for them. And so just asking them questions. What do you think you should do? What are you concerned about right now? What's on your mind? What have you heard from your family so far? Who do you have to support you at this time? What can I do to be most helpful to you? Or what can we in the in the community do to be most helpful?    - Gale Nichols Sometimes students will say things that I would expect:  I really need help figuring out what to do about my classes and my coursework right now because I really feel like I need to go home and visit my family member. OK. I might have anticipated that and know how to do it. Sometimes a student might say something I don't expect. And then we just work through it. I ask more questions, possibly, to, to try to understand where they're coming from and then we go from there.    - Liesel Mertes What is one of the biggest challenges of trying to provide care across a diversity of experiences to all these different students?    - Gale Nichols The biggest challenge is this is this is just an issue within myself. I want to fix everything and learning that I can't fix everything has been harder than I might have anticipated. I can't make their loved one healthy. I can't do their classwork for them. I can't make decisions for them about whether they should take time off from school to go be with their loved one or stay here and reduce their course load so they can free up some time. I just, I can't solve every problem and I don't know how to solve every problem.   - Gale Nichols The tendency for a lot of people like me in and in roles like mine is to want to want to fix it all. We just can't and shouldn't.   MUSICAL TRANSITION    - Liesel Mertes And as I think about my own story, as we are sharing stories in this, I'm, what I so, there's a lot about the birth and death of Mercy where I have clear memories but they're pretty focused on just surviving to the next moment. I remember you came to Indianapolis; you were there in the hospital room. I think that you brought a handwritten letter from the Dean and a gift that I really appreciated. You came to the funeral as did a number of actually students that I was in the program with, and I think it was during spring break or at the close of spring break, so I...It's something that, each year, we take out the guest book from the funeral and I'm, I'm always, surprised is the wrong term, but thankful or gratified as to how many people showed up and then the continuing care and checking in. That is what I remember receiving as a student. I wonder, as you think back on overlapping, what were you thinking, from a support sort of a role, as you showed up or gave support within my own story?      - Gale Nichols Well, you and I had talked a number of times while you were pregnant with Mercy. So I had a sense of what was going on, how hard this was for you and for Luke and and your two children. You had, at that time in your extended family as well, and you had been keeping the blog as well. So I was following, following that too. So it just felt really important to me and to others here to know that we cared about you and your family and that we wanted to be an active part of your support system as you were, as you were going through this time. I remember sitting at the funeral service with our faculty chair at the time; he went too, and I remember those students who were there they were sitting right behind us. But it felt absolutely crucial to be there to support you. We were part of your community.    - Liesel Mertes You were, well, and it was it was especially meaningful because it was a new community. You know I was only my second beginning part of a second semester and I think I must have told you at some point along the way I think you asked, you know, is it okay if I let people know? But I didn't actually realized how helpful, in some ways, that was because upon returning, I wasn't having to explain or translate my story to every member of the faculty. I'm still appreciative when I come back to IU to realize that people remember, like, they have held my story and that's something I look back and I'm glad that I didn't have to go to everyone and say, hey this really awful thing has just happened. I felt like they had been given a heads up to be attuned to that in a way I appreciated.   - Gale Nichols And that's something that many students want me to do, to share it with with faculty or with classmates or people and in our office or the career services office. Other students don't want it shared. And that's that's their choice and I respect that.    - Gale Nichols So whatever the student wants or needs, we will follow.   MUSICAL TRANSITION    - Liesel Mertes As you think about any other just general words of advice that you would offer to someone who is managing someone in the midst of a hard time, anything that you would offer beyond what you already have?    - Gale Nichols  I think it's important to meet someone where they are and to also recognize that not everybody's path is the same some; people's paths through grief or through illness or family illness are kind of a straight line, but many people's paths or maybe even most people's paths are not a straight line. They're looping around or going back and forth between different feelings and sometimes it can be baffling to meet with someone and find that they're just bereft on a given day when last week when you spoke with them they seemed like they had it all together. And it's, one can think what happened between last week and this week that you had it together last week and this week? You're so upset or weeping or something. It's just part of the process. And as a person who's supporting, helping, advising, it's important to just go through the, go with the flow and just meet them where they are.    - Gale Nichols Today they're really sad; I'll be with them in their sadness. Next time, they might feel differently, I'll be with them    - Liesel Mertes But always they need candy    - Gale Nichols Well many of them do need that. It's not a bad thing.   Three primary lessons emerge from my conversation with Gale Learn to listen and ask good questions. Resist the urge to first offer a quick answer or the solution that worked within your own story.  In the words of Steiner’s haiku:  tell less and ask more. Your advice is not as good as you think it is. You can practice this question asking now, even before a disruptive life event affects someone close to you.  In your next social interaction, resolve to talk less and listen more.  Pay attention to how much air time you take up during the encounter.  You will build the skill of listening and question asking through practice.  Take an honest look at how connected your organization is in providing care. What are your current support systems?  At the Kelley School, an interconnected web of stakeholders, from the Dean to the professors to the office of Student services exist to help students thrive. How about in your company?  In your community or place of worship?  How are people cared for?  Who is falling through the cracks?  Are there processes in place?  Is care and empathy seen as the responsibility of just one individual or department?  If you don’t know, take time to ask.  Or bring on a professional.  In my role as a workplace empathy consultant, I conduct interviews, administer surveys, and assess support systems in order to to give you a comprehensive picture of your existing cadences of care. Recognize that not everyone’s path through grief will look the same. As Gale said, there are ups and downs, the person who seemed fine in the morning could be weeping by noontime.  If you are walking through something hard, be patient with these upheavals, allow yourself to feel the big emotions.  And if you are a caregiver or a manager or a friend, in the words of Gale, “go with the flow and meet them where they are”   Outro

On this episode, Katie is joined by Meghan Grace, a generational researcher, host of the podcast #GenZ, and the co-author of the books, Generation Z Goes to College and Generation Z Leads. Her third book, Generation Z: A Century in the Making, was just released. She and her co-author, Dr. Corey Seemiller have been studying Generation Z since 2014 and have conducted two original studies on Generation Z. Meghan's work with Generation Z focuses on utilizing generational research to influence individual practices and organizational strategies that promote empowering environments and experiences for members of Generation Z. Meghan has diverse experience working in higher education and student affairs with a background in program design and management, Greek organizations, leadership development, event planning, curriculum design, and research and assessment. Meghan holds her undergraduate degree in communication studies from Chapman University and a master’s in higher education from the University of Arizona. She is currently pursuing her doctoral degree at Vanderbilt University studying higher education leadership and policy and holds an assistantship in the Dean of Students Office of Assessment and Special Projects. Segment 1: What is Generation Z? [00:00-14:10] In this first segment, Meghan describes the characteristics of Generation Z. In this segment, the following resources are mentioned: #GenZ Podcast Seemiller, C., & Grace, M. (2016). Generation Z goes to college. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Seemiller, C., & Grace, M.(2017).  Generation Z leads. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Seemiller, C., & Grace, M. (2019). Generation Z: A century in the making. New York: Routledge. Segment 2: Researching Generation Z [14:11-26:07] In segment two, Meghan shares about her current research projects focused on Generation Z. In this segment, the following resources are mentioned: Survey Monkey Qualtrics Segment 3: Writing Books Pre-Doctorate [26:08-37:48] In segment three, Meghan discusses how she got started with writing books before earning her EdD. In this segment, the following resources are mentioned: Seemiller, C., & Grace, M. (2019). Generation Z: A century in the making. New York: Routledge. To share feedback about this podcast episode, ask questions that could be featured in a future episode, or to share research-related resources, contact the “Research in Action” podcast: Twitter: @RIA_podcast or #RIA_podcast Email: riapodcast@oregonstate.edu Voicemail: 541-737-1111 If you listen to the podcast via iTunes, please consider leaving us a review. The views expressed by guests on the Research in Action podcast do not necessarily represent the views of Oregon State University Ecampus or Oregon State University.

When Orientation Adventure—Pomona's four-day outdoors trip for incoming students—was cancelled, campus activism sprung into rare form. Petitions were circulated, meetings were held, statements were drafted, and alumni were notified. Within exactly one week, the Dean of Students Office retracted their decision. Many students were relieved, but an equally large contingency was furious.

This week, I feature a very good friend of mine who is doing great research and work in the field of multi-racial identity development! Victoria Malaney is a doctoral student at UMass Amherst, where she is pursuing a doctorate in Higher Education Administration. We were cohort mates during graduate school at UMass Amherst, so we have spent plenty of time discussing a myriad of topics over the last few years. We also get into Victoria's work in the Dean of Students Office at UMass Amherst, as well as the work she does with Intergroup Dialogue - work that started in her undergraduate experience at Skidmore College. It was great to have another with her on this episode! of the podcast! I hope you enjoy the chat. EPISODE NOTES (visit CraigBidiman.com/edupunxpod for full links): - Learn more about the CMA Multi-Racial Network, which is hosted by the American College Personnel Association, by visiting http://www.myacpa.org/standing-committee-multicultural-affairs-multiracial-network-mrn. - To learn more about how to become an Americorps VISTA, visit https://www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps/americorpsvista. - Victoria mentioned the opening of a new Center for Leadership, Teaching, and Learning at Skidmore College, which is ran by her mentor, Kristie Ford.  - You can also snag a copy of "Facilitating Change through Intergroup Dialogue," by Kristie Ford -and make sure to read the chapter that Victoria contributed! - And if you're up for a mandatory book for all student affairs professionals/educators, please take a few moments and read, "Pedagogy of the Oppressed," by Paulo Freire. You can get cheap copies of it really anywhere! MUSIC NOTES: - Once again, our music sponsor for the week is Sounds and Tones Records! You can check out more about the label at www.soundsandtonesrecords.com. And you listen to their bands and buy merch at www.soundsandtonesrecords.bandcamp.com! - This week's featured songs are "San Francisco Bay," by Izzy Heltai off of “Izzy Heltai and Secret Creature," as well as "Watch the World Go By," by Darling Valley off of the new album, “Watch the World Go By." ADVERTISING NOTES: - Today's episode is selfishly sponsored by my own nonprofit, The Art of Survival! You can check out more about what we do for survivors of trauma, by visiting www.artissurvival.com. FOLLOW, RATE, REVIEW, SUBSCRIBE, AND SHARE! - Any love on the iTunes app helps! CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE ITUNES STORE! - Follow along on Instagram and Twitter @eduPUNXpod! Thanks so much for tuning in and I'll see you next week! Up the punx! Let's get to work.

Dan Woods sat down with Southeast President Carlos Vargas on Tuesday, October 18 for their monthly conversation about issues and events impacting the campus of Southeast Missouri State University. Woods began by asking the president about two reports of sexual assault on the campus in 2016 and the the university handles those situations. Vargas: Well, let me start by saying that I am personally, terribly troubled by those assaults and not only I alone but everybody at the university on the campus, the community is very troubled by that. So, what we have done over the years and we currently have is in place, a number of programs. First of all, I think it is important to say that if anybody is aware of any kind of sexual assault that they should communicate it to somebody. Now, we have offices: the Department of Public Safety, of course, is one of them; the Campus Violence Prevention Program is another one; Counseling and Disability Services is another one; the Dean of Students Office

In the student affairs world, dealing with parents is something we do almost as much as dealing with the students.  In this episode, we spoke with the interim Vice President for Student Affairs at Auburn University, Lady Cox about dealing with student's parents. She told us some funny stories about some experiences she's had and gave some great advice to parents as they send their children off to college (and attempt to avoid being helicopter/snowplow parents). Lady began her professional career in sales and marketing with a Fortune 50 company. However, over time, she missed the university community and took a position as the Marketing Coordinator for Student Housing at Mississippi State University, later becoming the Director of Parent and Student Services in the Dean of Students Office. She joined the Division of Student Affairs at Auburn University in September 2010.  Lady holds an undergraduate degree in Communications from Mississippi State University, and a masters in Higher Education from Auburn University.

If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. Entering College is a time of transition for both students and their parents. Representatives from the Student Counseling Service, College Housing, and the Dean of Students Office will present information on how best to support your student through this transition and explain the resources available to both students and parents as new developments are negotiated.