Panel discusses student stress in annual symposium event

The stress levels of students were on the forefront of many campus administrators' minds Tuesday.\n"Students and Stress -- Implications for Our Campus" was the topic of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs" 22nd annual Spring Symposium, held in the Indiana Memorial Union.\nThe symposium, which was presented for members of all IU campuses, is a professional development opportunity for faculty and staff that deals with students, said Associate Dean of Students Suzanne Phillips.\nDean of Students Richard McKaig said the topic of student stress was selected this year because of an increased number of cases of students struggling with college life.\nThe symposium featured eight panels that allowed the faculty and staff to learn about current issues, to make their concerns known and to share strategies in dealing with students' stress.\nThe relationship of alcohol and stress on campus, how Counseling and Psychological Services can help students, the added stress that students with disabilities face, parents as support and stress inducer for students and staff and diversity issues were all topics discussed on the panels.\nDrawing from personal experience, a student panel spoke about race, gender and other diversity issues they have encountered in their time on campus.\n"There's nothing wrong with admitting you're stressed out," said Monica Burks, a recent graduate in Human Development and Family Studies from HPER.\nBurks said in the beginning it was very stressful trying to find her way as a wife, new mother and IU student, especially being one of two African-American students in a class of 400.\nRealizing that everyone has stress, regardless of color, and reaching out to others to form a network helped, she said.\nJunior Alonso Mejia said he also tries to make contacts in the classroom.\n"The outreaching is exhausting sometimes," Mejia said. "It is a stress to be extroverted."\nMejia said it is important for minority students to have groups because it helps them grow, but said he is afraid that the programs don't have the support that it needs.\n"Being able to utilize resources is a way to relieve stress," Burks said.\nGloria Gibson, associated vice chancellor for multicultural affairs, said the faculty need to be more involved in diversity training. \n"There is a divide between faculty and staff in promoting the services," she said.\nIn a panel on parents interacting with students and educators, Arlene Hill, associate director of the Career Development Center, said the students on campus have changed in recent years.\nHill said students now on campus, known as "Generation Y" or "Millennials," often struggle more with the independence of college.\nParents have been involved in every step of their students' development, and the students are more interdependent on the parents, Hill said.\n"There is more communication with parents than there used to be," McKaig said. "They talk to parents as they are walking across campus."\nRobert Gallagher, former vice chancellor for student affairs and former director of the University Counseling Center at the University of Pittsburgh presented the keynote address, titled "Psychological Concerns for Today's College Students."\nStudents are coming to college more overwhelmed and more psychologically damaged, Gallagher said.\nGallagher said increasing family dysfunction, less defense skills because of pampering, more medicated youth coming to college and early experiences with drugs, alcohol and sex have caused an increase in the number of mental and behavioral problems on campuses nationwide.\nThough there has been an increase in serious problems such as sexual abuse and self-inflicted injuries, most of the students who seek help at the student counseling centers do so for less serious concerns like homesickness, loneliness and shyness, he said.\nGallagher said despite budget constraints, it is important to provide counseling for students because "you cannot have quality institutions without quality student services."\n-- Contact staff writer Matt McNabb at mmcnabb@indiana.edu .