Franke Global Leadership Initiative (GLI) Oral Presentations: UC North Ballroom
Presentation Type
Presentation
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Abhishek Chatterjee
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Political Science
Abstract / Artist's Statement
The University of Montana consists of a large campus community of students who experience many different stressors. The limited avenues for stress outlet resources available on and off campus often cause these stresses to build up for students. Research has shown that unremitted stress leads to increased levels of illness, cuts years off of people's lives, and decreases happiness. Resources to relieve stress should be a priority on every campus because students who are left untreated are more likely to drop out of college or become a danger to themselves or others. The support at UM for stress reduction should include readily available resources for on-campus students, exchange students, satilite students, and those students studying abroad. The framework of mindfulness practices encompasses a more universal approach than other stress management techniques with a large variety of options for a diverse population. Mindfulness, a moment to moment awareness process, can be anything a person wants to be to suit his or her needs. A mindfulness-based stress reduction program will be introduced on campus through the utilization of a multi-modal intervention approach. Thus, to reach a large population, mindfulness practices will be led by residence assistants for incoming freshman and international students getting used to a new community; a Moodle shell with mindfulness curriculum and resources will be made available online for all students and faculty; the UM student group Mindfulness Matters will be available on campus for students seeking additional time to practice mindfulness; Curry Health Center will offer more services with the help of professionals; and to involve the community, there will be a summer camp available through SoftLanding Missoula for refugee children. Mindfulness practices are beneficial in managing stress and when students are better equipped to manage stress they have better wellbeing and mental health.
Category
Interdisciplinary (GLI)
Managing Stress Through Mindfulness
UC North Ballroom
The University of Montana consists of a large campus community of students who experience many different stressors. The limited avenues for stress outlet resources available on and off campus often cause these stresses to build up for students. Research has shown that unremitted stress leads to increased levels of illness, cuts years off of people's lives, and decreases happiness. Resources to relieve stress should be a priority on every campus because students who are left untreated are more likely to drop out of college or become a danger to themselves or others. The support at UM for stress reduction should include readily available resources for on-campus students, exchange students, satilite students, and those students studying abroad. The framework of mindfulness practices encompasses a more universal approach than other stress management techniques with a large variety of options for a diverse population. Mindfulness, a moment to moment awareness process, can be anything a person wants to be to suit his or her needs. A mindfulness-based stress reduction program will be introduced on campus through the utilization of a multi-modal intervention approach. Thus, to reach a large population, mindfulness practices will be led by residence assistants for incoming freshman and international students getting used to a new community; a Moodle shell with mindfulness curriculum and resources will be made available online for all students and faculty; the UM student group Mindfulness Matters will be available on campus for students seeking additional time to practice mindfulness; Curry Health Center will offer more services with the help of professionals; and to involve the community, there will be a summer camp available through SoftLanding Missoula for refugee children. Mindfulness practices are beneficial in managing stress and when students are better equipped to manage stress they have better wellbeing and mental health.