Officials at the University of Guelph are knocking on doors at student residences on campus and reaching out to those who are already dealing with stress in the first few weeks of the fall semester.
It’s the second time the program has been rolled out. The first iteration was launched after four students took their own lives in late 2016 and early 2017.
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“Just overall on campus, it was a bit of a stressful year,” said Patrick Kelly, associate director of residence life. “We put this in as a responsive program last year and this year we’re doing it more on the proactive side of things.”
Professors, staff, administrators and other volunteers are going door-to-door this week, trying to speak with all 4,700 students that live in residence, seeing how they’re doing and offering information on supports that are available to them.
Kelly said the response has been positive and meaningful conversations are being had.
“We’ve had house callers spend hours talking with students and meeting in common areas, chatting about how things are going,” he described.
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Stress mounts for new university students almost immediately in the first few weeks of the semester. They are trying to adapt to a new lifestyle. They’re not used to being away from home, living with strangers, figuring out meals and trying to meet new people.
All of that is then exacerbated by the workload from their classes with final assignments due and exams approaching.
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“We hopefully try and ease that a little bit, see how that transition is gone and if somebody is struggling in any of those areas, we’re either able to answer a question for them or point them in the right direction,” Kelly said.
In 2013, the Canadian Organization of University and College Health surveyed 30,000 students and it found 90 per cent of respondents reported feeling overwhelmed with their responsibilities. 50 per cent felt hopeless and 63 per cent felt very lonely.
Another troubling statistic was that 9.5 per cent said they’d seriously considered suicide, while 1.3 per cent had actually attempted it.
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The University of Guelph offers counselling services and supports to students, who can schedule an appointment with a therapist or counsellor. There is also the Good2Talk helpline at 1-866-925-5454.
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