Responding to Students with Transition Issues

Facts about transitions:

• Transitions are times of change that usually involve both loss and opportunity.
• Entering college is one of life’s most demanding transitions; arguable the most significant transition since the start of kindergarten.
• College students face many challenging transitions including graduating and entering the work force.
• The changes inherent in a transition produce stress and challenge a student’s coping resources.
• Students commonly experience a decline in functioning (academic, social, emotional) during transitions.
• Transition stress can be compounded by counter-productive coping mechanisms such as avoidance of stress-producing situations and people, excessive partying, and alcohol abuse.
• Transitions can pose greater problems to students who have existing psychological problems or difficult life circumstances.
• Students going through a transition may benefit from counseling to enhance their coping efforts or to prevent the onset of serious problems.

Signs that a student is having transition problems include:

• Anxiety symptoms such as nervousness, irritability, tearfulness, and sleep problems.
• Depressed mood.
• Difficulty managing responsibilities or relationships.

What You Can do:

• Covey to the student that transition stress is normal and often brings a temporary decline in performance.
• Encourage that student to use positive coping strategies to manage transition stress including: regular exercise, use of social support, a reasonable eating and sleeping regimen, and scheduling pleasurable activities.
• Refer the student to UCC if performance problems persist beyond a reasonable amount of time, or if the symptoms are acute, or if the student feels he/she could benefit by talking with someone about it.

Avoid:

• Assuming that the student understand the impact of transitions and is aware of the source of stress
• Minimizing or trivializing the student’s feelings and reactions.
• Discounting or overlooking factors that put the student at risk of more serious problems.

Guide Table of Content

• Typical Concerns for UR Students
• What You Should Know About Student Problems
• Symptoms of Distressed or Distressing Students
• Responding to Distressed or Distressing Students
• Making a Referral to the UR Counseling Center
• Responding to Student Emergencies
• The UR Counseling Center
• Information About Confidentiality
• Mandated Risk Assessment
• Other Campus Referral Sources
• Academic Faculty: Classroom Climate and Prevention
• Responding After a Tragedy: An In-The-Classroom Guide

Addendum

• The Grieving Student
• The Anxious/Shy Student
• The Student Who May Have an Eating Disorder
• The Demanding Student
• The Dependent/Passive Student
• The Depressed Student
• The Student in Poor Contact with Reality
• The Student Suspected of Substance Abuse or Addiction
• The Victim of Stalking
• The Victim of an Abusive Dating Relationship
• The Victim of a Hate Incident
• The Victim of Hazing
• The Student Who Has Been Sexually Harassed (Assaulted)
• The Suicidal Student
• The Suspicious Student
• The Verbally Aggressive Student
• The Violent Student
• The Absent/Disappeared From Class Student
• Responding to Students with Transition Issues
• Responding to the Student with Choice of Major or Career Concerns