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Teaching at SU
Student Development Calendar
Students’ personal development may affect their academic
motivation and effort during the course of the academic year. The Calendar of Significant
Student Issues developed by the Office of Residence Life lists typical issues, concerns, and
significant events that students face.
Calendar of Significant Student Issues
Adapted from the calendar originally developed by Syracuse
University
ORL
Office of Residence Life
Download as PDF
Typical Issues/Concerns/Significant Events of Students
-August-
|
First
Year/Transfers |
Component |
|
Homesickness
Loss of support
structures: Hometown peer group, family, church, best friend, etc.
Fear of creating a new
support system: low risk-taking, fear of rejection |
Autonomy |
|
Loss of identity: now
there are different criteria for recognition status/popularity leadership, etc.
What was significant in
high school may lose its importance |
Self-Concept |
|
Need for positive
reinforcement/recognition/ approval from new peers in order to boost ego and self image |
Self-Concept |
|
Campus Familiarization:
need to become aware of campus buildings, classrooms, resources, activities, community
shopping areas, movies, etc. |
Autonomy |
|
Values exploration:
students are confronted with questions concerning rape, drugs and alcohol experimentation,
religion, sexual attitudes, social norms |
Purpose
Personal Responsibility |
|
Indecision about
major/courses/career: pressure to choose class schedule |
Purpose |
|
Financial adjustments:
managing money may be new and difficult to some students, especially with many new freedoms
and way to spend it. Many students need help finding employment |
Personal Responsibility |
|
International or
minority student adjustment problems: experiencing a sense of confusion, vulnerability,
loneliness, cultural differences, academic difficulties, lack of peer support |
Autonomy |
|
|
|
|
Upper-class/Transfers |
Program
Ideas |
|
Need to re-establish old
peer groups Facing reality of changes in old support groups/relationships |
Relationships |
|
High expectations for a
“Great Year” High energy and enthusiasm (recovery from spring burn-out), desire for a new
beginning |
Personal Responsibility |
|
New major/career choice
after spring/summer grades and experiences
More difficult courses
and course loads
Class scheduling |
Purpose |
|
Orientation to new hall
(possibly to a coed situation) |
Autonomy |
|
Money management,
financial aid, employment |
Personal Responsibility |
|
Download
August as PDF |
top
Typical Issues/Concerns/Significant Events of Students
-September-
|
First
Year/Transfers |
Component |
|
|
|
|
Homesickness continues
for many |
Autonomy |
|
Roommate conflicts arise
as students adjust to differences of living with someone |
Relationships |
|
Adjusting to new study
habits; test anxiety develops with first exams; what do professors expect; how are tests
designed, etc. |
Intellect |
|
Dissatisfaction with
school: newness wears off and students realize college is not perfect and takes work |
Self-Concept
|
|
Time management problems
arise as students try to balance social and academic life |
Personal Responsibility |
|
Dating anxieties result
from not being asked our or not being able to find a date |
Self-Concept |
|
Rejection from Greek
system or election selections for student organizations |
Purpose |
|
Values; Choices
(alcohol, sex, etc.) |
Intellect |
|
Campus Familiarization |
Autonomy |
|
Long Distance
Relationships |
Relationships |
|
Social Isolation |
Relationships |
|
|
|
|
Upper-Class/Transfers |
Component |
|
|
|
|
More difficult
courses/load |
Personal Responsibility |
|
Unmet expectations, low
motivation |
Self-concept |
|
Many membership drives:
pressure |
Personal Responsibility |
|
Download
September as PDF |
top
Typical Issues/Concerns/Significant Events of Students
-October-
|
All
Students |
Component |
|
Academic stress from
midterms builds with the great demand for studying and preparation. Midterms may be followed by
feelings of failure and loss of self-esteem
Time conflicts |
Personal Responsibility
Self-Concept |
|
Job panic for mid-year
graduates starts with the onset of resume preparation and off and on-campus interviewing |
Purpose |
|
Values exploration
continuing, especially in the area of sexuality. Alcohol problems become evident |
Purpose |
|
Roommate conflicts/floor
tension |
Relationships |
|
High activity: Parents
Weekend, Homecoming, Halloween, Anxiety and depression over no date to social affairs, problems
with parents, lack of opportunity to participate in activities |
Relationships
|
|
Graduate school syndrome
emerges from seniors—signing up for grad school exams, applications, wondering if you’ll be
accepted, uncertainties about if, when, how to apply |
Purpose |
|
College not what was
expected, family doesn’t understand |
Autonomy |
|
Download
October as PDF |
top
Typical Issues/Concerns/Significant Events of Students
-November-
|
All
Students |
Component |
|
Academic pressures
increase: pre-finals stress, projects due, etc. |
Intellect |
|
Burn-out/cabin fever: long
period before break to go home |
Purpose |
|
Anxiety over Thanksgiving
break: longing for break or no desire to go home because of family problems or study pressures |
Relationships |
|
Apathy due to academic
pressures, lack of initiative to find new friends or activities because social group set |
Autonomy |
|
Roommate/floor tensions
due to academic pressures, apathy, need for vacation |
Relationships |
|
Health problems emerge due
to pressures, stress, bad eating habits, bad weather |
Self-Concept |
|
Alcohol problems emerge as
students drink as an outlet from pressures |
Personal Responsibility |
|
Depression |
Self-Concept |
|
Suicidal thoughts |
Self-Concept |
|
Download
November as PDF |
top
Typical Issues/Concerns/Significant Events of Students
-December-
|
All
Students |
Component |
|
Final exam pressure
including anxiety, fear, and guilt increase as exams approach and papers become due (first
experience with this for first-year students). |
Intellect |
|
Increase use of alcohol
and drugs as a means of coping with the pressure |
Personal Responsibility |
|
Extracurricular time
strains—seasonal parties, concerts, social service projects, and religious activities drain
student energies |
Personal Responsibility |
|
Pre-holiday blues emerge
for students who have no home to visit and for those who prefer not to go home because of family
conflicts |
Self-Concept |
|
Financial worries increase
with the thought of gifts and travel costs |
Personal Responsibility |
|
Health problems increase
as a result of stress, little sleep, irregular eating, bad weather |
Self-Concept |
|
Stress about returning
home |
Purpose |
|
Conflicts with roommate |
Relationships |
|
Increasing
thoughts/deliberating about suicide occur from inability to cope with pressures of academic and
social expectations |
Autonomy |
|
Friendship tensions become
high with onset of final exams |
Relationships |
|
Download
December as PDF |
top
Typical Issues/Concerns/Significant Events of Students
-January-
|
All
Students |
Component |
|
Anxiety about second
semester begins because some students did not do well academically first semester and have
pressure from parents or peers |
Intellect |
|
High excitement to be back
at SU: high expectations for a new beginning |
Relationships |
|
Post-Holiday depression
due to being away from home (security and positive strokes) |
Self-Concept |
|
New students (to floor or
SU) moving in to new environment causes feelings of intrusion on established friendships and
community. Unfamiliarity with campus also creates some anxiety |
Relationships |
|
Some students experience
loss or injury to a loved one, relative or friend over break that causes grief and difficulty
adjusting to school |
Purpose |
|
Some students experience
unwanted weight gains over break with holiday foods and home cooking |
Self-Concept |
|
Money problems begin
because many were unable to find jobs or took trips over break |
Personal Responsibility |
|
Some students enter RA
application process |
Purpose |
|
Fall housing planning
begins with trying tentatively to decide about living arrangements for upcoming year |
Relationships
Personal Responsibility |
|
Download
January as PDF |
top
Typical Issues/Concerns/Significant Events of Students
-February-
|
All
Students |
Component |
|
Cabin fever and burn-out
set in if weather is bad, forcing students to stay inside for long periods of time |
Personal Responsibility
|
|
Academic pressures
increase as exams and projects approach |
Intellect |
|
Career/major choice
anxieties as first-year students meet with advisors and seniors prepare for interviews |
Purpose |
|
Relationship anxieties
increase as couples being to strengthen their ties or experience weakening relationships |
Relationships |
|
Health problems arise:
drinking as a stress outlet, irregular diets before Spring Break, etc. |
Personal Responsibility |
|
Thinking about summer
jobs, internships, study abroad |
Purpose |
|
Download
February as PDF |
top
Typical Issues/Concerns/Significant Events of Students
-March-
|
All
Students |
Component |
|
Housing/wing arrangement
anxieties occur with deadlines approaching: Should I move off campus? Stay with the same
roommate? Will a friend be left out of the plans? |
Self-Concept |
|
High expectations for
Spring Break are a problem, especially when peers are going places and you are unable to join
them. |
Autonomy
Self-concept |
|
Anxiety occurs if a
student does not have vacation plans or is worried about getting home to family problems. |
Relationships |
|
Summer job hunting over
break will be heavy; anxieties over finding a job. |
Purpose |
|
Anxiety over physical
fitness/appearance for Spring Break |
Personal Responsibility
Self-Concept |
|
Seniors are job
interviewing: job search causes anxieties, existential crisis for seniors: Must I leave school?
Is my education worth anything? Was my major a mistake? |
Purpose
Self-Concept |
|
Academic pressures
increase with approaching midterm exams, increasing thoughts about suicide occur from inability
to cope with academic and social expectations |
Self-Concept
Personal Responsibility |
|
With increasing pressures
and Spring fever, increased use of alcohol and other drugs is prevalent. |
Personal Responsibility |
|
Download March
as PDF |
top
Typical Issues/Concerns/Significant Events of Students
-April-
|
All
Students |
Component |
|
Academic pressures
increase with the end of the semester approaching; papers and exams create anxiety |
Intellect |
|
Social life pressures
increase during this period—formal dances, parties, concerts, etc. |
Autonomy
|
|
Period of training and
selection for many jobs/organizations |
Purpose |
|
Easter/Passover break:
pressure to go home, academic pressures to study, depression if cannot go home or if going home
to family problems |
Relationships
Self-Concept |
|
Burn-out, lack of
motivation, apathy, Spring fever, sick of school |
Personal Responsibility |
|
With weather becoming
nicer, there is a fear and realistic threat of sexual assault, especially for women. |
Personal Responsibility |
|
With spring arriving,
everyone wants to be in love; many students go through rejection, fear of rejection, or envy
towards those with a significant other. |
Relationships |
|
Health problems and
physical appearance pressures arise as the weather changes. |
Personal Responsibility
Self-Concept |
|
Financial strain from
Spring Break affects social life. |
Autonomy
Personal Responsibility |
|
Summer job pressures
continue. Seniors may experience job recruitment panic, anxiety about leaving college, friends,
and entering the “real world.” |
Purpose |
|
Course registration for
summer/fall: indecision of major/career |
Intellect
Purpose |
|
Anxiety over approaching
finals, papers, project deadlines |
Intellect |
|
Increasing social
pressures to attend parties |
Personal Responsibility |
|
Download April
as PDF |
top
Typical Issues/Concerns/Significant Events of Students
-May-
|
All
Students |
Component |
|
Senior job panic increases
with fears of unemployment, feelings of failure, fear of moving home, etc. |
Purpose
Self-Concept |
|
Increased use of alcohol
and other drugs with social events and cramming for finals |
Personal Responsibility |
|
Depression over leaving
SU: friends, freedoms, activities, feelings of lack of closure as academic pressures limit
end-of-the-year events and good-byes |
Personal Responsibility
Self-Concept |
|
Anxiety for couples who
will be parting for the summer, fear that the relationship will end over the summer or after
graduation |
Relationships |
|
Transition issues related
to closure on campus and if moving home for the summer, reentering the family unit |
Autonomy
Relationships
Self-Concept |
|
Download May
as PDF |
top
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