Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention - When To Increase Support

When To Increase Support

There are a lot of factors your student may have to juggle their first and subsequent years. Here are some things to consider based on different parts of the semester:

• Early weeks of fall semester
• How are they adapting to their roommate?
• How are they adapting to being alone?
• How are they adapting being away from home?
• How are they adapting to the school curriculum, syllabus?
• Are they getting involved on campus (e.g., activities for Stampede Week, Games, etc.)?
• Midterms
• What kinds of tests they are preparing for?
• Are they aware of services available on campus?
• Do they need to talk with their college dean about tutoring programs, mentors, etc.?
• If first generation student, or if your family meets some income requirements, has the student explored grant funded programs on campus that provide help with tutoring, tuition reimbursement, and mentors, etc.
• Have they been chronically ill? Should they consider an appointment with their family doctor, or the UCO Wellness Center?
• Are they feeling overwhelmed or stressed? They can request free services at the Student Counseling Center.
• Are they maintaining balance?
• Regular eating and sleeping habits
• Doing something pleasurable at least once per week
• Regularly involved with at least one friend
• Doing some type of exercise
• Semester End: Student's stress level significantly increases due to classroom requirements, trying to register for next semester, trying to determine how to pay for tuition.
• Talk openly with them about the above concerns
• Help them to problem solve
• Be willing to come up and help them to do the leg work, or take them to lunch
• Help them hunt for scholarships: scout out the UCO foundations website, or joint the Parents Association