Board of Trustees Confronts Student Stress

Author: Andrea Gissing

The Middlebury College Board of Trustees convened last weekend to discuss a variety of issues ranging from the comprehensive fee to the high amount of stress experienced by Middlebury students.
The Trustees met at Middlebury College Thursday, Feb. 13 through Saturday, Feb. 15. The weekend began with a dinner in Ross Dining Hall and a screening of an original documentary made about the United World Colleges, (see "Funding Unites Middlebury with UWC" below). Individual committee meetings were held on Friday and the executive meeting took place Saturday, marking the close of the weekend.
As usual, the major topic addressed at the meetings was the comprehensive fee for the 2003-04 academic year. After deliberations, the Board set it at $38,100, a 6.1 percent increase from the 2002-03 fee. (See "Comprehensive Fee Leaps to $38,100").
A new topic brought up for discussion at this meeting was the issue of student stress. "Stress among the student body was an issue that the Trustees highlighted as an area of concern," said Ben LaBolt '03, student co-chair of the community council. "Students at Middlebury today face higher workloads, more commitments, are more highly medicated and seek counseling in greater numbers." The Trustees, responding to increasing mention of student stress at previous meetings, decided to set up a committee this year to address this issue.
"The Board of Trustees maintains sincere interest in student life and student opinion," said Student Government Association (SGA) President Ginny Hunt '03. "The topic of the Student Affairs meeting was student stress, where long hours and the increased use of Ritalin, etc. were discussed."
Gary Margolis, director of and psychologist at the Center for Counseling and Human Relations and Associate Professor of English, Susan Campbell, Associate Professor of psychology and Doug Adams, director of the center for Campus Activities and Leadership, were all invited by the Student Affairs Committee, chaired by Nancy Furlong '75, to give a presentation on their view of contemporary student stress and distress.
Campbell discussed her experience of student stress as a faculty member at the College. Adams described some of the programs his office provides in combination with students and Margolis discussed the developmental opportunities of college students and the current distressors they face, as well as the range of supports in place for students.
According to Hunt, the committee's "consensus was that we, as a community, are under a tremendous amount of personal and external stress."
"The committee was very attentive, asked good questions, and asked how as trustees they might respond to these issues and concerns," said Margolis. "No specific resolutions came out of this meeting; its main purpose was to update and inform the committee on current issues."
"The trustees seemed especially interested in social developments that have been affecting the student body of late," said LaBolt, "and agreed to dedicate a portion of their next meeting to this subject." The SGA and the Community Council made a presentation to the Board addressing community, social and academic initiatives, where they presented the proposals addressed in council this year, including the SGA ad-hoc smoking committee, the Grille trial enhancements and the comprehensive study abroad discussions.
This meeting was more concerned with discussion and deliberation rather than decision-making.
"I suspect," mused Hunt, "that because of the economy, the national prospect of war and the state of the College's budget, this Trustee meeting was more challenging than recent meetings. The bottom line is that budget cuts will impact all areas of the community. I think the most dramatic effect from the weekend will be beginning serious discussions about continuing Winter Term and other significant curriculum considerations."
All in all, according to President John McCardell, nothing unexpected occurred and there were no surprises: "[It was] a very routine meeting."