The W. P. Carey School of Business is incorporating stress management into its curriculum to help students balance their academic and professional careers.
The stress management practices are integrated into the Organization Behavior and Leadership classes, management professor Suzanne Peterson said.
Peterson said stress management teaching is a dual perspective aimed at both students who are currently in a leadership role and those who haven’t yet entered the professional field.
The curriculum focuses on the many signs of stress and how stress can be minimized, she said.
“Just doing your job doesn’t make you an optimal performer because your body is under duress,” Peterson said.
It’s about being a complete employee — healthy, focused and well rested, she said.
Peterson said the business school does not concentrate on the negatives of stress.
“We focus on what employers, managers or leaders can do to drive high performance, high morale, [and] optimism,” she said.
Business junior Eric Starbuck said stress management is a good thing for the business school to focus on.
“It would be handy in a leadership program,” he said.
In addition to the business school’s curriculum, ASU offers health and wellness services to students during difficult semesters.
Karen Moses, director of Wellness and Health Promotions, said 32 percent of students claim their stress levels affect their academics.
Stress management is offered in many 101-level courses for freshmen, stress-relieving services during finals and online programs, she said.
The online personal wellness profile assesses students’ health, Moses said. Based on the answers the students give, the profile gives students feedback and suggestions about programs and services that could benefit them.
ASU is not the only higher education institute in Arizona that gives students a boost in self-stress management.
The Thunderbird School of Global Management has recently teamed up with Tignum, a consulting company that specializes in high-performance training for employees and students, to assist Thunderbird’s master’s programs said Jaro Horvath, Thunderbird’s director of corporate learning.
This fall is the first semester that Thunderbird is working with Tignum, Horvath said. He hopes that with their help, the students will acquire the tools they need for their future careers.
“We’re living in unprecedented times that require us to do more with less,” Horvath said. “It can be overwhelming.”
Tignum’s co-founder Scott Peltin said the company helps give a foundation of performance.
Many college students form bad habits that lead to poor performance and poor health later in life, he said.
“If we can help students develop good habits like mind-set, nutrition, movement and recovery now while they’re in school, those should take huge dividends later on,” he said.
Reach or reporter at sarah.hotchkiss@asu.edu.
