SAU Honors College: Stress Data from Honors General Psychology Class

SAU Honors College

The SAU Honors College was founded in 2003 by Dr. David Rankin, president of SAU. Dr. Lynne Belcher served as founding director and is retired from SAU. The Honors College seeks and admits qualified students who seek to pursue a serious academic program with equally gifted peers and committed teachers. Honors classes are small and provide academically enriching opportunities for students and the faculty who teach them. Currently, SAU enrolls nearly 170 honors students and graduates about 66% of admitees in four years or less. Anyone interested in applying to the Honors College or seeking further information should contact the director, Dr. Edward P. Kardas at epkardas@saumag.edu or at 870 904-8897.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Stress Data from Honors General Psychology Class

Dr. Chrisanne Christensen's honors general psychology class heard a presentation from three of its members about the results of a stress questionnaire they gave to 46 Southern Arkansas University honors students this Fall semester.

Using the CUSS (the College Undergraduate Stress Scale) they found that SAU honors students scored 9 percentage points higher than did a national sample of students (N = 12,000).

SAU honors students scored higher than they thought they would in the categories of academic and personal stress. Also, hardly any respondents believed that typical stress relieving activities would help them. Respondents desired more time to meet their commitments, both academic and personal, instead.

The student researchers (see below) concluded that learning better time management skills might be an important step in dealing with stress. They recommended that such skills be taught early on in the Honors Seminar. [Noted, BTW]

Here are the three student researchers (from left to right: Ben Bower, Daniel Kasper, and Sara Caller ):

SAU Honors College