The world has changed for many of our students and our colleagues. On our campuses, they may face overcrowded and canceled classes. They will also bring the pressures and problems from the outside world too.

As I watched a television report on a town hall meeting, it struck me that many of those who were most upset seemed to be under a great deal of stress. They were not just upset about the possibility of a national health plan, but found these town hall meetings and their congress persons the only place where they could let off the anger they have about all of the problems in their lives. Many said they had lost their jobs or were about to lose them. Some told how they had lost their nest eggs or learned their houses are no longer worth what they thought. Their worlds have turned upside down.

In our classroom, we—not the congressperson—will be at the podium and may face this anger from our students.

During the summer, I spent time on our campuses presenting workshops on workload to a record number of participants. I believe we are no less susceptible to the same kind of stresses as those in the town hall meetings. I will note my meetings did not have the rancor that I saw on television, and there seemed to be a genuine interest in finding answers to the problems we are about to face. Nevertheless, the stresses we face inside and outside of SUNY are still apparent.

As our students come back from the outside world, they are likely to bring all of the problems and anger so apparent on television. How are we going to react and will we be prepared? How do we fight the Glenn Becks of the world, who abuse peoples’ legitimate fears and work them into irrational frenzies when they enter our classrooms and offices? What will we do to control our own fear and combat the increased stress we would be under?

As any good academic, I asked colleagues who work in the field, searched the Internet and visited the library to do some research.

First, you should know that if you are under a great deal of stress, there are things you can—and should—do. On each campus, there is an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) where you can turn for help. Many campus EAPs are already planning workshops on how to cope with stress caused by the economic recession and the fears that the housing and financial crises have caused.

If you are having a problem on the job, go to your UUP chapter office and talk to your UUP/NYSUT labor relations specialist about your concerns.

Remember, we are here to help. Before we can help our students, we need to help ourselves.

There are also things you can do before stress takes over:

• Prepare ahead of time for students who may have problems because of stress and be ready for their anger.
• Be prepared to deal with students who may have lost their jobs or their homes.
• Know who to contact and what services are available to students with stress-related problems.
• Be realistic about how much students will be able to learn when they have problems at work or home.
• Set up a department and chapter meeting to discuss what is happening on campus and what strategies we might use together to combat the stress that we see in our students and colleagues.

We are only going to be able to get through this difficult time if we are prepared to work together and help each other.

There are also things that we can do to reduce our own stress. Below is a list of Web sites with tips on how to relieve stress. The tip I found most interesting was to make time to clean your house and office—I am sure my wife will like this idea the best.

Web sites of interest

• http://www.stressmanagementtips.com/causes.htm
• http://www.rd.com/living-healthy/37-stress-management-tips/article14565.html
• http://stress.about.com/od/studentstress/a/back_to_school.htm
• http://www.brighthub.com/education/special/articles/38663.aspx
• http://stress.about.com/od/fearandstres1/a/anxiety.htm
• http://www.thestressmanagementguide.com/blog/stress.about.com/cs/a.htm