November Ideas and Resources

This monthly planning guide is a supplement to the ResidentAssistant.com . For each month, you will find links to programs on the site as well as programming ideas and other information. Please let me know if you have suggestions for this feature.

Programming ideas for November

Contents of this November Planning Page:

• Student Issues (issues around which to program based on typical seasonal student needs)
• Program Ideas & Links
• Useful articles & resources

Issues Students may Face in the Month of November

As you plan your programs, keep in mind that there are "seasonal student issues" that you can program around. Keep these in mind as you determine what programs to offer. These may also help you identify issues your residents might be going through.

November

• Increasing thoughts/deliberations about suicide occur from inability to cope with the pressures of academic and social expectations. 
• Academic pressure begins to mount because of procrastination, difficulty of work assigned and lack of ability. Pre-finals stress starts to emerge as preparation begins for taking the exams. 
• Time management conflicts continue. 
• Social apathy causes frustration because of academic pressures. 
• Depression and anxiety increase because of feelings that one should have adjusted to the college environment. 
• Economic anxieties increase from increase because funds from parents and summer earnings begin to run out; loans become due. 
• Problems develop due to increased alcohol consumption because students see this as an easy acceptable way to relieve stress and from not knowing how to handle alcohol responsibility. 
• Pregnancies start to show.
• Roommate problems may start to emerge again. This is mostly due to the pressure of school; tempers become shorter and people are less tolerant of others. 
• Deteriorating health starts to affect performance. Reasons include the changing weather and either lack of food quality or the negative feelings about institutional foods. Students tend to eat more ice cream and salads because they don't find as much red meat, yogurt etc. on the line or the lack of new items force them to eat other places. Health is also affected by the perceived inadequacies of the student health center. 
• Students have given up making attempts to establish new friendships beyond two or three parasitic relationships. 
• Living unit dissension causes uncomfortable feelings with residents. Results from apathy, academic pressures, need for vacation from school. 

Bulletin Board Ideas and Links

• Local & National election programming:
  • National & Local election results (what do they mean? What are the implications? Bulletin board or discussion with guest panelists)
• Consumerism and Buy Nothing Day - Consumerism and Buy Nothing Day (Held in North America the day after Thanksgiving - more info...). Publisher 97 file. Information on "shopaholics", environmentalism, and other topics.
• Suicide Awareness Bulletin Board
• Giving Thanks "Turkey Board"
• Other Bulletin Boards: Premade | Ideas

Thanksgiving

• Send "Thank You Notes" using the ResidentAssistant.com eCard Service
• The History of Thanksgiving (pub)
• Gathering Bowl
• Turkey Toss
• Celebrating the Holidays by Helping Others
• Year Round Adopt-A-Family Program
• Have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for the residents who don't go home for Thanksgiving.

Academics

• Study skills
• Test anxiety
• See the Intellectual Programming Section on ResidentAssistant.com

Native American Heritage Month

• Have an open forum about the "mascot controversy" for schools that have Native American mascots.
• Programming about Native American culture, food, history. See if your school has a Native American Student Services advocacy office, or a student group. Contact representatives from that group for ideas for programming!
• Educational bulletin board about Native American history

Wellness & Personal Development

• Fitness & Nutrition Training
  • Healthy Choices
• Eating disorders
• Time management
• Alcohol alternative events
• Coping skills
• Stress Management:
  • Massage Therapy Programming
  • Emotional and Stress Relief Programming
• Values Clarification
• Find more ideas at the health and physical programming page of ResidentAssistant.com

Interviewing skills, resume preparation, job search strategies

• Career Planning Program
• Check out the other ideas in the Life Planning section of the site.

Grad School Application Process

• Bring an admissions rep from your schools graduate program
• Bring in an English professor to review and discuss effective application essays
• Ask Kaplan or another test-prep company to come in and do a presentation on GRE, LSAT, MCAT, and other entrance exams.

Relationships and Sexuality

• Human sexuality, sexual assault, self defense, alcohol and sexuality, sexual assualt,
• Find more ideas in the Sexual Programming Section of the site

November Calendar

Use the November Calendar, which has theme months, theme weeks, and numerous dates to come up with additional ideas.

Useful Articles and Resources

Promoting Health and Wellness - Interview with Karen Coburn on how and why RAs can promote health and wellness with their residents.

Use the message boards! – This is a great way for you to interact with other RAs and Professionals all over the world! Be sure to search before you ask a question to see if there is already a thread with that topic. http://www.residentassistant.com/cgi-bin/forums/ikonboard.cgi