As students arrive on campus, Dakota Wesleyan University aims to lower freshmen stress, anxiety

Jul. 30—MITCHELL — There will soon be dozens of new freshmen on campus at Dakota Wesleyan University.

And for most of them, the start of their college educational career will have stressful moments. There are roommates to meet, a campus to explore, paperwork to complete and classes to take. It will all be a new experience for them.

Officials with Dakota Wesleyan University know this, and over the last several years they have made changes to how they prepare arrived freshmen for the rigors of college life.

"I've been in this career for about 10 years, and it has definitely changed over time," Fredel Thomas, vice president for admissions and marketing at Dakota Wesleyan, said about the difference between today's students and those who may have attended college a generation ago.

Now in an age of hyper-connectivity thanks to cell phones and social media, the modern college freshman is exposed more than ever to the pressure of public criticism. Today's freshman also endured the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic while in high school,

with 37.1% reporting suffering from poor mental health at the time, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the College Planning and Student Emotions Report, 86% of high school seniors report being stressed often and 31% being stressed most of the time. In terms of anxiety, 82% feel anxious often and 34% feel anxious all the time.

When it comes to specific sources of stress for college students, 78% worry about paying for college, 71% are concerned about forgetting to file an important document or piece of paperwork and 56% stress about being admitted to the college of their choice at all.

Those factors can all compound the already stressful experience of beginning college for the first time, Thomas said.

Thomas said officials with Dakota Wesleyan have in recent years changed the way it guides new freshmen through their paces when they arrive on campus. A focus group and poll of new students confirmed what the emotions report had suggested.

From there, efforts were made to welcome students to campus by reducing the amount of stress a student may arrive with while simultaneously not introducing new stress in the process. Some of that can be done at the application level, where 56% of students report that having to conduct an admissions interview is a top source of stress. Thomas said that students are usually relieved to learn that the school does not require an admissions interview.

"We don't require an admissions interview. We don't require certain essays. We don't even require standardized test scores," Thomas said. "So for admissions and acceptance, when you go to Wesleyan, you are not required to take the ACT."

Thomas said as freshmen arrive, school officials work at keeping their messaging simple. They avoid the technical jargon that can be prevalent in a higher education setting, and they focus on having a teaching mindset.

They keep it simple and straightforward. One step at a time.

"We do it like a checklist mentality, and we literally have checklists. We have checklists where we check off three boxes and show them that they have only two (tasks) left," Thomas said.

When they can't be face-to-face with students, they are sending reminders via email and text to remind them of deadlines. It may be a reminder about filing a particular form for their financial aid, or getting set up with a dorm room and roommate.

Whatever guidance they need, school officials try to help them through the process with as little pressure as possible.

"It's multi-levels of communication, but not just blasting. We communicate, but then we communicate individually. So you need to turn in this form, whatever that is, and you need your housing form," Thomas said.

Even on the big day with freshmen arriving on campus for the new year, school staffers are on hand to point students and parents in the right direction, to guide them to parking and to specific administrative offices. Thomas said parents have responded positively to the school's approach, noting it's much more hands on and personal than at some other schools.

Thomas said Dakota Wesleyan is able to provide that kind of experience partly due to its smaller size as well as a low student to instructor ratio — about 12 to 1. The school also makes a point to connect with both students and parents about the process while allowing the student to take the lead in the learning experience.

"We really try to focus on trying to empower the student while communicating with the parent. Because we want the student to take a leadership role in their journey," Thomas said.

Bringing down the stress level early in the college experience allows students to focus more closely on why they are in college in the first place and makes for an overall more pleasant and welcoming experience, Thomas said.

Carson Leonhardt is an incoming freshman from Faulkton who is already on campus. He'll be playing football for the Tigers come the fall, and like all new freshmen, he has worked on adjusting to his new home away from home.

Leonhardt said he felt a positive difference at Dakota Wesleyan dating back to his time attending football camps at the school.

"I went to a Dakota Wesleyan football camp and it was just so much different. You know, it really feels like a family, and it's not just Dakota Wesleyan but also the community and Mitchell as a whole," Leonhardt said.

The coaches with the program were his first introduction to how the school guides new students. They could talk offense and defense and how Leonhardt could fit into their program, but they also talked about attending Dakota Wesleyan as a student and were knowledgeable about all aspects of the process.

That kind of interaction, along with advice he received from other players, gave him an additional perspective on the school that he appreciated.

"When I went to camps, obviously besides the football program I'm looking at how the coaches react to certain questions that might not be football related. Simple things like — what's dorm life like?" Leonhardt said. "And I noticed when I first came to Dakota Wesleyan, I wasn't reaching out to the players. They were reaching out to me. That was the first college that had ever done that."

Leonhardt had his share of stress growing up. A teenager when COVID-19 struck, his family moved from northern Minnesota to Faulkton when their fishing resort business was deemed non-essential and closed down by the state government. It was a time to start over in a new place with new friends and surroundings.

But it also led him to Dakota Wesleyan University, and he said the school's approach to helping new students adjust to a new world made a big difference for the better in his college experience.

"And the rest is history. It's just been such a great move for us and I think that that's what Dakota Wesleyan has captured — it brings that feeling of family togetherness," Leonhardt said.

With a few weeks' head start over his fellow incoming freshman, Leonhardt will likely end up providing some of that guidance to his classmates himself. With new students expected to be on campus Aug. 22 and classes beginning just a few days later on Aug. 26, it will again be a hectic but exciting time for the latest batch of Tigers to join the fold.

Staffers and fellow students will be there to help ease that transition, Thomas said. College has a learning curve to overcome, and once those new freshmen acclimate to their new surroundings and the procedures and routines that go with it, the faster they come into their own as college students and adults.

Coming to college can be a daunting experience, Thomas said, but it can also be fulfilling and fun, both for the students and the staffers serving as their guides.

"It's pretty fun to watch them grow and build connections. And getting to know them and watch them grow is pretty fun," Thomas said.