College Students Need Structure Now

Amber KelleyNews

With on-campus classes going online for 2 weeks at the University of Mobile and many other colleges around the nation, I decided to ask UM’s academic counselor, Anna Meherg, for a couple of tips as students move to schooling online for several weeks. Anna offers practical advice for students across the nation.

What do you suggest academically for students while they are working online?

“My biggest tip would be to find ways to create structure at home. I would suggest that students attend/login to courses on their regularly scheduled days at their regularly scheduled times to start.

“Some other things that I would do to add structure would be to schedule in homework/study times during the day as well as setting an alarm to wake up in the mornings instead of sleeping in.”

What do you suggest socially for students while they are working online?

 “My biggest advice about this is to set up a time to FaceTime or video chat their normal lunch buddies and all eat lunch together while video chatting.

“Also, Netflix is offering ‘Netflix Party’ where students can watch movies at the same time while apart. This could help with those feeling socially isolated.”

In sum, Anna suggests that students try to schedule their day at home like their average day on campus. Anything that students can do to make life during this transitional period reflect their normal day-to-day life on campus will help them succeed during this time.