Today’s student: Savvy achievers under a lot of pressure, Chávez says

Today’s UW–Madison student is technologically savvy, involved in community service and a very high achiever, Dean of Students Alicia Fedelina Chávez told the Faculty Senate Feb. 5.

At the same time, many students in general continue to struggle with high-risk drinking, bring more psychological issues and needs with them to campus and are “desperately seeking balance” amidst the busyness of their lives, Chávez says.

Chávez briefed senators on how students have changed over the years, the key challenges currently facing students, and how faculty can help.

She says college students today have been using computers since kindergarten and “think through computers.” When gathering information, they routinely turn first to the Internet rather than libraries. That affects how they expect to receive information from faculty and student services, she says.

Most students, she adds, are involved in some form of community service. But that service is in most cases a “quieter activism” than that practiced by college students a generation ago.

Child-rearing practices over the past two decades also affect today’s university student in profound ways, Chávez explains. Most young people who have entered college in the past three years were raised in part by some form of day care. Many interpret this to some extent as having raised themselves, she says.

Therefore, Chávez adds, “They don’t always see adults as the best resource when they have needs. It affects our teaching and advising and how seriously they take us.”

Related to the day care issue is most students now have two or even more parents who work outside the home, Chávez says. That is important to remember when working with students, because many of them are making different choices and wanting to spend less time working and more time in other endeavors, she says.

Chávez went on to say that today’s mobile society affects college students as well. As families spread out with no extended family nearby, college students are finding support networks in other places, including online.

Grades are an issue for today’s student, Chávez explained. As UW–Madison becomes more competitive in its admissions, more and more students come to campus who have never received less than an “A” in a course.

“When they fail here — and they see a “B” as a failure — they are devastated,” she says, adding that grades are an issue that her office deals with increasingly in helping students to negotiate the university.

Chávez lists high-risk drinking as the top challenge for students today. She says it is explained somewhat by age and culture, both in Wisconsin and nationally.

Nevertheless, “We’re concerned about why they are making those choices,” she says. Chancellor John Wiley has defined high-risk, or binge, drinking as the No. 1 health and safety issue facing UW–Madison students.

Today’s student is also coming to campus with more psychological issues than previously, Chávez says. And those issues are more complex than in the past.

“Our office deals with that more and more,” Chávez says. “Students are not finding the same kinds of support in their communities and in their neighborhoods like they used to in the past.”

Diversity is another key challenge, Chávez points out. Businesses are increasingly calling for graduates who can live and work across different cultures. The continued diversification of the campus culture, and how that affects teaching and advising, will grow in importance, she says.

Another top challenge for students is finding balance in their lives today, Chávez explains. Many students are actively seeking spiritual and religious guidance than in years past.

“I hear that over and over again as I meet with students on campus,” she says.

Faculty can assist current students by forming relationships with their pupils and viewing them as individuals, Chávez says. “When you are one of 40,000 students, one person knowing your name is a big deal,” she says.

Faculty should also encourage students to ask “deep questions” about themselves and society, and stress to students the importance of taking good care of themselves.