Provost’s Colloquium Series Presents “Faculty Helping Students: Addressing Anxiety in a Post-Pandemic World”

Provost Colloquium Series Sewell-Allen and Knickerbocker

Posted by: Elizabeth Richardson on January 24, 2022, No Comments

East Stroudsburg University’s Provost’s Colloquium Series, an intellectual experience that promotes dialogue among ESU faculty, staff, students, and community, opens for the Spring 2022 semester with a presentation by Cornelia Sewell-Allen, D.Ed. and Heather Knickerbocker, Counselors/Instructors, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). The presentation “Faculty Helping Students: Addressing Anxiety in a Post-Pandemic World” will take place on Wednesday, February 2, at 5:30 p.m. in Beers Lecture Hall. The presentation will also be live streamed on the ESU Live Events webpage.

In their presentation, Dr. Sewell-Allen and Knickerbocker will focus on specific strategies to assist in reducing anxiety levels among students allowing for more meaningful and engaging interactions in the classroom environment; ultimately improving students’ ability to learn. They will provide tools for a better understanding of how mental health struggles may present themselves. Many of the red flags that students present in the classroom setting can be easily overlooked, especially among high achieving students. Evidence based strategies, including mindfulness techniques, will be shared to assist in reducing anxiety levels among students and allow faculty to foster a campus culture that supports student health, success, and well-being.

In addition, Sewell-Allen and Knickerbocker will use data from ESU’s CAPS to compare national university data, examining anxiety levels over a 3 year period from 2019-2021. Each of these years represent an important glimpse into anxiety levels and mental health well-being at times in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic; right before the onset, at the beginning, and one year into the pandemic.

For more information about the Provost’s Colloquium Series, contact Christina McDonald, director, office of sponsored projects and research, at (570) 422-7954 or cmcdonald9@esu.edu.