Reducing Stress on a College Campus‪.‬

The horrific spate of killings at college campuses, including Virginia Tech, Louisiana Technical College, and Northern Illinois University, and increasing violence on campuses, mandate that faculty members, administration, and healthcare providers critically examine the services they provide within the campus community. The need for psychological services on campuses is heightened after these traumatic events. Serious consideration must be given to the psychosocial needs of the students as campus life becomes increasingly complex with rapid changes in education, the workplace, and everyday life in the 21st century. The development of a campus wellness program was fully described in an earlier work by Ewing, Ryan, and Zarco (2007). The impetus for the program began with interested faculty from the School of Nursing and Health Studies and the director of the Health Services center. In the early stages of the program, a room within the aforementioned center was converted into a Stress Reduction Room (SRR) for meditation and relaxation. This paper elaborates on the function of the SRR and the benefits and implications gleaned from providing this health-related campus venue.