Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Digg
Tell us what you think!Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.
Furnished with plush, olive green couches for relaxing and a table for studying, a new room on the first floor of the Student Union has been created by the Touchstone Project, a campus program whose motto is “Engage, connect, belong.”
“We like to say ‘engage students, connect them to resources and help them belong here at the university,” said Touchstone Coordinator Bethany Asquith.
The space consists of two offices and a lounge. In the hall between the rooms students can help themselves to a coffee pot and, often, a plate of cookies.
“We wanted to create a space in the union where students could come and relax and meet new people,” Asquith said.
Touchstone trains faculty and students, giving them the skills to put their motto into practice. Touchstone Social Network training is a 12-hour, six-week program, after which students can choose to be Touchstone Peers. Faculty training is a two-hour program focusing on crisis recognition and prevention.
“It’s almost like CPR training, a lot of the training that we do,” Aquith said. “When you walk around, no one knows you have it, but when something comes up, you can use it.”
Training topics include active listening, college-specific issues, crisis prevention, intervention and confidentiality. A few slots are still open for the next session of training beginning Oct. 1.
“We’ve trained a lot of faculty and staff,” said Touchstone graduate assistant Daniela Veliz. “That’s mostly what we did over the summer. We trained faculty all over campus — anywhere from the Honors College to the Athletic Department to International Affairs.”
The Touchstone Project started last school year when they received a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for $100,000 annually for three years — the largest grant the Counseling Center has ever received. Seventeen schools nationwide have received this grant, which places UMaine at the forefront of suicide and crisis prevention education.
The project aims to help students with problems such as stress and depression by connecting them to resources on campus and fellow students.
“If they don’t have a niche, whether they are a first-year or just worked their way through school without really finding a place, we know some great resources and know where to direct people,” said Counseling Center graduate assistant Kristen Healy.
The Touchstone social network invites students to attend events together by planning special outings. Last week they went to Kickin’ Flicks, a semiweekly movie event held by Student Affairs on campus.
“People who want to go to events but don’t want to go alone can meet as a group. It’s a way to meet new people,” Asquith said.
As a new program, Touchstone aims to increase awareness of their presence. Five hundred orange stress balls sporting the Touchstone logo have been placed around campus.
“I think that’s how people know us the best.” Healy said. “People are walking around with these little orange things and people say, ‘What are those? Oh they’re from Touchstone.’”
Bangor Daily News