Articles from:August 2022

• Brock set for biggest Move-in Weekend in University’s history

  Wednesday, August 31, 2022 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 31 August 2022 – R0095

  A record number of Brock University students will be moving into their new home away from home on campus this weekend.

  On Saturday, Sept. 3 and Sunday, Sept. 4, Brock’s on-campus residences will welcome more than 2,600 students for the largest Move-in Weekend in the University’s history.

  “This will be our biggest move-in ever at Brock,” says Cindy Chernish, Interim Director, Residences. “With the addition of Residence 8, DeCew Residence being open to capacity following its major renewal and all of our buildings operating at near capacity, we’re excited to welcome a record number of students to live on campus beginning this weekend.”

  Brock opened Residence 8, its new 308-bed, semi-suite style residence building, in January, increasing the University’s total residence capacity to nearly 2,800 beds throughout the eight housing complexes on the main campus. DeCew Residence also underwent a major revitalization that saw extensive renovations to the traditional-style dormitory building completed last year.

  From the moment students and their families arrive on campus for Move-in Weekend, the goal is to make them feel welcome and comfortable with this significant life transition, Chernish says.

  “Moving away from home for the first time can be a stressful experience, not only for students but also for their parents,” she says. “We’re here to demonstrate the strong support network at Brock that is ready to help them along the way.”

  Members of the Brock community will be lined up along the roadways leading to residence buildings to greet new Badgers and provide any needed additional directions to their new home.

  In order to make the complex move work over two days, each student and their family is given a one-hour window of move-in time between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Because of the logistics required to move 2,600 students into residences, parking and access around Brock’s main campus will be limited throughout the weekend. People visiting the University for other purposes are asked to park in Zone 1.

  Hundreds of Brock staff and student volunteers will be on hand to not only assist with the move but also to help make students’ introduction to university life a bit easier. Departments and services such as Residences, Dining, Parking, IT Help Desk, Brock Card, Campus Store and the Walker Sports Complex will all be open various hours throughout the weekend.

  Move-in Weekend kicks off Brock’s Welcome Week, which includes a series of activities and events hosted by the University as well as the Brock University Students’ Union. Activities for students in residence will begin Sunday with a live burn demonstration, where students learn about fire safety, followed by the Brock Summer Games on Monday, Sept. 5, where hundreds of students will compete alongside their housemates in a series of games at Varsity Field from noon to 3 p.m.

  Move-in Weekend and the activities that follow offer a bonding experience like no other, Chernish says.

  “Move-in is when students meet the people in their building and start forming the connections that often grow throughout university,” she says. “That is where lifelong friendships begin.”

  Move-in Weekend comes on the heels of the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games, which saw Brock host close to 5,000 athletes and coaches in its residences over two weeks in August.

  “Hosting the Athletes Village was a big undertaking and staff have been busy getting the buildings ready for students following the departure of Canada Games athletes,” Chernish says. “It has been an exciting summer on campus and we’re looking forward to again filling our residence rooms with students in September.”

  NOTE: Media are invited to attend Move-in Weekend. Brock University Interim President Lynn Wells and Interim Director, Residences Cindy Chernish will be available for interviews Saturday, Sept. 3 from 9 to 11 a.m. Maryanne St. Denis, Manager, Content and Communications, will be on site Saturday at Residence 8 to help co-ordinate interview and photo requests. 

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Maryanne St. Denis, Manager, Content and Communications, Brock University [email protected] or 905-246-0256

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  Categories: Media releases

• Brock expert calls for later high school start times in support of youth sleep

  Wednesday, August 31, 2022 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 31 August 2022 – R0094

  Delaying the time when high schools start classes in the morning by as little as 10 minutes can have a positive impact on teens’ sleep, says a Brock University youth expert.

  Because of the continued psychological, social and physical development that occurs over adolescence, teenagers 14 to 17 years old are recommended to get eight to 10 hours of sleep a night, says Associate Professor of Health Sciences Karen Patte.

  Yet, a 2017 study that Patte led found that less than half of Canadian youth met these guidelines, and that teens now sleep less than young people did in previous generations. The team’s research also points to inequalities, with longer sleep among students who attend schools in areas with higher household incomes.

  During adolescence, the body’s circadian rhythm shifts so that melatonin is released in the body at a later time of day, Patte says. This shift, along with social changes — such as reduced parental monitoring of bedtimes — and greater time requirements for homework and extracurricular activities, frequently result in later bedtimes.

  “Adolescents need to sleep in longer to get sufficient sleep due to this biological shift,” she says. “Education on sleep is not enough. Policies like delayed school start times will set them up for success.”

  Patte co-leads the Canada-wide COMPASS study, which surveys more than 60,000 secondary school students every year in Ontario, Alberta, Quebec, British Columbia and, starting this year, P.E.I.

  As part of that initiative, Patte and her team published a study demonstrating that Grade 9 to 12 students report longer sleep durations at schools that start later compared to their peers attending schools with earlier start times.

  Following this study, Patte’s team published a first-of-its-kind study in Canada in 2019 on how changes in start times relate to student-reported sleep, physical activity and screen use over time.

  “Schools frequently made minor shifts in their start times, either earlier or later by five to 15 minutes,” Patte explains. “We examined whether sleep duration changes differed in students attending schools with start time shifts compared to those at schools without changes.”

  The team found that, in cases where schools opened 10 minutes earlier than the year prior, students’ sleep duration declined more steeply when compared to students at schools that continued to start at the previous time.

  When schools opened 10 minutes later than the previous year’s scheduled time, students reported getting almost 24 minutes of additional sleep on average than they did in the prior year.

  “Concerns about later start times have included potential interference with sports and extracurricular activities, or that teens will just stay up later on their phones,” Patte says, “but our research didn’t find any changes in students’ physical activity or screen use with modest delays.”

  Start times for high schools vary across jurisdictions, ranging from around 8 to 9:30 a.m. on average. Patte says bumping school start times to somewhere around 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. would be ideal, but that even minor delays appear beneficial. Likewise, she advises caution about modest advances in school schedules.

  Patte’s team is also studying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescents’ sleep. In a paper led by Markus Duncan, a Postdoctoral Fellow at Brock University working with Patte, they found sleep duration among Canadian teens increased from before the pandemic onset to the first wave in spring 2020. Patte says that not having to get up early for school likely contributed to the results.

  Patte says families can start to get into a more regular sleep schedule in preparation for the return to school. She says good ‘sleep hygiene’ includes:

  • Sticking to consistent bed and wake-up times.
  • Keeping screens out of the bedroom.
  • Avoiding mentally stimulating tasks such as homework or screen use before bedtime.
  • Being physically active and getting natural sunlight during the day.
  • Avoiding or cutting down on caffeine, particularly later in the day.

  Patte has also studied behavioural predictors of sleep in teens and how health behaviours relate to youth mental health.

  “Sleep has received relatively less attention than other health behaviours.” she says, “We often hear concerns regarding screen use, but our research points to homework time as one of the main predictors of less sleep among adolescents, and sleep consistently emerges as the health behaviour most strongly related to mental health outcomes.”

  Brock University Associate Professor of Health Sciences Karen Patte is available for media interviews on the topic.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Maryanne St. Denis, Manager, Content and Communications, Brock University [email protected] or 905-246-0256

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  Categories: Media releases