Apply for a Buckley Public Service Scholars Graduate Assistant Position by Sept. 7

• CCPS seeks 6-8 Carolina graduate and professional students to share their expertise with undergraduates in the BPSS program. Selected graduate students offer skills trainings and participate in other aspects of the program and receive a $1,600 stipend. Apply to be a 2022-2023 BPSS graduate assistant by Wednesday, Sept. 7.

Sleep, elusive sleep.

Sleep is one of the most important parts of maintaining a healthy body and mind. And yet, academic commitments, busy schedules, late-night meetings, roommates and stress are very typical barriers to getting good sleep. The consequences of poor sleep can be major: poor attention, decreased memory retention, increased likelihood of getting sick and increased likelihood of having an accident. Fortunately, we have some simple, easy-to-follow suggestions that will have you catching Zzz’s in no time.

Sleep Hygiene

You may have heard this term before. Sleep hygiene encompasses the basic strategies we should all be following to give ourselves the best chance at getting a good night’s sleep. Are there any ways that you could improve these sleep-promoting behaviors?

• Limit caffeine. Do not consume more caffeine per day than the amount in 3 cups of coffee. Avoid caffeine in the 4-6 hours before going to bed. 
• Limit alcohol. Alcohol may help you fall asleep at first but can lead to sleep disruption and make sleep less restful.
• Exercise regularly but not close to bedtime, Regular, moderate exercise can improve your quality of sleep.
• Try a light bedtime snack such as milk, peanut butter, or cheese. These foods contain chemicals your body uses to produce sleep and can make you drowsy. 
• Keep your bedroom quiet, dark, and cool. Noise and light can disrupt sleep; try white-noise machines, ear plugs, and/or an eye mask to help. Temperatures above 75 degrees Fahrenheit can disrupt sleep.

Other Sleep Improvement Guidelines

While sleep hygiene strategies are a necessary foundation for quality sleep, they are unfortunately not sufficient. Here are some additional tips for improving and maintaining good sleep habits.

• Select a standard rising time. Set the time and stick to it every day, regardless of how much sleep you get each night. This will help to create a stable sleep pattern.
• Use the bed primarily for sleep. Avoid reading, watching shows eating, studying, using the phone or computer, or doing other things that require you to be awake. These activities unintentionally train your brain to be awake in bed.
• Get out of bed when you can't sleep.  Avoid remaining in bed for extended periods of time without being asleep; this creates a negative association with your bed/sleep time. If you are awake for 15-20 minutes, get out of bed, no matter the time of night. Leave your room if you are able. Engage in relaxing, non-stimulating activities, and don’t return to bed until you are ready to sleep.
• Get out of bed when your mind is spinning. Avoid worrying, planning, or problem-solving in bed. If your mind is racing, get out of bed and go to another room until you are able to return to bed without worry. Consider setting aside time earlier in the night to worry so it’s less likely to follow you to bed. You also can glean strategies from: Tips for Managing Overwhelm as a Master's student, Graduate Students of Color Support, Dissertation Support, and the Heels Care Network. 
• Sleep at night. Daytime napping weakens sleep drive, making it more difficult to fall asleep at night.
• Determine how much sleep you need and spend that much time in bed each night. Go to bed when you are sleepy but don’t go to bed so early that you spend more time in bed than you need; this can make sleep worse. 

Why Group Therapy is Helpful for So Many Students

Humans are social beings. We do so much in groups - playing, socializing, eating, learning, living and laughing together.

Group therapy resembles daily interactions, creating an opportunity for you to more readily transfer lessons from therapy to the real world. Group therapy has lower stakes than groups in real life. Using group agreements and expectation setting, the group becomes a safe place to try out things that can feel too difficult or scary to try out in your daily interactions. The group helps you learn how others experience and see you, and practice new ways of communicating.

CAPS is offering 25 (!) therapy groups this Fall: 

All in the Family | Breaking Free from Anxiety | Brother to Brother: A Group for Black Men | Autistic Students Social Group | Chronic Illness Support | Courage to Heal: A Sexual Assault Recovery Group | Dancing Mindfulness for Emotional Wellness | Dissertation Support | Emotional Wellness | Empowering Black Women | First in the Family | International Students | Graduate & Professional Students of Color Support | Grief Group | Intersections: A QTPOC Support Group | Koru 2.0 Advanced Mindfulness | Koru: An Introduction to Mindfulness and Meditation | Medical Student Support | Meditation and Mindfulness for Uncertain Times | Nature Rx | In, Out, and In-Between: A Gender & Sexuality Spectrum Group | Connections: Understanding Self, Others, and Relationships | Self-Compassion Mindfulness | STEM Student Support for Asian-Americans | Write-On!

Get Connected to CAPS Group Therap

Join the Young Nonprofit Professionals of the Trinagle for Happy Hours!

YNPN Triangle NC is hosting informal and casual happy hours throughout this year! These happy hours are a chance to meet new people, participate in good conversation, have some laughs, and enjoy tasty food and drinks with other YNPN Triangle NCer's.

Save the date for our next happy hour on Wednesday, September 14th at 6PM! Join us in-person at The Northside District located in Chapel Hill at 403 W Rosemary St. The Northside District is a cozy place with a variety of drinks, good food, and an overall chill atmosphere. If you want to attend this happy hour, RSVP HERE.

If you can't make this September happy hour, we are hosting more on: 

• Wednesday, October 12 @ 6pm Location: Virtual
• Wednesday, November 9 @ 6pm Location: Raleigh TBD
• Wednesday, December 7 @ 6pm Location: Virtual

Design for Change Webinar

You want to help people to do things differently. Maybe you want to board members to engage in fundraising, program directors to integrate equity or accessibility into their programming, or volunteers to follow safety and health procedures. Perhaps you are trying to give feedback to a staff member, helping them to work to their highest potential. Whatever the reason, we are surrounded by people who we hope will strengthen their practice in all things nonprofit.

Luckily we have a lot of research on how people learn, change behavior, and sustain that performance over time upon which we can draw. We can shape a bold future by being intentional in how we design programs, experiences, and conversations around change. In this session, you will learn and apply ideas related to adult learning, the architecture of action, and behavior change. 

By the end of the session, you will be able to:

•  Name how an adult learning principle applies to someone you are trying to move to action.

•  Describe a barrier holding people back and how you can reduce or eliminate it. 

•  Identify a behavior change strategy that will support success and describe how you will implement it. 

Come with a real situation you are working through, and you will leave with a list of actions you can take to design for change. 

Our Presenter: Nancy Bacon is a teacher, instructional designer, and learning strategist who has worked for over 25 years in the nonprofit sector. She works with nonprofits, associations, and networks to strengthen how nonprofits are able to serve their communities. She has trained thousands of people in-person and online, speaks on learning and leadership, and writes books and blogs on topics at the intersection of learning and nonprofits.

Date/Time: Wednesday, September 14, 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM

Cost: FREE

Access: Log-in instructions will be emailed upon registration.

Register here: https://bit.ly/DfCreg

Common Application NOW OPEN

The UNC IOP is excited to welcome energetic and dedicated individuals to join our program teams. Individuals seeking to gain professional development skills and engage in political discourse are encouraged to apply. We have a variety of positions open that we would love to fill. Students are encouraged to apply to as many or as few positions as they like, and many positions are open to students of all years and experience levels. Applications close at 11:59pm on September 14th. For any questions or concerns, please contact membership@unciop.org or communications@unciop.org. 

Application can be found here. 

Three Minute Thesis Competition is Back

The Three Minute Thesis competition is back for the fall semester. The 3MT is an academic competition that assists current graduate students with fostering effective presentation and communication skills. Participants have just three minutes to explain the breadth and significance of their research project to a non-specialist audience. The fall event is a campus-wide competition open to graduate students.

This year, it will be held on October 11 as part of University Research Week.

Key dates for graduate students:

• Information session: September 22
• Last day to register for preliminary rounds: September 27
• Preliminary rounds: October 3
• Final competition: October 11

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