COMPASS: A Roadmap to Healthy Living is an innovative resource prepared by Mason faculty and staff, with an aim of assisting first-year students, in particularly during their transition to college. Its aim is to promote a productive and enjoyable year. The unique approach with COMPASS is its proactive emphasis on healthy decision-making, through the use of technology.

The materials and resources prepared with COMPASS are designed to help students with a wide range of issues. COMPASS contains information on 31 different topics (such as time management, financial management, study skills, alcohol, sleep, and more); it also has ‘worksheets’ that help students reflect upon their past, and make plans for their future. Further, each topic has a web link to Mason, local and national resources. COMPASS contains 360 inspirational quotes, the current Mason catalog, and a downloadable screen-saver. Ultimately, COMPASS is designed to help students help themselves, providing some direction and resources as they chart their own course during their years at Mason, and beyond.

While COMPASS is designed particularly for new students, many returning and transfer students also find it helpful for its resource assistance and stimulation. While all materials and resources are available on the web, CD-ROM versions are also available upon request. Students can get involved by suggesting “cool links” as well as be filmed to provide their reactions to various topics or offer comments on their personal legacy. COMPASS can be an integral part of your journey for a productive present and future!

COMPASS: A Roadmap to Healthy Living is designed to help you help yourself – to provide some direction as you encounter this transition time. COMPASS is built around the following themes important to your success:

Creating

You are the architect of your own future; you can create the overall vision, and specific directions you wish to follow.

Optimizing

You have the opportunity to take full advantage of the many campus and community resources; with this resource, you are encouraged to do this. It helps to have optimistic thinking and to engage the supportive people around you to maximize this opportunity.

Mapping

To achieve your goals, it’s important to outline your overall goals and what it will take to achieve these goals. These can be broad and narrow. What’s important is to use the appropriate tools from your toolbox to help you achieve these goals.

Planning

Helpful in achieving your dreams is planning; this helps organize your resources, and identify where you would benefit from assistance such as discussions, education, information, training, advising, and more.

Achieving

Progressing through small steps will be helpful in achieving your overall goals. Success points help you attain some confidence with your progress, and inspire you to achieve more.

Steering

As you move through your college career, you’ll undoubtedly need to make adjustments, whether in your major, activities, friendships, coursework, and overall goals. It’s critical that you make thoughtful decisions, and manage the variety of opportunities that come your way so you stay “on track.”

Succeeding

You can succeed if you work hard, organize yourself, identify your resources and needs, and strive to balance your competing needs. It’s important to identify your strengths and areas that need improvement.

We believe that the resources associated with COMPASS can help you significantly with your success in college. These resources do take time; however, this is an investment from which you’ll undoubtedly see rewards in the weeks and months to come.

COMPASS includes both a CD-ROM and multiple links to resources related to a variety of topic areas relevant to students. Specifically, a CD-ROM provides information on 31 different topics, from stress management to exercise, and from spirituality to alcohol. Each of these topics has been carefully chosen, as this compilation is relevant to college students’ success. At Mason, we are providing this to help you make healthier choices, and to connect you with the vast array of resources that exist. The CD-ROM also has, for each of these 31 topics, some worksheets that you can use for your own reflection, as well as for planning. You can print these out and record your own comments for them, and to review them at various times in the future. Some additional resources are found on the CD-ROM: inspirational quotes, a downloadable screensaver, Mason’s catalog, and more.

In addition to the CD-ROM, each of the topics is linked to this website. For each topic, the link provides a summary of Mason resources, local resources, and national resources that are related to the topic. Thus, if you’re interested in time management, you can read what’s on the CD-ROM, and you can also link to the website that provides brief descriptions of Mason-specific, local and national resources on time management; virtually all of these resources have their own websites, with linkages to their information.