University of Colorado student Ellen Tyler would rather curl up for a quick snooze in a cubbyhole desk at a campus library than grab caffeine.
“I find it really helpful,” said Tyler, a senior political-science major.
Tyler, who uses the trick to take a break from studying for exams or writing papers, might be onto something.
One group is starting to promote power naps at the Boulder campus based on research about college students’ bad sleep habits – and a strong indication that students just won’t go to bed any earlier.
Until now, the Student Wellness Program, run by the Wardenburg Health Center at CU, has mainly focused on educating students about how to handle stress and colds.
“We have found consistently over the years that sleep seems to be the No. 3 reason academic grades are affected, behind stress and colds,” said Robin Kolble, Student Wellness Program coordinator. “Part of the reason they feel stressed is lack of sleep, and by itself sleep is a problem.”
An advertising class at CU questioned 283 students about their sleep habits.
Their survey found that schoolwork and social activities were a higher priority for students than sleep.
“They found people are unwilling to change their schedules to get sleep,” said Matt Lambuth, Student Wellness Program peer educator. “There’s so much going on that sleep gets cut.”
Nick Foppiano, 21, a junior psychology major at CU, said he chooses to do a number of things other than sleep.
“I’d rather stay up and play video games,” he said.
So instead of trying to encourage college students to get the recommended seven to nine hours nightly, the program is going to push napping.
“We put our focus on the 15-minute power nap because it is enough to still benefit from it and it is not a huge time demand,” Lambuth said.
Kolble recommends students nap before they study so they feel rested.
“After studying, get a good night’s sleep, then what you’re studying will be processed,” Kolble said.
Lambuth said his group will hand out stickers with sleep and nap facts on them and create a character named Slum Bear on Facebook.com, a popular social networking site for college students.
Eventually, Slum Bear, a costumed volunteer, will pretend to nap in large lecture halls before classes and then wake up spewing a sleep fact before running out the door.
Lambuth said he’d like to one day see Metronap Sleep Pods on campus. The program has applied for a grant to purchase the white, egg-shaped pods with leg rests, which would be placed in designated nap zones.
The pods, which can be set for 20-minute naps, gently wake nappers with a vibration. They can now be found at some international airports and on a floor in the Empire State Building in New York City.
Until these sleep pods become a reality, Kolble said students are safe to snooze on couches in two lounge areas of the University Memorial Center.
The lounge areas are usually quiet study zones, which make for a good napping atmosphere.
As the weather warms up, many students can be seen sprawling on the grassy lawn in front of Norlin Library.
“We can’t control that environment as much,” Kolble said. “This is a public campus, so anyone can come.”
Staff writer Katherine Crowell can be reached at 303-820-1201 or kcrowell@denverpost.com.
