Lone Star Summit 2019

In light of the recent high profile suicides, nonprofit legend, Vu Le, wrote an excellent piece on what nonprofits need to know about mental illness. One of the points he brings up is the importance of creating an environment where life/work balance flourish. Overwork and stress can lead to burnout and depression and that can lead to even bigger problems. As a sector, we need to understand that working endlessly long hours is not productive. (http://www.bethkanter.org/work-places-stress/).

In this presentation, Chuck McDaniel will reflect on a twenty-year career in information systems in the telecom, oil and gas, and consulting industries and, in particular, on his (often-failed) attempts to retain work-life balance and remain composed during high-stress systems implementations.  He'll compare life in IT with life on the tenure-track in academics regarding the types and levels of stress that both careers impose and how he came to deal with the most stressful aspects of both careers.

Mike Whitenton will follow by leading us in an exploration and demonstration of the value of mindfulness exercises, which revolve around simply paying attention to the present moment. Mike has helped many Baylor students benefit from these practices, both in the classroom and in the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core Mindfulness Group (BIC PAWS), which he founded last spring to help students adjust to the stresses of college life. Prior experience with mindfulness is NOT required.