To: Dr. Vincent Boudreau, President of the City College of New York

From:Francisco Martinez, Student and City College of New York Alumni

Date: September 12,2018

Subject: Reimplementation of pet therapy aay for monthly intervals

 

This memo is to recommend the reimplementation of Pet Therapy Day this year. This therapy is a great stress relief for students and teachers alike, with the benefit of, unlike most other therapies, being very low-cost.

 

Summary

Students in recent years have had an increase in stress and the rate of depression has increased. While many tools and resources are available for these issues, I believe that reimplementing the Pet Therapy sessions that were done in April of 2015 at a monthly interval would help destress students while improving moral at the school for a smaller cost compared to other therapies. I would like to speak to you about the proposal at the most convenient time.

 

Discussion

As stated before, stress among students has increased recently, and any form of therapy that can help alleviate a student’s mental and emotional health,would assist  in their productivity and academic performance. The first pet therapy day was executed on Wednesday April 22,  2015 in the NAC building, but it was a one time event. Reinstating the pet therapy day at a monthly interval, has the benefit of giving students the therapy and emotional help they need every month, while not being as inconvenient for the school and handlers, and as expensive as a weekly pet therapy day. The pet therapy days should also be situated in  the midterm and final testing periods, so that the students would receive the therapy at the most stressing moments of their semester.

 

The first step of implementing the pet therapy monthly day, would be to set up  convenient monthly dates, a location, and time. The next step, would be to acquire an assisted dog therapy insurance, to protect the school, handlers,  and the students. The insurance itself is pretty inexpensive. A newsletter would be sent through email, informing the students about the monthly pet therapy dates, the details of the therapy, and information for students interested in acquiring the certification to volunteer their pets. I will find recruits to help me send the newsletter through the campus as well. We can contact different agencies around New York for  example, the Good Dog Foundation, for certified therapy pets, and their handlers. Also, students who have certified themselves, and their pets can also volunteer. I think that this program will have the secondary benefit of motivating students to want to adopt a pet, and give these animals a loving home, which would also be a great plus.

 

There is evidence that just petting dogs releases oxycontin which relaxes, decreases depression symptoms, destresses, and puts people in a great mood. With the recent increases of stress in students and modern life, a monthly pet therapy day would relax and increase moral for students at regular intervals, especially on dates before midterms and finals. Next, compared to other forms of therapy, pet therapy tends to be one of the most inexpensive options for colleges. Lastly, who does not like petting puppies.

 

Recommendations

Thank you for taking the time to read this memo, and I would like to meet up to discuss the details for the project, at your most convenient time. You can contact me at fmartin04@citymail.cuny.edu to arrange the meeting, and let me know your thoughts about my proposition.