Supporting Students in Distress
Often, Lakehead University faculty and staff will be the first ones to notice a concerning behaviour which may indicate a student is having difficulty and may need help.
This guide outlines how to recognize when a student is in distress and how to respond effectively when a student approaches you looking for help. See when the next training session is being offered on our event calendar.
Embedding Wellness into the Classroom
Email Signature |
Email signatures are regularly used to communicate information. Using your email signature to communicate your working hours can help to support your own work-life balance and create realistic expectations of response time for students. Linking to the How to Ask for Help guide ensures that even if you do not immediately respond- students are still aware of the support and resources available to them and are encouraged to access them when needed. Suggested Signature line: PLEASE NOTE MY WORK HOURS: I check and respond to emails during my working hours of Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. I will not regularly see or respond to emails outside of these hours. Are you ok? Check in with the WellU Key to find the mental health resources you are looking for Need to talk to someone right now? Good 2 Talk is a free, confidential 24/7 post-secondary student helpline. Call 1-866-925-5454 or text GOOD2TALKON to 686868. |
Mental Health Syllabi Statement |
A statement in the syllabus can send a positive signal of support for students' learning and well-being by including recommendations and encouragement for students to take care of themselves and seek help when they need it. The statement might also be used to encourage classroom conversations about the stigma that keeps students from getting professional help. Suggested Statement: As a university student, you may sometimes experience mental health concerns or stressful events that interfere with your academic performance and negatively impact your daily activities. All of us can benefit from support during times of struggle. If you or anyone you know experiences academic stress, difficult life events or feelings of anxiety or depression, Lakehead has resources available to you. Check in with the WellU Key to find the mental health resources you are looking for. Remember that getting help is a smart and courageous thing to do- for yourself, for those you care about, and for those who care about you. Asking for support sooner rather than later is almost always helpful. You could also choose to include this slide with the statement into your lecture slides. Student Health and Wellness can also provide a short presentation about the wellness services on campus. |
Thriving in the Classroom |
We know classrooms are the one place where we have the opportunity to reach all students, and that faculty and instructors are invaluable contributors to student learning and development. We have an immense opportunity to build classroom conditions that remove barriers and maximize students' potential to thrive. Thriving in the Classroom identifies four kinds of resilience grounded in research and evidence-based practices: community resilience, personal resilience, academic resilience, and career resilience. The toolkit offers practical resources which can easily be inserted directly into your curriculum, resources to support you in designing curriculum and utilizing pedagogical approaches that promote resilience, as well as in-depth research for those interested in learning more about student resilience. The toolkit was developed by a diverse team of postsecondary faculty, mental health professionals, learning experts, and community partners at Colleges and Universities across Ontario (Centennial College, Humber College, Sheridan College, Trent University, The University of Toronto - OISE, Western University - Ivey School of Business, Ryerson (X) University, and the Centre for Innovation in Campus Mental Health), with generous funding support from eCampus Ontario's Virtual Learning Strategy. We hope this toolkit will provide tools to support your own resilience and that of your students. |
Instructional Strategies |
Information adapted from Supporting Students’ Mental Wellbeing: Instructional Strategies. Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo. |
Embedding Wellness Into the Virtual Classroom |
![]() This resource is based on the “10 Ways to Embed Wellness in the Virtual Classroom” developed by Simon Fraser University’s Health Promotion department and has been adapted with updated resources and to include Lakehead specific information, resources and branded materials. For more information about well-being in the online environment, check out this resource from CICMH. |
Enabling better student mental health through teaching and learning practices |
For more mental health teaching practices, visit Best Practices in Higher Ed.
Student Health and Wellness Resources
If you would like to request promotional materials from Student Health and Wellness, complete this request form.
If you'd like to put some Campus Wellness information in your syllabus or course slides, you can download our premade lecture slide decks or print materials below. If you are looking for something more specific, please reach out to our Health Promoter, Lindsey Wachter.
Resources
More Feet on The Ground |
This is a free online mental health education program that teaches participants to Recognize, Respond, and Refer individuals experiencing mental health problems on campus. The program was developed by the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) in partnership with Brock University and the Ontario Government’s Mental Health Innovation Fund and has been adapted and branded for all participating post-secondary institutions across Ontario. |
More Campus Mental Health Resources |
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Supporting Your Own Well-Being |