Towards a Well-being Framework for University (Part 3)

Last week, at the faculty meeting for the School of Information Technology, Carleton University, my colleagues unanimously approved my two-part proposal:

  1. That we formally adopt a set of recommendations on academic practices to provide a more emotionally supportive environment for students.
  2. That we allocate one day per term as "improvement day," when we set up workshops discussing how faculty can improve their teaching practices and open-houses for students to discuss their concerns and suggestions.
The set of recommended practices are the result of a two-year project by myself and a few other colleagues, which I mentioned the previous parts of this blog post:


These practices and some background information and resources can be found online and include general and special themes grouped together in categories such as Holistic Support, Connections, Learning and Motivation, and Continuous Improvement. 

 Each theme includes practices grouped into three levels:

  • Low Level of Effort Required, 
  • Medium Effort Required, 
  • Significant Effort or Institutional Support Required.

With more than 200 practices and organized in easy to difficult levels, there are recommendations for every instructor at any level of commitment and ability. Not being able to do anything or not having resources and knowledge are among the most common reasons that instructors may resist a more emotionally supportive practice.

 The set is still a work-in-progress and some special themes such as Accessibility and Inclusion are not developed yet. But, it is a significant step towards a well-being framework motivated by:

  • Increasing concerns over student mental health
  • Strong body of research suggesting the integration of well-being services into academic practices
  • Need of the faculty to explore what they can do to provide emotional support

 I am very proud of this achievement, grateful to my colleagues who helped develop this set and supported it, and hopeful that it can be adopted by others and expanded to a comprehensive well-being framework for students, faculty, and staff.

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