Supporting Students in Challenging Times
Clair Canfield works with a student at USU
With mental health struggles on the rise on college campuses, instructors are more often responding to panicked students who say they haven’t completed their work because of mental health issues. You may feel you have to choose between being supportive of their mental health and letting them off the hook academically or holding a hard academic line that risks minimizing potentially legitimate mental health needs. How do you act as a supportive advocate for mental health while also teaching the student to be responsible, accountable, and resilient?
To help, here are some examples, scripting suggestions, and actionable steps you can take:
1. Listen and Validate
Always start with active listening (don’t jump right to fixing) followed by validating the student’s struggle with genuine compassion. “I’m really sorry to hear that you’ve been under a lot of stress lately. Your situation sounds truly difficult.”
2. Estimate Level of Distress
As a frontline contact for students, you are in an excellent position to make some basic observations and intervene in helpful ways. While you are not expected to conduct a professional mental health assessment, you are in a position to estimate whether the distress level is low, moderate, or high in a way that is similar to how you might gauge the severity of a physical health issue. When making those judgments, err on the side of considering issues to be more severe rather than less and consider factors like the persistence, progression, and severity of their problem as well as protective factors to help them mitigate their stress.
3. Listen and Refer
- For low level, day-to-day, transient stress: Encourage the student to continue their efforts toward self-care or problem-solving and offer some additional ideas. “I think it’s a great idea to talk with your partner about pitching in more so you can get back on track in your classes. What else might be helpful? Have you thought of…?” Encourage them to look at the CAPS website for resources (e.g., workshops, self-help, REACH Peer mental health coaches, or single sessions). Other USU resources include the Student Money Management Center, Academic Success Coaches, Space-makers, or the ACT guide. Sometimes just helping identify a safe support person makes a difference.
- For moderate levels of distress: Strongly encourage the student to seek professional assistance. “I’m sorry to hear that. It sounds like you’ve been really struggling. You deserve help and I’m so glad you’re letting me know. Are you aware of our counseling center on campus? They have professionals who offer free, confidential individual therapy, group therapy, single session therapy, crisis services, and peer-to-peer mental health support.” Show the student the CAPS website (https://www.usu.edu/aggiewellness/caps/) or call CAPS together at 7-1012.
- For high levels of distress: Express concern, show compassion, and directly ask about suicidality. “I am sorry you’re hurting so much and am really concerned about you. Have you had any thoughts about suicide? (If yes) “Do you feel you might act on these thoughts? Do you have a plan?” Assist them in getting immediate help. “Let’s walk over to the counseling center (TSC 306) and have you chat with a professional who can help you make a treatment plan to start feeling better.”
If it’s after hours or the student resists going to the CAPS office, suggest calling or texting 988 or calling parents or a friend to take them to the Emergency Department at Logan Regional Hospital for assessment and safety planning. Sometimes offering choices reduces resistance. “Would you rather walk with me to CAPS, call 988 together, or call someone to take you to the hospital?”
If the student refuses to cooperate with any of these suggestions and you feel they may be in imminent danger, call 911 or USU Police at (435) .
In all of these severe scenarios, be sure to follow-up by completing a Student of Concern form. This report will go to USU’s CARE office for professional follow-up.
Academic Guidance:
The best thing you can do is build some flexibility into the structure of your syllabus. That way you are not creating inequities in how policies are applied to students. Consider building into your syllabus an allowance where students can drop a certain number of assignments or miss a certain number of classes. Some faculty have deadlines with grace periods built in, and what we’ve seen with that strategy is that most students submit by the initial deadline. You can also make clear in your syllabus that you will consider exceptions to your deadlines and policies on a case-by-case basis.
When you do need to adjust for a particular situation, keep in mind that reducing rigor is not in the best interest of the student. Avoid reducing expectations that would significantly impact the learning outcomes of the assignment.
In cases of low levels of distress, kindly hold the academic ground or give a small extension to give them a little boost, but largely keep students accountable for their classroom responsibilities. “It’s tough when life kicks up our stress. I can help give you the weekend to complete your paper, but I’m not able to make larger academic accommodations unless you have an accommodation from the Disability Resource Center.”
In cases of moderate levels of distress, refer students to the Disability Resource Center and let them know they may qualify for official accommodations if they have a diagnosable mental health condition. For more immediate issues, hopefully you can utilize some flexibility you have already built into your syllabus policies. If you want to make a special adjustment, focus on establishing new deadlines and re-enforcing student accountability. Have the student agree to a new deadline and hold them to it. Do so in an encouraging way, re-assuring the student that they are capable and can be successful. For some students, academic impacts of mental health issues are aggravated by poor time management, so you could point them to the Academic Resource Finder for help with motivation and time management.
For students highly distressed about their academic situation, telling them about the Academic Records Adjustment option can relieve a lot of pressure and restore hope. “I know you’re worried about school, but job #1 right now is for you to take care of yourself. When serious mental health issues get in the way of academics, we have a process called an Academic Record Adjustment to remove failed grades from your transcript.”
Faculty are in a position to make an enormous difference in the lives of our students. From helping a student with low levels of distress to get back on track, to walking a student with high levels of distress to CAPS, as faculty we are on the front lines of helping our students be healthy and academically successful. And remember that you are not alone in this; USU has a wide range of supports for students and faculty. As faculty, a big part of our teaching role is to encourage students, honor their experiences, help them develop accountability, and effectively refer them to the resources they need.
For those who want to learn more, ETE will be holding a workshop called “Supporting Student Mental Health: Balancing Flexibility and Accountability” on February 13, 2024, from 3:00-4:30pm. The workshop will be held in-person with a zoom option. Register for the Supporting Student Mental Health: Balancing Flexibility and Accountability workshop.