Faculty for Successful Students: Take Care, Bears Supporting Student Wellness
We’ve reached Weeks 6 & 7 of the semester. The new-semester shine has faded a bit, calendars are getting crowded, sleep may be becoming negotiable, and some students are discovering that “I’ll deal with that later” is not, in fact, a sustainable strategy.
From September 28–October 9, the Faculty for Successful Students campaign is focusing on student wellness.
Wellness and learning aren’t separate things. Students who are overwhelmed, exhausted, struggling emotionally, or dealing with a crisis have less capacity to concentrate, participate, complete work, and make good decisions about school.
Faculty aren’t expected to become counselors or solve every problem. But our classrooms can help students hear an important message: taking care of yourself matters, challenges are normal, and help is available.
Small Ways to Support Student Wellness
- Check in. Take a few minutes to ask how things are going or point students toward upcoming campus resources and activities.
- Share resources where students already look. A Brightspace announcement or content page can highlight the Counseling Center, Thomas C. Courtway Student Recreation Center, Student Success workshops, CubConnect events, and other resources.
- Normalize asking for help. Case scenarios can help students think through common challenges and identify where they could turn for support.
- Start a conversation about social media and wellness. A short video, article, or discussion can help students consider how online habits affect stress, attention, sleep, and well-being.
- Know when to pass the baton. If you’re concerned about a student, use the Student of Concern referral form to share your concern with the UCA CARE Team.
Sometimes simply saying, “There are people on campus who can help with this, and I want to make sure you know how to reach them,” can be an important first step.
Share This Week’s FSS Slide
The student-facing slide for Weeks 6 & 7 encourages students to think about sleep, nutrition, physical and emotional health, relationships, and making time to recharge.
View the Faculty Strategy Presentation Slides
Brightspace Byte: Help Students See What’s Coming
Sometimes reducing stress starts with eliminating the surprise factor.
Encourage students to look ahead in the Brightspace Calendar rather than checking
only what’s due today. You can also break larger assignments into milestones, use
Checklists for multi-step work, and remind students where to find upcoming dates
and deadlines.
A little structure can help keep a busy week from becoming a 2:00 a.m. emergency.
Bear Bites: Wellness That Works
Date: Thursday, October 1
Time: 12:15 p.m.
Location: Christian Cafeteria Executive Dining Room
Facilitator: Shannon Riedmueller
How can we support student wellness without trying to be everything to everyone?
Join us for lunch and a practical conversation about small ways to check in with students, normalize conversations about challenges, and connect students with campus resources—while recognizing that faculty have limited time and energy of their own.
Lunch is provided because supporting wellness is considerably easier when no one is expected to do it hungry.
Thank you for continuing to look out for your students—and remembering that supporting student success sometimes starts with helping students take care of themselves.
Those small moments of care and connection can matter more than we realize.