With final exams approaching and stress levels high, Student Health, Counselling & Wellness Services is encouraging course instructors to access materials for increasing student awareness of the free mental health and well-being resources available to them.

“Instructors hold an important role in students’ lives: they are mentors, leaders, educators, and role models,” says Katie Chauvin, mental health and wellness co-ordinator. “They are also important collaborators for our office when it comes to fostering a caring, compassionate, and connected campus community where mental health is championed and students know where they can turn for support. Talking about mental health in the classroom is one of the most powerful ways of reaching students and destigmatizing help-seeking.”

The wellness team is available through the rest of the semester to provide five-minute in-class mental health resource presentations.

The following times have been set aside for presentation requests:

• Mondays from 10 a.m. to noon
• Tuesdays from 1 to 3 p.m.

but additional timeslots can be created for instructors with classes outside these windows of availability.

Instructors may also take advantage of the updated materials available on the Student Health, Counselling & Wellness Services website that provide practical in-class tools for increasing student awareness of mental health supports and embedding mental health literacy in the curriculum.

“The wellness team is here to support instructors as key collaborators in building a psychologically safe and healthy campus, and we are always looking to build new connections and partnerships within faculties,” Chauvin says.

To request an in-class presentation or additional materials, reach out to wellness@uwindsor.ca.