Student health and wellness concerns including stress, alcohol and other drug use, and mental health issues continue to be the most significant problems that get in the way of academics at CCU. As a faculty member, what are some things you can do to make a positive impact?
Know your influence: Faculty can send powerful messages about the importance of positive health behaviors. Even the most robust wellness programs on college campuses rely on students taking the initiative to participate in programming. Faculty will always be able to reach students in the classroom that others on campus cannot.
Use your syllabus: Your syllabus has the power to set the stage for expectations and norms in the classroom. Consider adding wellness resources available to students, like the LiveWell Office, Counseling Services, Student Health Services and University Recreation.
Utilize all five days of the week: By keeping scheduled Friday class times and having assignments due on Fridays, you can dissuade students from engaging in high risk alcohol use on Thursdays. Consider making assignments due at 11:59 p.m. rather than 8 a.m. to encourage a good night’s sleep.
Know the campus norms and your influence: Research on college campuses indicates that students misperceive what is "normal" regarding alcohol use and attitudes about alcohol use, greatly exaggerating how much others drink and underestimating healthy behaviors. Faculty can also be carriers of the misperception that students drink a lot and frequently. How you talk about alcohol, other drugs, and typical college student health behaviors in your class has an impact. Want to know more about social norms on CCU’s campus? Click here for information: The Wally Campaign
Make a referral: If you are concerned about a student’s health and wellness whether it is due to substance abuse, mental health issues, physical health concerns, or other personal issues, let someone know. You can make a referral to Counseling Services or Student Health Services by talking to your student directly, or by calling 843-349-2305 for Counseling Services or 843-349-6543 for Student Health to discuss your concerns. If you want to report a behavior of concern, or you can visit the Dean of Students’ Office’s Advocacy and Intervention page.
Utilize the Don’t Cancel Class Program: The LiveWell office offers a variety of educational presentations to classes, student organizations and other groups on wellness topics and serves as the host of the “Don’t Cancel Class” series of presentations for academic instructors who would like to request a presentation when they must miss a class. If you know in advance that you will be missing a class you can schedule a presentation on the topic of your choice. This will help all of our students take advantage of every possible educational moment to develop not only intellectually, but emotionally and behaviorally as well.