{"id":8821,"date":"2022-11-14T09:39:37","date_gmt":"2022-11-14T14:39:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/?page_id=8821"},"modified":"2026-02-11T09:56:01","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T14:56:01","slug":"best-practices-for-faculty-supporting-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/best-practices-for-faculty-supporting-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Practices for Faculty in Supporting Mental Health"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>Faculty can play an important role in students\u2019 mental health. 精品成人福利在线 University faculty are in a unique position to identify students who may need counseling. Because of your frequent contact with students, you are able to observe changes in their behavior that may indicate emotional distress.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Best Practices in Supporting Students For Faculty<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Summary Report from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hanoverresearch.com\/resources\/research-report-best-practices-faculty-role-in-student-mental-health\/\">Hanover Research<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>College Students and Mental Health<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">College students face high levels of mental health issues, which increased in the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic.\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">They may be struggling with stress and feeling overwhelmed. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Students of color and students who are members of historically underserved populations face additional mental health risks. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Students report that many factors influence their academic performance. Impediments to success often include stress, sleep problems, anxiety, depression, and relationship concerns.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Faculty\u2019s Role in Students\u2019 Mental Health<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Become familiar with common student mental health signs\u00a0<\/strong> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u2013 Some important signs that a student may be struggling with their mental health include:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Missed assignments<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Repeated absences<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Decline in academic performance<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Reduced participation in class<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alarming or worrisome content in assignments<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Excessive fatigue<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Poor personal hygiene<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Inappropriate or exaggerated behavior<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Be prepared to have mental health conversations<\/strong> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">with students and have those conversations when necessary.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Take CAPS\u2019 offered online training, <a href=\"https:\/\/asklistenrefer.org\/montclair-state-university\/\">Ask-Listen-Refer<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong>Review other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/counseling-and-psychological-services\/suicide-prevention\/\">suicide prevention resources here<\/a>.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>As an example of a conversation starter<\/strong>, introduce the topic of counseling to a student by summarizing what you see as the content of the problem. Be direct, specific, and non-judgmental. For example, say something like, \u201cI\u2019ve noticed that you\u2019re falling asleep in class and I\u2019m concerned,\u201d rather than \u201cWhy are you constantly asleep in my class?\u201d You can then refer the student to CAPS so they don\u2019t have to deal with a potential problem alone.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Incorporate mental health well-being practices into your teaching\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Offer regular check-ins with students.\u00a0<\/strong> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This could be reserving a few minutes at the beginning of class to ask everyone how they are feeling that day. Or you might also consider beginning each class with an \u201dI Need a Minute\u201d type one-minute meditation or three minutes of yoga or stretching. You can find a short video or recordings and follow along with your students. There are many good options available on Youtube.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Allow students to give you anonymous feedback. <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Offering a Midterm Teaching and Learning survey is a great way to do this! Canvas Commons has an example survey that you can copy to and adapt to your course, or if you see advantages to an anonymous survey, you can request a <strong>mid-semester check-in Google survey<\/strong> of your own by writing faculty@montclair.edu.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Consider mentioning that students who have mental health absences needs can seek support at the Office of the Dean of Students at <\/span><a href=\"mailto:deanofstudents@montclair.edu\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">deanofstudents@montclair.edu<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0 Their office can assist and advocate for students.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Offer students the opportunity to meet with you one-on-one<\/strong> in person or virtually. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fifteen-minute virtual meetings that students can schedule through Calendly or another app are a great way to offer students the opportunity to connect with you.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>MSU\u2019s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">精品成人福利在线 University\u2019s Counseling and Psychological Services (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/counseling-and-psychological-services\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">CAPS<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">) provides free, voluntary, and confidential personal counseling and psychological services for all students. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/counseling-and-psychological-services\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Visit the CAPS webpage<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to learn about their services including information about how to support a student struggling with their mental health.\u00a0 The CAPS webpage includes information about how to help students struggling with their mental health.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>What To Do If You are Concerned about a Mental Health Emergency<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If there is an emergency and\/or a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">student in crisis, contact CAPS\u00a0 during business hours and tell the receptionist that you have an emergency. The student will be seen as soon as possible. If CAPS is closed, call University Police at 973-655-5222, and they will contact the on-call psychologist. If a student talks or writes about suicide, this should be taken very seriously. If you are not confident that a student in crisis will make the necessary call, you should make the call to CAPS or University Police on their behalf.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Don&#8217;t Neglect Your Own Mental Health<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">精品成人福利在线 University\u2019s Counseling and Psychological Services (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/counseling-and-psychological-services\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">CAPS<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">) offers referrals and consultations for 精品成人福利在线 University faculty and staff.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/human-resources\/current-employees\/employee-assistance-program\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">精品成人福利在线 University Employee Assistance Program<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> provides free support services for all University employees and their families.\u00a0 Services are confidential and provided off campus, and include short-term counseling and referrals if necessary.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Assistance with locating support resources, including substance abuse programs, mental health specialists, and self-help programs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For more information, or to schedule a confidential appointment, please call CONCERN at 800-242-7371 or refer to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/human-resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/181\/2020\/06\/concern-brochure.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">CONCERN brochure<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For more information, read the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hanoverresearch.com\/resources\/research-report-best-practices-faculty-role-in-student-mental-health\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">full report <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">from <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hanoverresearch.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Hanover Research<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right\"><p><em>Last Modified: Wednesday, February 11, 2026 9:56 am<\/em><\/p> CK<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Faculty can play an important role in students\u2019 mental health. 精品成人福利在线 University faculty are in a unique position to identify students who may need counseling. Because of your frequent contact with students, you are able to observe changes in their behavior that may indicate emotional distress. Best Practices in Supporting Students For Faculty Summary [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":310,"featured_media":8823,"parent":0,"menu_order":99,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-8821","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/310"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8821"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14926,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8821\/revisions\/14926"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}