Well-being in the Curriculum: What Faculty Can Do to Address the Mental Health of Our Students
Well-being in the Curriculum: W hat Faculty Can Do to Address the Mental Health of Our Students
Laura D. Valtin 0
0 Valtin , Laura D.; McWilliams, Mindy; and Ebenbach , David (2018) "Well-being in the Curriculum: What Faculty Can Do to Address the Mental Health of Our Students," Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education: Vol. 54 , Article 8. Available at: https://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol54/iss1/8
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In her Synaptic
Transmission course, Kathy
Maguire-Zeiss (neuro
science) examines the
effect of sleep deprivation
on the brain, body, and
resulting functioning.
© Can Stock Photo / Andreus
Well-being in the
Curriculum
What Faculty
Can Do to Address
the Mental Health
of Our Students
By Laura D. Valtin,
Mindy McWilliams, and
David Ebenbach
Today’s college students are ties, where we strive for cura
facing mental health chal- personalis in our interactions
lenges at an alarming rate. Ac- with students. However, the
cording to the American idea of translating this to the
College Health Association’s classroom – giving
meaning2017 National College Health ful attention to the wide range
Assessment, over half of all of academic, social, physical,
college students reported feel- and mental health needs of
ing overwhelming anxiety in our students – can be
dauntthe past 12 months. Nearly 40 ing. One way to do it is to
percent of college students re- bring college mental health
ported feeling “so depressed and well-being topics into the
it was difficult to function,” classroom and make them
over 60 percent reported feel- part of the open and serious
ing “very lonely,” and 87 per- academic conversations we
cent felt “overwhelmed.” It’s have with students. Another
clear that our college students way is to design our courses
are struggling. What can edu- so that they integrate the
cators do to help? various strands of students’
This question has particu- disparate lives – weaving
tolar relevance for instructors at gether their social and
emoJesuit colleges and universi- tional lives with their
academic and cognitive lives. And most important,
we can help students to develop a sense of
belonging on our campuses, foster meaningful
relationships, and create connections to people within our
campus community who can help them not only on
their academic path but also on their life journey.
The Engelhard Project:
An Experiment in
Curriculum Infusion
The Engelhard Project:
Curriculum Infusion Model
Faculty link academic course content to a
selected well-being topic through the
following elements:
• Readings & Discussions
• Campus Resource Professional Visit
• Student Written Reflections
In 2005, a group of Georgetown faculty, teaching and
learning center staff, and counseling and student
services professionals began to experiment with these
kinds of conversations in the classroom, with the aim
of destigmatizing mental health and other stressors, After faculty determine a mental health or
wellengaging students more deeply in their learning, and being topic for their course, they incorporate three
nurturing feelings of belonging and meaningful con- engagement components into their teaching:
relenections. Initially supported by the Bringing Theory vant readings, discussion with a campus resource
to Practice Project, this effort is known today as the professional, and student written reflections.
Engelhard Project for Connecting Life and Learning. Faculty select class readings that illustrate and
The project uses a “curriculum infusion” approach, support the connection between the chosen topic,
in which faculty integrate topics of mental health and the course’s academic content, and students’ own
well-being into their courses. lives. Alan Mitchell (theology) teaches Introduction
As part of the project, faculty select a specific to Biblical Literature with a focus on friendship and
mental health topic as the focal point of their com- health relationships and assigns relevant biblical
mitment to creating space in the classroom for the texts from the New Testament (specifically from
“real world.” A sampling of such topics from past Luke and Acts of the Apostles) that demonstrate the
courses includes anxiety, depression, eating disor- richness of friendship traditions.
ders, flourishing, adjusting to college, and coping To enhance the discussion of the readings and to
with stress. The opportunities to make connections truly bring campus life, national data, and relevant
between these topics and course content are endless college student issues into the classroom, the faculty
and can be found in unexpected places. For example, partner with a campus resource professional for a
over his years of involvement with the project, Jim classroom visit and discussion – for example, a staff
Sandefur (mathematics) has used math models to il- member from Counseling & Psychiatric Services,
lustrate the effects on the human body of dr (...truncated)