Well-being Resources
At Cal Poly, learn by doing deeply informs our mission and manifests itself throughout the curriculum. Accounting students provide voluntary tax assistance to low-income families; marine science students develop interactive exhibits on acidity levels in the ocean at the Cal Poly pier in Avila Beach; agriculture and horticulture students raise and sell produce at local Farmers Markets. The CTLT understands that to foster a spirit of learn by doing, Cal Poly faculty and staff must be supported in the development and use of innovative teaching pedagogies that include active, problem-based, and collaborative learning strategies.
The CTLT’s Instructional Practices resources provide faculty and staff with suggestions and guidelines on how to enhance teaching and learning inside the class and beyond. Check back frequently, as these resources continue to expand. Many of these practices are also supported through the CTLT's workshops, learning communities and consultations.
Support Students' Well-being In Times of (Dis)Stress
Today’s generation of college students are reporting increased anxiety, stress, sadness, and exhaustion. These experiences can undermine students’ ability to learn, and thus result in assignments, quizzes, projects, exams, and grades that do not reflect their actual abilities.
Campus educators can influence students with brief, well-timed interventions. Even small communications can ease students' emotional turmoil and help them succeed as they face end-of-quarter deadlines and final exams. Such messages are helpful at any time (including at the start of classes), but may be particularly beneficial as students face end-of quarter deadlines and final exams.
To help campus educators with effective outreach, a set of downloadable resources is provided below.
Well-being Outreach Talking Points
This link is to some scholarship-informed talking points extracted from numerous studies and other resource, to consider using as your judgment determines. To be most effective, unscripted messages that reflect your authentic caring are recommended. However, you are welcome to use the information as presented or in any modified form you deem helpful. These talking points are not a comprehensive compilation, and faculty are encouraged to include other personal insights or guidance for students as they wish.
This link is to the web page and downloadable document
Brief Well-being Intervention Ideas
When you recognize that a student's stress response is ramping up, here are some quick and effective methods for helping them to center and calm themselves so that they can be at their best in your class. Consider facilitating one or more of these for, and with, your students. Click on each title to download a document for each activity,
NOTE: If you use an effective brief well-being intervention with your students and wish to share it with colleagues, please email a note describing the activity to the CTLT (ctlt@calpoly.edu) for inclusion on this page; we will credit it to you.
"Three Things" for Students' Well-being
What do you need to know and what can you do to support student well-being at Cal Poly? Four campus experts on student well-being each prepared their recommendations and advice for educators in response to the following prompts:
- Three things that you wish faculty knew about student well-being
- Three things that faculty can do to support students' well-being
You can dowload the document at this link
The Red Folder response resource
This is a CSU-sponsored resource that can guide anyone on campus (staff, faculty, student) supporting students in distress. It's a compilation of key resources that is customized for every campus and covers a range of situations when students need our help.
- Cal Poly Red Folder download
- Cal Poly Counseling Center Red Folder web page
- CSU's Red Folder website
