Dear Faculty Colleagues,
As we continue to advance our mission to strengthen student success, our continuous collaboration and collective expertise make a very significant, lifelong impact on our students. Students frequently turn to you for help and guidance. In these relationships, you may also notice changes in a student’s mood and behavior. With the fall term underway, we’d like to remind you of valuable resources that you can utilize as you assist and work with your students regarding student emergencies, conduct issues and mental health concerns.
Student Emergency Services in the Office of the Dean of Students helps students and their families during difficult or emergency situations. Assistance includes outreach, advocacy, intervention, support and referrals to relevant campus and community resources. The team assists students with the class absence notification process during critical situations such as medical or family emergencies, and they may also work closely with student deans or other points of contact for specific programs. If you become aware of a critical issue, please contact Student Emergency Services to begin the process. Other programs from Student Emergency Services include the Student Emergency Fund, UT Outpost (food pantry and career closet), Legal Services for Students and Confidential Advocates.
The Behavior Concerns and COVID-19 Advice Line (BCCAL) is a fast and simple way to report any issues or concerns you may have with any member of the university community, including students and teaching assistants. The line is also a clearinghouse for all COVID-19-related questions and for reporting COVID-19 concerns regarding students, faculty or staff. BCCAL staff will triage calls and send them to appropriate departments. Please call 512-232-5050, or submit your questions or concerns online.
Student Conduct and Academic Integrity in the Office of the Dean of Students administers and facilitates the student conduct process for potential policy violations, including academic misconduct. Faculty Resources includes ideas for preventing and addressing academic misconduct. Additional faculty resources from Student Conduct and Academic Integrity are available on Canvas Commons. The Academic Integrity Videos module contains several videos on topics including due process, collusion, plagiarism and more. We encourage you to add one or more videos to your classes to help your students avoid academic misconduct.
The Office of the Dean of Students has also created a behavior assessment and response tool for classroom disruption. It includes examples of different levels of disruption, as well as resources and recommended responses. If at any time you feel you may be in danger, call 911 immediately to reach UTPD.
The Counseling and Mental Health Center’s Counselors in Academic Residence (CARE) Program has positioned CARE counselors in every college or school to provide localized and accessible support for students, and consultations to faculty and staff.
In addition, Mental Health Conversations is a simulation platform that allows faculty, staff and students to practice having important and life-saving conversations. It also teaches participants when and how to make a referral to campus mental health resources. Other Counseling and Mental Health Center resources for faculty and staff are here.
To expand access to counseling services, CMHC partnered with My Student Support Program (My SSP) to offer 24/7 confidential real-time or appointment-based virtual counseling available via chat or phone. The program serves students in Austin, outside of Texas or in 160+ countries. Services are offered in English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese and French on-demand 24/7, and other languages are available by appointment. To reinforce our robust mental health offerings for students, please read this message sent to all students on Monday.
We appreciate your support and hope these resources are helpful. If you have any questions about the information shared here, please email Dr. Charlotte Canning, special consultant to the vice president for student affairs on faculty relations and secretary of the general faculty.
Sincerely,
Sharon L. Wood
Executive Vice President and Provost
Soncia Reagins-Lilly
Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students