Mental Health Resource Statement for Syllabi

Sharing information about mental health resources with your students in your course syllabus can assist them in knowing how to connect with services should personal stressors interfere with their academic performance and/or negatively impact their daily life. A Faculty Syllabi Mental Health Resource Statement has been created by the Counseling Center. This makes it easy to simply copy and paste the text into all your JMU course syllabi. Please ensure you copy the two paragraph statement in its entirety, without making any changes, to ensure it matches the current available resources.

JMU faculty may regularly encounter students who request some adjustment to or exemption from a course’s academic requirements due to reported emotional distress. Review the Counseling Center’s Balancing Student Well-Being with Academic Integrity resource to learn more about proactive steps you can make and items to consider when responding to student requests.

If you aren't sure about student privacy laws, you may be reluctant to share information about distressed, disruptive, or dangerous students. That can prevent you from receiving support, guidance, and the opportunity to create a plan for how to respond to the situation. Read more about student privacy laws and what information you can share on our FERPA page.

Clinicians are not normally the first people students turn to when they have problems. Friends, Room Advisors, advisors, faculty, and family members, often spend the most time with students and are able to notice changes in behavior and personality. Pay attention to common signs of distress and follow these tips for how to offer support and help a distressed student.

The presence of a student who is disruptive to class can be a significant cause of stress for faculty and staff. It is important for faculty members to have a plan and know the available resources for efficiently and effectively dealing with disruptive behavior in the classroom.

Being confronted by a student who appears dangerous and potentially violent is a stressful situation and often leaves faculty and staff feeling unprepared to deal with the situation. It is important to have a framework to identify students with significant potential for dangerous behavior and respond appropriately.

It's important for faculty members to have a plan for efficiently and effectively dealing with disruptive behavior in the classroom as well as how to respond to disturbing content in a student's academic work.

The Employee Assistance Program offers most faculty and staff up to four counseling sessions with a local clinician for issues including mental health, alcohol or drug abuse, child or elder care, grief counseling and legal or financial services.

Faculty and staff are also encouraged to join Balanced Dukes - a work-life balance and wellness program. Balanced Dukes strives to help our employees reach a blend of personal satisfaction in four core areas, Work, Family, Community, and Self, in pursuit of a meaningful quality of life. For any questions, please contact Tara Roe, Work Life & Engagement Specialist at roetb@jmu.edu. 

The following downloadable resources were created to provide guidance for faculty and staff working to support students:

The Purple Folder provides an easily accessible summary of: how to recognize signs of student distress, steps for how to respond, & refer with an easy to follow list of resources available.

Helping a Suicidal Student Remotely offers an overview of specific steps and considerations if you are concerned a student you are working to support may be experiencing suicidal thoughts. To learn more about suicide prevention, you can also visit the reducing the risk of suicide at JMU Counseling Center resource page.

If you have additional questions, contact the Counseling Center at 540-568-6552