​Students choose to study online for various reasons. Often the choice involves other pressures in their lives: family, work, travel or their own mental health. Students who are anxious may prefer the online environment where they don’t have to interact face to face with people. They may believe that it will be easier to disengage without being noticed.

Beginning steps:

• It is helpful if you ensure that all your correspondence is very clear. The student should know what is expected of them because all your instructions are unambiguous.
• Encourage the students to build their own online peer support network like their own Facebook group.
• If appropriate, remind your class of other aspects of their lives which are important, apart from study, and encourage them to put effort into connections which have some meaning and value to them.

During the course:

• Feedback can be a source of stress. Ensure your feedback is clear, constructive and give examples where appropriate.
• Follow up on students who are absent from online chatrooms, not submitting work or not completing quizzes.
• Sometimes an online student may make comments where the tone appears to be aggressive. Don’t ignore this. If you feel frustrated, take a break before you respond. Remove their posts from the Discussion Board. Then explain what is unacceptable and remind them that everyone needs to abide the Code of Conduct. Consider further disciplinary action if the content and tone of their online contributions don’t improve.
• If emails or discussion posts are confused, bizarre or inappropriate, you can consult Counselling and Psychological Services (CAPS) or Campus Care for further advice.

Resources for students 

• Student tipsheets - will help students navigate some of the most common mental wellbeing issues
• Mindspot Clinic - Funded by the Australian Government, Mindspot offers free online and over-the-phone courses to help adults living in Australia manage issues such as depression, anxiety and stress.
• Thedesk aims to support Australian tertiary students to achieve mental and physical health and wellbeing by providing evidence-based psychological strategies to help them to improve their wellbeing and be able to study more effectively. Thedesk offers free online access to four useful modules - Getting Things Done, Staying Calm, Staying Connected and Feeling Good.
• This Way Up Clinic - Student Wellbeing Online Course - This free online brief course is intended to help university students who would like to boost their mental wellbeing and/or reduce their stress levels. The course is self-paced and designed to be completed across eight weeks within a period of three months. Once students complete all eight modules, they will be granted an extra 12 months access to the course to practise and review the skills covered.

References

• Stone, C. (2016). Opportunity Through Online Learning: Improving student access, participation and success in higher education. National Guidelines. NCSEHE & The University of Newcastle (PDF, 1134KB)

Student personal journeys

• Acknowledge first year student hopes, strengths and skills, and normalise concerns.
• Help students to articulate transition tasks and share relevant resources.
• Inform students it is resourceful to access supports early and often, and signpost pathways to student support services.
• Highlight student mental health and wellbeing as fundamental, encourage students to develop their mental health literacy and to ask peers RUOK.
• Ask students to share their wellbeing tips.
• Outline the purpose of Adverse Circumstances, and registration with AccessAbility for Reasonable Adjustment Plans (RAP) for those with pre-existing mental health conditions.
• Promote self-management skills acquisition and direct students to resources about stress and time management, study-work-life balance and performance anxiety.
• Provide opportunities for students to reflect on their adjustment at the end of the first semester.

Student academic journeys

• Discuss student responsibilities for learning, share your expectations and inform them of your availability.
• Direct students to resources to develop their academic skills.
• Encourage students to plan for semester assessment peaks and suggest they negotiate with family and friends ahead of time.
• Cultivate a growth mindset – a concept developed by Professor Carol Dweck.
• Invite them to return to their sense of purpose when de-motivated later in the semester.
• Discuss the relevance of generic skills development to graduate capabilities and professional practice.
• Share your knowledge about strategies for success.
• Collaborate with colleagues and student services to embed wellbeing skills in the curriculum (mental health resources link

Student social journeys and sense of belonging

• Set up group agreements about respectful discussions in the classroom – note that it’s okay to critique differing perspectives and we must be respectful of colleagues in accordance with our Code of Conduct.
• Create opportunities in class to value students’ diverse experience, strengths and skills.
• Facilitate group experiences in class where students from different backgrounds can work together on common tasks. Let them know about the learning benefits of diversity.
• Encourage students to develop networks across the university community.

Resources for Staff

• Enhance Student Wellbeing Project, 2016
• Fact sheets for first year teaching staff about student expectations
• First in family brochures for staff, students and family members 

Resources for Students 

• Learning Development
• New Students
• Student Support Services
• Time Management

References and further reading

• Baik, C., Naylor, R., & Arkoudis, S. (2015). The first year experience in Australian universities: Findings from two decades, 1994-2014. Melbourne, Australia: Melbourne Centre for the Study of Education (PDF, 564KB)
• Lizzio, A. (2006). Five Senses of Success: Designing effective orientation and engagement processes (PDF, 50KB)
• Maymon, R., Hall, N.C., & Harley, J.M. (2019).  Supporting first year students during the transition to higher education: The importance of quality and source of received support for student well-being. Student Success, 10(3), 64-75 (PDF, 411KB)
• Meyer, D. (2019). The Student Lifecycle: Pressure Points and Transitions. In N. Barden & R. Caleb (Eds.), Student Mental Health and Wellbeing in Higher Education (pp 63-74). London, UK: Sage Press.
• van der Zanden, P. J. A. C., Denessen, E., Cillessen, A. H. N., & Meijer, P. C. (2018). Domains and predictors of first-year student success: A systematic literature review. Educational Research Review, 23, 57-77.

Appreciate student diversity

• Treat each student as an individual, with different histories and needs.

Recognise the importance of cultural safety

• Cultural awareness and respect contribute to students’ sense of cultural safety.
• Be open to learning about cultural values and different ways of knowing and doing.
• Be aware of potential mistrust of service providers sometimes as a result of past- history. For example, where does the student feel most comfortable talking to you?

Respond sensitively to student needs

• Provide a welcoming environment. Be kind, helpful and courteous.
• When meeting a student for the first time, seek common ground before addressing their concerns. If you feel comfortable, let the student know who you are and where you’re from. They also need to have confidence in your professional expertise and experience.
• Allow space for silences and variations in non-verbal cues such as eye contact.
• Avoid responses that may contribute to students’ sense of shame. For example, refer to wellbeing rather than mental illness. Try not to ask lots of personal questions and avoid putting students on the spot.
• If you know the student well, you could enquire about the meaning of their symptoms and their past ways of healing and recovery.

Respect student cultural and family obligations

• Respect student need to participate in ‘sorry business’ when a member of their community passes away. Many students are a long way from home and they must return as soon as possible to fulfil their responsibilities and to begin healing. Students may require assistance to access Adverse Circumstances.

Consult colleagues at the Wollotuka Institute

• Working in partnership with faculties and across community organisations, our Indigenous colleagues at the Wollotuka Institute are available to advise staff and support students in a myriad of ways.
• The Institute has Student Advancement Officers and a Tutorial Program for students.
• You can attend a 1.5 hour welcome to Wollotuka session by registering on the staff learning and development portal Discover.

Refer students for appropriate support

• Offer students choices about services they can access within UON and the community.
• Some students may wish to consult an elder, family member, cultural consultant or mentor, or to access specialist community-based services such as Awabakal Services.

Facilitate strength - based approaches to promote wellbeing

• Support student adjustment to university, access to resources and sense of belonging.
• Collaborate with students to recognise pressure periods during the semester, signs of imbalance and discuss ways of restoring wellbeing.
• Be open to cultural perspectives about mental health and wellbeing. What are the student’s beliefs about stress, wellbeing and mental health?

Engage with Cultural Competency Programs

• For advise about developing your cultural awareness and competence you can contact colleagues at the Wollotuka Institute.
• Guided by Elders and the Community, the Wollotuka Institute has developed a set of local cultural standards(PDF, 2221KB)
• A 50 minute online self-paced module ‘Understanding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People’ is also available on the Discover portal.

Resources for students

• AIMhi Stay Strong App is ‘a motivational care planning tool that assists health professionals to promote the wellbeing of Aboriginal clients by considering their social supports, strengths, worries and the goals or changes they would like to make’.
• Australian Government Department of Health ‘Head to Health’ helping you find digital mental health resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people - supporting yourself and supporting someone else.
• Awabakal Medical Service provides primary health care, aged care, children and family services to Aboriginal people living through the Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Port Stephens and Hunter Valley regions.
• Beyond Blue Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Program includes personal stories and a Keeping Strong flyer.
• Headspace – Yarnsafe
• Mindspot Clinic - free online Indigenous Wellbeing Course designed to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults to learn to manage mild, moderate and severe symptoms of depression and anxiety’. The course consists of five lessons over an eight week period, with optional therapist support available.
• NACCHO is an aboriginal health app which will help you find the nearest Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation.
• The Wollotuka Institute, University of Newcastle

References and further reading

• Commonwealth of Australia 2017. National Strategic Framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ Mental Health and Social and Emotional Wellbeing. Canberra: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PDF, 3646KB)
• Gee, G., Dudgeon, P., Schultz, C., Hart, A., & Kelly, K. (2014). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social and Emotional Wellbeing. In P. Dudgeon, H. Milroy, & R. Walker (Eds.), Working together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and wellbeing principles and practice (pp. 55–68). Canberra: Department of Health and Ageing (PDF, 145506KB)
• Mental Health First Aid Australia: Cultural Considerations & Communication Techniques: Guidelines for providing Mental Health First Aid to an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Person: Melbourne. Mental Health First Aid Australia and beyondblue the national depression initiative; 2008 (PDF, 688KB)
• Universities Australia: Indigenous Higher Education

Build relationships and connections

• Establish an environment that is welcoming and builds trust. This communicates and encourages students to approach you.
• Create opportunities for students to get to know you,one another, share com,onalities and celebtae differnees. .
• Highlight the ALLY network in your initial introduction and your stance on inclusion, homophobia, hetrosexism and micro-aggressions.

Use pronouns and normalise the use of them

You can model this yourself inviting others to use their own. Initially you may also like to explain what a pronoun is. Students and research tell us that ALLY programmes and the more visible aspects of these such as may be found on email footers and the posters on faculty and professional staff doors, were welcomed by students.

Expand your knowledge and provide support

• It is vital to consider how intersections with other identities and experiences may impact on an individual’s wellbeing.
• Consider who you are talking to, it is imperative that students can see themselves represented and acknowledged. When developing a course and learning design consider what examples, case studies, research you are using.  Are they diverse or only talking to your own experiences or convenience.
• Remember the personal is always political.
• It’s not the responsibility of the LGBTIQA+ community to educate you. Do your research, don’t expect people to teach you everything, do some learning yourself.
• Just because being LGBTIQA+ increases your risk of experiencing poor mental health, being LGBTIQA+ doesn’t make you mentally ill! These experiences are due to current society, heteronormativity, homophobia and discrimination.
• Think about how you can support your students, without allowing their sexuality, gender and/or sex characteristics to define them.
• Students have highlighted the "importance of queer visibility and a queer presence on campus". Participants discussed how lecturers and tutors who were open about their own sexual orientation and gender identity provided students with a sense of solidarity and assisted in developing an understanding of their own identities.

If you have any questions on how to support students or want to refer students for support, you can contact the Equity Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator for advice.

• National LGBTI Health Alliance - Statistics
• National LFGBT Health Alliance - Inclusive Language Guide: Respecting People of Intersex, Trans and Gender Diverse Experience
• Australia Institute of Health and Welfare - Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (PDF, 401 KB)
• Supporting LGBTIQ+ students in higher education in Australia: Diversity, inclusion and visibility
• LGBT Youth and Family Acceptance (PDF, 87 KB)
• Why Queer People Need Chosen Families
• "So are you a lesbian today?" The microaggressions of our supportive allies
• Working with LGBT Individuals: Incorporating Positive Psychology into Training and Practice
• Intersex Human Rights Australia
• ACON - Community organisation designed by and for our communities

Be mindful of communication

• When a student approaches you for help, explain your role if they don’t know.
• If possible, allow additional time to consult.
• For students mastering English, speak simply and clearly at normal volume and avoid using slang.
• Be prepared to clarify your meaning and theirs, allow time for them to respond and check back that you both understand the message.
• Students will appreciate your good will and patience, and responding positively to friendly non-verbal communication and tone of voice.
• Use plain written language, present a logical order of events and active voice. Don’t forget to define any technical terms.
• Emailing information can be helpful.

Consider cultural influences

• Acknowledge student experiences of culture shock and stages of adjustment.
• Have conversations about cultural values and beliefs – what similarities and differences do they observe?
• Be explicit about your expectations of the student role.
• Consider behaviour from a cultural perspective. For example, a student may withdraw to ‘save face’ rather than express a different opinion to that of their supervisor.
• Note accidental cultural insults (yours and theirs) and don’t take them personally.
• Of course, every student is unique and adopting a cultural lens doesn’t mean stereotyping.
• Develop your cultural competency

Promote the role of positive mental health in students’ lives

• Discuss the relevance of healthy lifestyle to student wellbeing, experience and academic success and promote self-care and life balance to buffer stress. e.g. sufficient sleep, exercise, study breaks, peers contact, attending university events.
• Acknowledge student resourcefulness and strengths e.g. studying in their second language
• Facilitate sense of belonging and peer contact in class.

Recognise and respond to signs of psychological distress

• Expressions of psychological distress differ from person to person, and concepts of mental health vary considerably across cultures. One student may report somatic symptoms rather than emotional stress, another will inform they have no words in their language to describe depression, a third student will be keen to continue psychotherapy which is commonly sought in their home country. Nonetheless, we all have mental health which varies along a continuum depending on a range of factors including stressors, coping and supports.
• Symptoms of distress may indicate culture shock, stress, loss and grief or a mental health issue.

Normalise help seeking at university

• Challenge stigma about seeking support for personal issues, stress and mental health concerns. E.g. sometimes students think they are weak for being stressed or dishonouring their family by falling behind with their studies.
• Normalise help seeking behaviour at university as resourceful action, skill building and personally enriching.
• Connect students to the most relevant and accessible sources of help in a timely manner.
• You may need to explain their support options and how confidentiality operates; that is, consulting a doctor or UON Counselling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is a confidential process unless there are immediate concerns about serious risk of harm to self or others, in which case we will work together to keep people safe.
• Signpost where to access help and offer to assist with referral. If a student is experiencing depression they may not seek advice from family and friends as usual.
• Look for leverage and alternate support pathways if the student is reluctant to seek help for their mental health concerns. For example, a student may be willing to have a general health check with the aim of improving their study focus.
• When appropriate, check back to confirm the student received help.
• Inform students about access to reasonable adjustments when relevant and that registration with AccessAbility is not noted on their transcript.
• Sometimes, classmates will approach trusted staff for advice about the wellbeing of a peer they are worried about. Please assist them to consult CAPS or Campus Care to follow up with any student of concern.

Maintain professional boundaries and take care of yourself 

• Be aware of urges to rescue students who are going through periods of crisis.
• Sometimes students will share traumatic experiences due to political and social unrest in the home country. Don’t hesitate to contact the University of Newcastle Employee Assistance Program or CAPS for support and debriefing.

Resources for staff

• Guide to Best Practice in International Student Mental Health (2018). The Guide to Best Practice in International Student Mental Health was co-funded by NSW Department of Industry, Study NSW Partner Projects Program and Allianz Global Assistance. The case study on pages 32-33 illustrates how academic and student services staff work collaboratively to help a student to stabilize their mental health.
• ​The Cultural Diversity and Inclusive Practice Toolkit - See General Information folios and Teaching and research folios

Resources for students 

• Support for international students
• Global: for administrative advice about official documents, social and academic programs
• How to cope with culture shock
• Insight timer app: meditation in different languages
• Multicultural Mental Health: understanding mental health conditions
• Settlement Services International: works with culturally and linguistically diverse communities to build capacity
• Study abroad students share their experience of culture shock
• Transcultural Mental Health Centre: practical guides about sleep, wellbeing and stress
• Translating and Interpreting Service

References and further reading

• Alharbi, E.S. & Smith, A.P. (2018). Review of the literature on stress and wellbeing of international students in English-speaking countries. International Education Studies, 1(6), 22–44 (PDF, 270KB)
• Forbes-Mewett, H. (2019). ‘Mental health and international students: issues, challenges and effective practice’, Research Digest 15, International Education Association of Australia (IEAA) (PDF, 4313KB)
• Skromanis, S., Cooling, N., Rodgers, B., Purton, T., Fan, F., Bridgman, H., Harris, K., Presser, J. & Mond, J. (2018). Health and Wellbeing of International Students, and Comparison with Domestic Students, in Tasmania, Australia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15, 1147-1160.
• Tomyn, A.J. 2019 Mental Wellbeing Survey of Prospective International and Overseas Students.

Build relationships and connections

• Establish an environment that is welcoming and builds trust. This communicates and encourages students to approach you.
• Create opportunities for students to get to know yourself and one another, and share.

its important to value and acknowledge

• Young people from refugee backgrounds come to Australia with many strengths and resources
• Many students have broad international and cross-cultural knowledge, multilingual skills, are adaptable and resourceful, and have a strong desire to achieve and succeed.
• that students benefit from targeted support to ensure they access and remain engaged. Be sure to mind colloquial terms, explain abbreviations, speak clearly and not fast.
• Emotional intelligence and maturity do not always equate to chronological age, the above factors mean young people may have taken on responsibilities and roles that other young wouldn’t experience until adulthood.

Expand your knowledge and provide support

• When developing a course and learning design consider what examples, case studies, and research you are using, are they diverse and inclusive or only talking to your own experiences. This takes a bit more time and energy, but it is our jobs to do this work well.
• Consider who you are talking to, it is imperative that students can see themselves, their experience and their backgrounds represented and acknowledged.
• *Be aware that students with refugee experiences may not ask for help, or tell you that they don’t understand what is being asked of them. It is helpful if you ensure that all your correspondence is very clear and not using jargon. Be explicit not implicit in our communications. Students should know what is expected of them because all your instructions are unambiguous. Be sure to confirm that they have understood, and offer an opportunity for them to reach out if they are confused.
• Lived experience is only one part of their perspective and expertise - Think about how you can supporting your students, without allowing their experiences as migrants, refugees or asylum seekers to define and limit them
• Learn about where your students are from - The SBS Cultural Atlas is a good start.
• Engage in some self-education - Don’t expect students to teach you what you want or need to know.  While some students are happy to share their personal experiences - it is not their responsibility to educate yo

Resources

Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network:

• Participation Check List (195, KB)
• Top Tips (483, KB)
• Engaging Respectfully with Young People from Refugee Backgrounds (3175, KB)

References and further reading

• Increased support for refugee students to transition to higher education
• Universities need to do more to support refugee students
• ‘Hot’, ‘Cold’ and ‘Warm’ supports: towards theorising where refugee students go for assistance at university

Encourage realistic student expectations and reflection

• Suggest candidates attend inductions and university events. Are there colleagues closer to completion willing to share their experiences and tips?
• Acknowledge the emotional aspects of the research journey. Some students keep a reflective journal as they progress through their candidature.

Advise students about how to proactively create a supportive work environment

• Encourage students to connect with peers and colleagues across the university. Is peer mentoring or group supervision an option?
• Be mindful of students more likely to become isolated e.g. new international students, part-time students with multiple roles.

Share your supervision framework with candidates early

• Your supervisory style and expectations about student roles and responsibilities.
• Preferred modes of communication and frequency of meetings.
• The purpose of constructive feedback.
• Your willingness to address any issues that arise in the supervisory relation and supervision process.

Promote positive wellbeing strategies:

• Open dialogues about the importance of optimising mental health and wellbeing.
• Invite students to develop stress management and wellbeing plans.
• Discuss student strengths and skills and how they apply them. Which skills do they need to develop next?
• Identify periods of peak pressure such as preparing for confirmation and leading up to final submission.
• Support students to set clear, achievable goals and to return to their sense of purpose when they are feeling de-motivated.
• Recognise when students are in the grip of perfectionism or the ‘imposter syndrome.’
• Promote problem solving, time management and the benefits of study-work-life integration.
• Inform candidates they are welcome to discuss stressors when they arise and promote help seeking action when issues contribute to psychological distress.
• Highlight access to student support services as part of ongoing professional practice and self-care. Counselling and Psychological services (CAPS) holds regular workshops on managing procrastination and perfectionism and provides online counselling sessions.

Observe early signs of stress, periods of low coping and emerging mental health issues

• Observe early signs of concern such as students missing meetings, withdrawing from shared work-spaces, failing to submit work, or becoming tearful or frustrated in meetings.
• Raise your observations with them as early as possible.
• Consider reaching out to the student if they haven’t been in contact with you for a while.
• Students who are enrolled part-time, studying off campus and those not working in research team may be more isolated.

Resources for staff

• Enhancing Student Wellbeing Project: Spotlight: Research Supervision
• Supervisor Expectations
• The Supervision by Higher Degree by Research Students: Supervisor Research Book  (PDF, 2153KB)
• ThinkWell tools for the Supervisor from Hugh Kearns

Resources for graduate research students

• Kearns, H. (2008). The Balanced Researcher eBook Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) Limited
• My Compass: is a free online self-help program for people with mild to moderate depression, anxiety and stress. It’s also appropriate for people who simply want to build good mental health. Its core features include fourteen different interactive learning activities and a lifestyle tracking feature to help users better understand themselves and learn strategies to improve their mental health.
• Tip-sheet: Perfectionism (PDF, 102KB)

References and further reading

• Barry, K. M., Woods, M., Warnecke, E., Stirling, C., & Martin, A. (2018). Psychological health of doctoral candidates, study-related challenges and perceived performance. Higher Education Research & Development, 37(3), 468-483.
• Barry, K.M., Woods, M., Martin, A., Stirling, C., & Warnecke, E. (2019). A randomized controlled trial of the effects of mindfulness practice on doctoral candidate psychological status. Journal of American College Health, 67(4), 299-307.
• Scott, H., & Takarangi, M.K.T. (2019). Measuring PhD students’ well-being: Are we seeing the whole picture? Student Success, 10(3), 14-24 (PDF, 445KB)
• Sverdlik, A., Hall, N. C., McAlpine, L., & Hubbard, K. (2018). The PhD experience: A review of the factors influencing doctoral students’ completion, achievement, and well-being. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 13, 361-388 (PDF, 1030KB)