{"id":11503,"date":"2022-12-16T15:28:19","date_gmt":"2022-12-16T15:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev-tufts-provost.pantheonsite.io\/celt\/?p=11503"},"modified":"2022-12-16T16:04:40","modified_gmt":"2022-12-16T16:04:40","slug":"faculty-guidance-for-responding-to-student-distress-following-a-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/provost.tufts.edu\/celt\/news\/2022\/12\/16\/faculty-guidance-for-responding-to-student-distress-following-a-tragedy\/","title":{"rendered":"Faculty Guidance for Responding to Student Distress"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/span><\/h2>\n

When a crisis or tragedy happens on campus or off campus and affects our students, knowing how to respond can be challenging, and you may not always feel in your comfort zone. This is completely understandable. Yet your role as an instructor is an important one in the larger system of student support at Tufts. In these moments, you may be the first university employee some students see following an event, or the first person to notice a student\u2019s absence.They will look to you for empathy, reassurance and flexibility as they navigate their academic responsibilities while experiencing a reduced capacity to function due to distress. You are not expected to take on a counseling role, but simply to be caring and sensitive adults who are tuned in and responsive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Be prepared in advance if you can be<\/span><\/h3>\n

To prepare yourself for these inevitable moments, we have developed this resource to support you in responding sensitively in these moments, and to ensure you know what resources are available to you and your students. Read it now, and bookmark it for later to refer to.<\/span><\/p>\n

Become familiar with Tufts University services and resources for students<\/span><\/h3>\n

There are many people who understand mental health issues and concerns, and who are available for you to look to for advice, and to support our students. You are part of a larger system in place to care for students\u2019 wellbeing. Familiarize yourself with available services for students on your campus, and bookmark them. Bookmark this guide, as well, so that you are able to quickly find it as a resource for framing your response when students are in distress.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Teaching in the Days After\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n

Every day is a \u201cday after\u201d for someone. While this resource is focused on when a student, faculty or staff member on campus dies, the suggestions for instructor response are widely applicable to many circumstances – the day after an unexpected election result, an insurrection, the day after Russia invades the Ukraine, the day after Ahmad Arbery was murdered, the day after\u2026on and on. <\/span>Our response is important in these moments, fostering community is important, and we might not know as much as we would like.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The importance of faculty response in these moments<\/span><\/h3>\n

On a college campus, the classroom is the only space that is not optional for students, which makes the instructor role complex at times. As student stress, anxiety and depression levels have risen sharply, national and international conflicts and crises are constant and instantly reported, we are called to notice and attend to the myriad ways students respond to their distress. We need to be able to both teach and care for students, and for many instructors this is not a comfortable space. What we now know from neurobiology about emotion and the brain is that this dual role of teaching and caring was always necessary for learning. We are whole humans, and students don\u2019t turn off all emotion when entering the classroom – nor do we instructors.<\/span><\/p>\n

We are a community of caring when tragedies occur<\/span><\/h3>\n

In her message to the community following a tragedy in the spring of 2022, the Reverend Elyse Nelson Winger, Tufts University Chaplain, eloquently expressed the role of community in these moments:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Grief is a natural and important response to loss, and best held with others. Healing takes a long time, and everyone’s path through grief is different. Sudden loss can rupture our sense of stability, and you may feel sadness, anger, anxiety, guilt, numbness, distractedness, or loneliness in the coming days and weeks. As a member of our community, we hope that you will also share how you are feeling with people who can support you, for I believe that Valarie Kaur’s words ring true: <\/span>\u201c<\/b>…grieving loss in community is how the hole turns into a wound that can heal,<\/i><\/b>\u201d <\/b>(Kaur, V., <\/span>See No Stranger<\/span><\/i>, p. 33).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time, as Reverend Winger communica<\/span>ted, grief is often dealt with in community. Not all students will necessarily require a therapist. For those who may be experiencing extreme or debilitating grief, talking to a trained professional may be useful, but the range and intensity of emotions that accompany loss should not automatically be seen as needing counseling by professionals. <\/span>Offering a compassionate response and emotional first aid does not mean you are \u201cbeing a therapist.\u201d You are simply being a good human, and a part of our community of support in healing.<\/span><\/p>\n

We won\u2019t always know as much as we would like about what happened<\/span><\/h3>\n

Become as well informed as possible about what happened, but assume that the facts are not all in. The process of notification from the Dean of Student Affairs and the University to the community is complex and multifaceted, and students often learn details before an official announcement through peers and social media. The wishes and needs of the family of the student, faculty or staff member are respected by the University, so the information you receive may not be as detailed as you might like, or as soon as you like. Reassure students that the administration cares deeply and must work with the family, the police, peers, and potentially the hospital, and want to be accurate and respectful in their communication. Wanting to know more is natural, and at the same time, it is not the most important thing to be focusing on.<\/span><\/p>\n

A planned response is likely a better response<\/span><\/h3>\n

Tragedies are always hard to deal with and while each one is unique, developing a thoughtful and comparable response to all of these moments honors each as equally worthy of grief, each loss as equally important. Consider that students will notice and compare your responses to different events, and developing a measured and somewhat standard response is an inclusive and reassuring approach. This guide is intended to help you to develop a planned response.<\/span><\/p>\n

Emotional First Aid<\/span><\/h2>\n

The goal of emotional first-aid is to give people permission and space to express their emotions. It is the act of freely giving support without becoming invasive. It is being empathic, acknowledging the difficulty, being observant, and providing the opportunity for students to approach you privately to request reasonable flexibility for their academic work if needed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t fear asking your students how they are doing, rather be prepared. Try to provide time to talk about the incident and the student\u2019s feelings, and listen empathically. (see below for empathic listening cues and what not to say) <\/span>During the grief process, students may quickly switch emotions. The primary switch of emotions while crying is to anger. It is important to accept the person’s feelings of anger. This is a very normal response to distress and holding the space for those emotions and not shutting them down is important.<\/span><\/p>\n

When an individual student approaches you<\/span><\/h3>\n

Keep your words simple and be brief.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n