Wednesday's Town Hall

[Winer, Brian]

   Dear all,

     I want to thank those that attended the Town Hall yesterday in the Smith Seminar Room.  Once again we had students, staff, and faculty attend.  The topic of conversation was mental health and well-being.  I had invited Dr. Micky Sharma,  Director of Counseling and Consultation Service, to join us as a guest.  Unfortunately, it did not fit into his schedule.  However, I spoke with him on the phone on Thursday about the meeting and I have some comments about that conversation below.

    Town Hall Discussion points:

  *   I summarized some of the activities occurring at the university and college level (see attached slides)
  *   Jon Pelz reviewed some of the procedures used by the Graduate Studies office to identify and react to students who may be struggling with mental wellness.
  *   Stressors may be different in 1st and 2nd year graduate student vs post-candidacy.
  *   Good peer mentoring could help reduce stress
  *   Good faculty to student mentoring will be important to reduce stress, especially post-candidacy
  *   Faculty/Staff training (e.g. “Mental Health First-Aid”) can assist with identifying and responding to someone experiencing mental distress.
  *   Consider ways to benchmark and monitor mental wellness of different student populations

   On Thursday I spoke with Dr. Sharma on the phone.  I summarized our discussion and ask for additional ideas and thoughts about actions we can take in the department.  First, he congratulated us for having an open Town Hall meeting to discuss the topic.  He said this was inline with the University Task Force recommendation to create a “Culture of Care”.  He emphasized that peer mentoring/support and good faculty mentoring are important ways to prevent stress from escalating. He also mentioned several workshops that could help prepare people to recognize and respond to individuals who are struggling.  This first response can often be critically important.  I will be working with him and other campus partners to arrange for some of these training opportunities in the department.  At the Town Hall, a specific questions was raised about when the counseling resources at the university will be increased.  Dr. Sharma said that next week the University Implementation Team was hosting an external group of mental health consultants.  The consultant will meet with different units around campus to assess where additional resources will be most helpful and make a recommendation.

   Once again I want to thank Prof. Johnston-Halperin and C&D for hosting the Town Hall.  Also, thank you to Prof. Pelz for sharing procedures with the Graduate Studies office.  We will be continuing our discussions in the future.

   Finally, if you or anyone you know is struggling with mental health please reach out to members of our community and seek out campus resources such as CCS ( https://ccs.osu.edu/ ).

  -Brian

[cid:de772433-079e-43dd-9b40-8b5738f0aee7 at prod.exchangelabs.com]

Brian L. Winer
Professor and  Chair
Department of Physics
1040R Physics Research Building
614-292-2653 Office
winer at physics.osu.edu<mailto:winer at physics.osu.edu>





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