Beth Petitjean, Digital Learning Specialist, Reinert Center
Despite having been an undergraduate student many moons ago, it wasn’t until I started teaching that I ever considered student well-being. I’ve often wondered how many of my teachers ever intentionally considered it either. Looking back to my undergraduate years in Pennsylvania as a theater major, there is evidence that my instructors were concerned about my well-being. There was the costume designer who, after noticing that my unusually sullen demeanor was keeping me from participating in costume shop activities, asked me directly if I was okay. He didn’t accept the typical teenage “I’m fine” that I offered and opted to turn on the radio full blast and start dancing, thereby turning the costume shop into a big dance party where my sadness turned to laughter before I returned to my sewing machine.
Then there was the scenic designer who, seeing me struggle and get frustrated while trying to master a new painting technique, came over and demonstrated every step of the process, then watched and gave me immediate feedback as I tried again and again before finally succeeding. I still remember those instructors fondly because of those moments, not just for the content I learned from them. I remember those instructors as people simply because they offered support and showed their concern about my personal and academic well-being.
Now that considering intentional teaching choices is something I do every day in the Reinert Center, I can see in those memories two examples of effective practices that align with SLU’s Teaching Effectiveness Framework. One practice is instructor-initiated interaction, a crucial part of the Regular and Substantive Interaction (or, RSI), and a Mission-Aligned practice that “promotes an ethos of cura personalis” in the classroom. We talk a lot about RSI with Distance Education in particular because of the tech challenges inherent with the distance formats. If either of the courses in those memories above had been a distance course, it’s unlikely either instructor would have noticed my wobbly well-being perhaps until I submitted inferior assignments.
However, in courses of all formats, instructors can initiate interactions that show their concern for student well-being and create a culture of care in which students feel supported. Some examples of instructor-initiated interactions to consider are:
- Including information about campus and university student support services (including housing and food) on the syllabus and Canvas page. Then referring to that information multiple times throughout the course, not just on day one. Talking about basic needs, accommodations, and physical and mental health in an open manner helps to destigmatize those concerns.
- Sending a pre-course or first-week “get to know you” survey to your students, and include questions about learning characteristics (i.e. do you have a study space), technology (i.e. do you own a device, have reliable internet, etc.), and life situations (i.e. do you have stable food and housing, what else should I know about you, etc.).
- Prioritizing instructor presence in your course, even in-person courses where it’s easy to assume that presence happens naturally because of physical proximity. This includes actions such as learning student names and using those names, participating in course discussions (including those online!), and making yourself available for office hours (Norell, 2025).
And talk to students, check in with them on a routine basis, and ask them how they are doing, like the costume designer asked me. Show them that you are human, not an AI hallucination of a college professor.
Within the second memory, I see the essential practice of academic support through Universal Design for Learning (or, UDL), which addresses the Learning-Focused essential practice of “creat[ing] multiple opportunities to learn and to demonstrate their learning.” Instructors can design assessments that are embedded with support in several ways. First, consider whether the assessment aligns with course outcomes, and if those outcomes are explicitly written as part of the assessment. Are the instructions “chunked” or scaffolded so that students understand the process for the assessment? The scenic designer (let’s call him “G”) chunked the steps of the painting technique for me, giving a visual example of each part to coincide with what was in the textbook and assignment instructions.
Second, consider the keywords and concepts used in assessment instructions. Are they all clearly defined and linked to course materials, and are there resources to help students with the language and jargon of the discipline? G verbally explained each word in the painting technique that wasn’t clear from simply reading the words. And third, consider whether students can use multimedia for communication, or have opportunities for creative expression within the guidelines of the assessment. Granted, the painting technique was a specific hands-on, practical assessment, but G allowed us to use our creativity in color choices (I chose shades of green to display the faux-marble painting technique).
Supporting student well-being in the classroom begins with the instructor and there are many little things we can do before and during the course to show that support in meaningful ways. By doing so, we can make the classroom a space of wonder and create a positive learning experience that can grow within our students as lifelong learners. And maybe, just maybe, they will remember those small moments of support years down the road.
Stay well, dear readers.
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Additional Resources:
Reinert Center, Resources of Student and Instructor Well-Being.
Kerimov, K. & Bellison, N. (2025). “AI Is Making the College Experience Lonelier.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. 2 October 2025.
Mowreader, A. (2025). “Only One-Third of College Students Have Positive Mental Health.” Inside Higher Ed. 11 September 2025.
Norell, E. (2024). The Present Professor: Authenticity and Transformational Teaching. University of Oklahoma Press, 2024.
Supiano, B. (2025) “‘I Did Feel Seen’ – How creating ways to meet students individually can help them buy into a course.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. 2 September 2025.
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For more information or to discuss how you might incorporate these ideas into your courses, contact the Reinert Center by email or submit a consultation request form. There’s also still time to register the last of our Fall Series of Distance Learning Workshop Series, which is a workshop called Supporting Student Well-Being in Distance Courses, on Friday, November 14 at 12:00pm via Zoom!
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