University offers additional well-being services following Day of Reflection

NOVEMBER 8, 2024 - Editor's note: The following message was sent via email to all faculty, staff and students from UTSA President Taylor Eighmy , Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Heather Shipley , Executive Vice President for Business Affairs and Chief Enterprise Development Officer Veronica Salazar , Associate Dean of Students for Wellbeing Services Melissa Hernandez and Associate Vice President for People Excellence Katy Madden.

Today, we did something at UTSA that we've never done before by pausing classes for a full day to center on our community's mental health and well-being wi th a Day of Reflection.

As we look at the engagement on campus today and continue to observe reactions across social media, we have a clear sense that our community valued the time to reflect, share concerns and support one another. We are also mindful of the concerns and recommendations that you have shared with us to further improve our efforts. These improvement efforts are the focus of the Enhancing Wellbeing Task Force and the Employee Success Center.

We are grateful for all that we've seen and how our Day of Reflection has unfolded, and we thank our entire community for their heartfelt participation on this day.

Also, we would like to take a moment to remind our community that our efforts in this space will continue to evolve with intentional focus. As we shared yesterday, the following programs are already planned, and more details will soon follow.

Students

• Student listening sessions: Offered online and in-person to hear directly from our students. These sessions will be offered in collaboration with the Wellbeing Enhancement Task Force.
• Daily mental health support resources at the Sombrilla: Stop by from November 11 to November 15 and meet the Student Affairs Wellbeing Services team and receive free resources and support.
• Enhanced student programming: Students can engage in ongoing meaningful mental health programming on topics ranging from healthy body image, recovery, therapy animals and more. Learn more about upcoming wellness programming on RowdyLink.

Faculty and Staff

• Daily mental health support resources at the Sombrilla: Stop by the Central Plaza from November 11 to November 15 to learn more about wellness resources offered at UTSA for employees. People Excellence team members will be available to answer employee questions and provide support.
• Enhanced employee programming: The UTSA Employee Success Center will offer leadership programming focused on well-being through the month of November.
• Additional training for faculty and staff
• Additional resources for faculty and staff

As we take the next step forward from this Day of Reflection, we want to say this again: If you are struggling, reach out. If you're hurting, we want to hear from you. If you have an idea to strengthen our work in this space, share it with us.