Faculty Self-Care and Campus Well-Being Services


As faculty, we juggle multiple responsibilities—teaching, research, service, mentoring, administrative tasks—all while supporting our students and navigating institutional demands. The pressure to excel in these roles can make it easy to overlook our own well-being. Just as we encourage our students to take care of themselves, we must also prioritize our own self-care to sustain our energy, creativity, and passion for teaching. 

Practicing Self-Care and Wellness  

Practicing self-care doesn’t require major life changes. Small, intentional habits can make a significant difference. Here are some practical strategies and university resources to help you navigate stress, prevent burnout, and prepare to teach effectively during challenging times. 

1. Assess your workload and lighten the load

Take a close look at what you are doing. When your to-do list is longer than your arm it’s time to prioritize. Remember the 80/20 Pareto Principle? Not everything is equally important, and we can usually pick out the one or two things that need our immediate attention from things that are less urgent. Identify tasks that can be delegated or even ignored to lighten the load, and consider scheduling time to sit and think, or catch up on reading, or take a walk. Say no to back-to-back Zoom meetings and free up time for tackling the most pressing tasks on your list. 

2. Know your limits and set boundaries

Sometimes we expect too much of ourselves, trying to be problem solvers, counselors, or crisis responders for everyone and everything. Faculty need to be available to students, but we also need to set boundaries for ourselves and help students understand how to manage their own boundaries. It’s ok to remind students when our office hours are, and when they can expect to receive an email response. We can offer them grace periods for late assignments or unexpected turbulence in their lives. We can also direct them to walk-in campus resources like the Counseling Center or the Connie Frank CARE Center for immediate assistance with personal or emotional issues that are beyond the scope of our course and professional abilities.  

3. Strengthen your support network

Many successful people secretly struggle with the belief that they need to do and be everything for everyone. Not only is this exhausting, but it keeps us from enjoying the benefits of a healthy support system. Who are the people—friends, family, and peers—that you can turn to for emotional or professional support? This worksheet on overcoming loneliness at work is a great place to start. Research shows that cultivating a strong social support system, composed of people or places that offer emotional, informational, and companionable support, can help us to set more realistic goals, improve our physical health, and lead more balanced and productive work lives.  

Campus Resources to Support Well-Being 

Faculty/Staff Assistance and Well-Being Services offers a variety of free and informative resources to support faculty and staff. Detailed website guides describe counseling services, helpful tips, and engaging programs and activities that can be especially helpful during challenging times. Some of the programs and resources available to faculty include:    

tailored specifically for university employees.  

Prioritizing wellness and self-care is as much a part of teaching as preparing lectures and grading exams. Particularly in challenging times, developing strategies to manage stress and build supportive relationships with students and colleagues can help make our work and personal lives more productive and satisfying.  

 

Learn More

  • * Sara Maxwell discusses the Box Breathing technique and other fun facts in CITL Podcast, Episode:
  • A complete list of campus Well-Being Services and programs
  • Website for Faculty/Staff Assistance & Well-Being Services (FSAWS)