Faculty experiences of students in distress on Canadian post-secondary campuses

What started as a project to discern faculty’s preferred role in working with students in distress has turned into a discovery of student challenges on post-secondary campuses including but not limited to trauma, indigenization, barriers affecting non-traditional students and other discussions including faculty self-care. The research was prompted by CACUSS and CASA’s recommendations for faculty involvement in creating healthier campuses with specific reference to mental health. Seven faculty members from a four-year university and two-year college from a northern Canadian community volunteered for approximate one-hour semi-structured interviews on their experiences with students in distress. The interviews were coded and analyzed using a thematic analysis. The emergent themes were common humanity, passion, concern and frustration. The author proposes post-secondary institutions look at adopting trauma-informed approaches to building policy, procedure and campus environments to address mental wellness and distress for all campus community members, students, staff and faculty alike.