University Health Services, in partnership with the Division for Teaching and Learning, offers training on supporting student mental health that’s designed specifically for instructors and teaching assistants.
Recognize, Respond, Refer for the UW–Madison Teaching Community is a half-day, live training that equips members of the teaching community with the skills to identify signs and symptoms of potential mental health challenges, respond appropriately, and refer students to mental health professionals and other support services.
Whether you are looking to refresh your current skills or considering your role in suicide prevention for the first time, completing this training is one concrete action you can take to better support your students.
Who can participate in Recognize, Respond, Refer for the UW–Madison Teaching Community?
This training is designed for those who work with students in a teaching role: professors, instructors, and teaching assistants. If you support students in other ways, view the full suite of trainings available through Recognize, Respond, Refer.
Upcoming Sessions
Additional Education Opportunities
This training is one of several ways UW-Madison faculty and staff build their capacity to support mental health on campus.
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Online Suicide Prevention Training for UW-Madison Faculty and Staff
Faculty and Staff Suicide Prevention Training: Recognize, Respond, Refer is a multi-part, online program that provides information and guidance for faculty and staff around supporting mental health, intervening, and preventing suicide in UW-Madison students.
In-person Suicide Prevention Workshops
Live Suicide Prevention workshops, facilitated by UHS’s Suicide Prevention Team, are available by request. The following workshops are available:
- Recognize, Respond, Refer: Suicide Prevention Workshop: Interactive workshop to practice student mental health support skills and suicide prevention strategies, includes practice scenarios customized for the audience; online training is a pre-requisite. [60 – 90 minutes]
- Campus Suicide Prevention & Mental Health Promotion Overview: Presentation about the scope of suicide/mental health concerns among college students, environmental and individual risk/protective factors, upstream prevention approaches, customized discussion about your role/the role of your group in prevention on campus. [30 – 60 minutes]
- Campus, Community, and National Mental Health Resources: Only available as an add on to one of the above offerings, includes a more comprehensive overview of mental health and suicide prevention resources (clinical, non-clinical, peer support, lifelines, etc.) [20 – 30 minutes]
Student Mental Health Community of Practice
The Student Mental Health Community of Practice is a community of advising, career services, and learning support staff who have attended Mental Health First Aid training and wish to continue connecting with others to share resources and practice the skills of supporting student and colleague mental health.
Additional Resources and Involvement Opportunities
UHS Prevention works to build the capacity of our campus community to support and advance mental health promotion and suicide prevention strategies, using a population-level approach to enhance policies, systems, environments, programs, and services at UW-Madison. Visit the UHS Suicide Prevention webpage for more information on this work, ideas for ways you can get involved, and on-demand resources.