During the term

Mental health resources

1. The attached document provided by Counselling Services (PDF), can help students recognize when someone (including themselves) may need help and the variety of supports available. This document can be uploaded to your LEARN page.
2. A quick read for instructors supporting students who are in crisis (PDF). Further training can be found through Campus Wellness at mental health training opportunities.
3. Campus Wellness' page on How to support a student
4. Supporting Students' Mental Wellbeing: Course Design
5. Supporting Students' Mental Wellbeing: Instructional Strategies
6. Supporting Students' Mental Health (for Instructors) course in LEARN from CTE

What to do if a student discloses to you that they are contemplating suicide, self-harm or harm to others

For suicide or self-harm contact Counselling Services. For harm to others, including campus safety, follow the recommendations below, but contact both UW Police Sevices as well as Counselling Services.

What to do next depends on how the disclosure was made

1. In-person
   1. Walk the student over to Counselling Services (2^nd floor NH extension).
   2. If they will not go with you, contact Counselling Services and provide them with the student’s name and student ID. They will connect with the student or UW Police Services, as appropriate.
   3. Inform the student that you will be asking their academic advisor to reach out to them to discuss their academic options; however, clarify that confidentiality will be maintained because the student reserves the right to disclose as they wish.
2. Over e-mail, LEARN, or other written correspondence
   1. Forward the correspondence to Counselling Services, but to no one else (to maintain confidentiality). Counseling Services will manage it moving forward.
   2. Inform the student that you have done so and explain why, i.e. limits of confidentiality are breached when thoughts of suicide or harm (to self or others) are disclosed.
   3. If you receive a disclosure relating to health (including mental health) and wish to inform the unit/faculty, you must do so while not breaking confidentiality, such as: “I have contacted counselling services with regards to this student – can someone reach out to discuss academics with them?” or “This student has reported to me a significant extenuating circumstance – can you reach out to them to discuss their academic options?”
   4. Inform the student that you will be asking their academic advisor to reach out to them to discuss their academic options; however, clarify that confidentiality will be maintained because the student reserves the right to disclose as they wish.
3. Over TEAMS or any virtual format
   1. Inform the student that you will be contacting Counselling Services and they will be reaching out to them.
   2. Inform the student that you will be asking their academic advisor to reach out to them to discuss their academic options; however, clarify that confidentiality will be maintained because the student reserves the right to disclose as they wish.

You can also

• Confirm with the student that they are safe and have immediate supports in place.
• Ask them if there is someone you can contact on their behalf. If at all possible, we want to be sure they are safe until Counselling Services has had an opportunity to reach out to them.
• Send a follow-up email, checking in, which is also an effective way of showing support.

Remember

• If possible, disclose to the student the limits of confidentiality before a disclosure is made. To remember the limits, think S.A.S: Suicide, Age, Safety
  • Suicide (either if they disclose they are contemplating suicide or someone they know is doing so);
  • If the disclosure involves a minor (16 years or under);
  • Campus Safety (harm to others); and
• It is understood that this is not always possible as disclosures are often unexpected.
• The rule for maintaining confidentiality is to reach up, not out.

Contacts

Counselling Services
counselling@uwaterloo.ca

Police Services
Direct Line: 519-888-4911
On Campus Extension: 22222
uwpolice@uwaterloo.ca

Additional resources, information, and tips are available through Campus Wellness.

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Student privacy

Information in this section

• General background
• Use of the N-drive and cloud-based tools
• Email accounts
• Providing “Model Responses”

Resources

• Privacy and Remote Teaching and Learning
• Privacy guidelines for recordings for remote learning

General background

In accordance with the new UW policy on information management and privacy, please review the following.

The University and the Faculty of Environment must ensure that student records and materials are protected in accordance with Ontario’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. F.31 (FIPPA). While some materials are excluded from FIPPA (some employment-related records, research-related records, and records of teaching materials), almost all other records in the custody or control of the University regardless of their subject matter or how they are stored (i.e., in print or electronically) are covered by the Act. These include student work and grades.

As part of the 2015 Internal Audit Plan of the UW, Deloitte performed a Faculty of Environment Privacy Audit. This memo addresses recommendations that arose from this audit that relate to three areas that require our immediate attention: (1) Use of the N-drive, (2) Use of cloud-based tools, and (3) Email accounts.

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Use of the N-Drive and Cloud-Based tools

Please see guidelines on privacy considerations. These guidelines provide the following instructions for faculty, staff, TAs and sessional instructors:

• Store all materials containing student information, including grades, directly on LEARN. If that is not possible, then store that material on the University provided N drive. Do not store these types of materials on personal computing or storage devices. N drives are accessible from on and off campus to faculty, staff and TAs, and N drives are regularly and automatically backed up.
• Alternative storage options, such as cloud storage, are possible, but only if IST recommendations on cloud storage are followed and thought is put into ensuring the information’s availability and accuracy for the purposes for which it is to be used.
• Email correspondence that needs preserving is best preserved in a separate folder on Exchange (YouTube video on managing folders), not as individual files or as personal storage table (.pst) files.

As well, supervisors, course instructors and TAs should take appropriate steps to protect student information that is in print form, especially when it is taken outside of locked university offices. Indeed, the removal of printed student work, or any records that contain personal information from UW premises is strongly discouraged.

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Email accounts

All faculty, staff, TAs and sessional instructors are requested to use only UWaterloo branded email accounts for University business including communication with students.

Please review UW guidelines on e-mail and instant messaging, in the context of student privacy. In particular, both professors and TAs are required to include text such as the following with all outgoing emails (this can be set up in LEARN):

The information in this message, including any attachments, is privileged and may contain confidential information intended only for the person(s) named above. Any other distribution, copying or disclosure which is not necessary and proper in the discharge of the University's functions is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient or have received this message in error, please notify the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies immediately by reply email and permanently delete the original transmission from me, including any attachments, without making a copy. Thank you.

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Providing “model responses”

It can often be useful to provide students with a model of a “good” response to an assignment. You may of course create your own example. If you wish to use student work, please be aware that such use is guided by Policy 73 - Intellectual Property Rights. The Secretariat has provided the following summary of additional important aspects to incorporate along with the policy and obtaining the student’s permission for use of their work:

1. Inform students that they may be contacted to inquire about the use of their work and also how that work would be used. Students should be provided with the contact information of the professor whom they can contact with regard to any concerns.
2. Have a written record of any dialogue you have with a student when seeking their permission (this could take form of an email chain); here it is important to clarify whether they want their work to be identified (i.e., attributed to them) or remain anonymous and discuss things such as when/how their work would be used as well as how long you anticipate using it.
3. Show work that depicts a “good” or “model” response vs that which was a “poor” or “incorrect” response.
4. If at all possible, show works from prior years vs from a student within the current cohort.
5. It is best to limit use of a student’s work to excerpts or response samples (vs. showing their whole submitted work).
6. Transcribe the responses so that handwriting cannot be recognized.
7. Carefully consider the content of the response. That is, if the content could identify an individual (e.g., “from my experience living in a family of 4 in Arthur, Ontario”) then it should not be used as a sample.
8. Ensure that materials are stored securely on a university systems vs on personal devices, unencrypted university laptops, or other portable device. These materials should be retained and disposed of as per WatClass TL55. University Records Manager, Chris Halonen (ext. 38284), can be contacted for any questions about records retention/disposal.

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Academic integrity

Policy context

1. If you encounter a violation of academic integrity, please email both the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies and the Faculty Undergraduate Coordinator with the details. It is mandatory that all violations of academic integrity are reported to the Associate Dean, even if the instructor feels that they can ‘informally’ resolve the situation. The purpose of this reporting is to ensure consistent treatment across the faculty (and University) and to maintain a record of students’ violations (e.g., they are tracked by the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies and the Faculty Undergraduate Coordinator through the application of disciplinary probation to the student’s record); students with multiple violations receive more severe penalties including suspension and expulsion. The Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies and the Faculty Undergraduate Coordinator can also apply a grade of “UR” to the student’s record while the alleged violation is under investigation; otherwise, the student may drop the course to avoid penalties. Finally, it is University-mandated that this information be stored with the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies and the Faculty Undergraduate Coordinator. Note that failure to report issues of academic integrity is a violation of University Policy.
2. Policy 71 guides all student academic discipline matters. Policy 70 addresses appeals and grievances. Please turn to these policies if you encounter an issue of academic discipline. If you have questions, please ask us for clarifications.
3. Student discipline cases involve only the Instructor and the Associate Dean’s office; no other parties are to be involved in these matters.
4. Please be aware of an increase in contract cheating, which occurs when one person completes academic work (e.g., assignment, exam, paper, test, quiz, exam) for another who then submits it for academic credit. This behavior undermines the quality and integrity of the degree, and it undermines the entire educational system. An example is Easy Group Inc., a Toronto-based company that operates under a number of names (Easy Education Inc., EZ’/Easy/EZEDU) and which markets itself as a tutoring service, primarily targeting international students.Download a toolkit to combat contract cheating. You can also view a video about contract cheating.
5. Instructors must ensure that they inform their teaching assistants that they are bound by Policy 71 to report any violations of academic integrity that they encounter to both the Associate Dean – Undergraduate Studies and the course instructor.

Process for dealing with academic integrity case

1. The instructor can choose to either meet with the student(s) to discuss the allegation or email the assignment(s) with Turnitin© report(s) to both the associate dean - undergraduate studies and faculty undergraduate coordinator for handling.
2. If you would like the associate dean - undergraduate studies to handle the case, email with the student name/ID number, assignment/paper with plagiarism indicated (e.g., Turnitin report), weight of assignment, and any other pertinent details (e.g., instructions given to students, declarations that they have signed about academic integrity). As per policy 71, you must report the case within five days of detection. Do not combine student information in one email unless the allegations are related (i.e., unauthorized collaboration). The associate dean - undergraduate studies will take care of the matter from there and report back to you with the result.
3. If you wish to meet with the student and proceed with an informal resolution (under Policy 71, which includes general guidelines for penalties), you must begin the process within five business days of detection/notification. Note that penalties for plagiarism and unauthorized collaboration should be consistent with those outlined in Appendix B in both the Framework for the Assessment of Undergraduate Plagiarism (PDF) and the Framework for the Assessment of Unauthorized Collaboration (PDF).
4. Once you have met with the student please send an email to the associate dean - undergraduate studies and faculty undergraduate coordinator, outlining the details of the offense (including relevant documentation, e.g., assignment and Turnitin report), student’s name and ID number, a summary of meeting, when the meeting took place, if the student agreed to the allegation, and your proposed penalty. Please do not attempt to finalize a penalty with the student; the associate dean – undergraduate studies will first review the information to decide whether i) the penalty is acceptable in the context of penalties across the Faculty, in which case you will be informed and a letter will be issued to the student or ii) they will proceed with a formal resolution to meet with the student. If the student’s home faculty is not ENV, the instructor’s report will be forwarded to the respective associate dean - undergraduate for vetting.
5. Note that for the case of “Level 0” plagiarism, where there is “verbatim text or minimal paraphrasing with appropriate in-text citation/attribution,” the instructor should meet with the student and then email a short summary of the meeting and the Turnitin report to the associate dean - undergraduate studies and faculty undergraduate coordinator. If the associate dean - undergraduate studies agrees, the instructor may reduce the grade for the assignment according to their rubric. If the associate dean – undergraduate studies disagrees, it will be handled through by them, and the instructor will be informed of the final grade penalty once the allegation is resolved.
6. A grade of UR is posted on the student's record for the course in which the allegation is made. Instructors will be contacted with the final grade penalty once the allegation has been resolved. If the allegation is resolved prior to the submission of final grades, the UR grade will be removed and the instructor will be able to submit the student's final grade electronically, as normal. If the allegation is not resolved until after the submission of final grades, the instructor will then be requested to submit the final grade to the faculty undergraduate coordinator for posting.

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International exchange students

If a student listed on your class list is in the ENVEX (or any other plan ending with an EX, i.e. SCIEX) program, they are an International Exchange student.

These students’ backgrounds and preparedness are often different than students from within the Faculty. As such, instructors are encouraged to meet with these students to ensure they are sufficiently prepared to be successful in the course.

If after speaking with the student you have doubts that they are properly prepared academically for your class, you need to contact either the Associate Dean - Undergraduate Studies or the Administrative and Faculty Exchange Coordinator to discuss your assessment.

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Accommodation and AccessAbility

Higher education article

Accommodating Stress: Coping with Student Requests

Response to a COVID disclosure by a student attending an in-person section

Covid-19 classroom and lab management guidelines

Accommodations due to COVID-19

The following text has been taken from COVID-19 Information website – visit this webpage for more information. You can find details on normal academic regulations and accommodations below.

You are reminded that our rules for accommodations for justified absence from class and/or from assessments are in place to support student success and to mitigate the effects of extenuating circumstances on their academic progress. These accommodations remain in place for alternative course delivery.

Find out how students self-declare an illness.

Accommodation for illnesses

We have made the University of Waterloo Verification of Illness form for students a self-declaration, which means students do not need a doctor’s note for accommodation if they become ill. Students can find the Illness self-declaration form in the Personal Information section of Quest.

See Declaration of Absences

Other accommodations due to COVID-19

If a student is delayed from returning to class because of the coronavirus outbreak – they have been asked to communicate with their instructors and advisors as soon as possible regarding their absence.

If they believe they have extenuating circumstances or have been adversely impacted by COVID-19 which has affected their academic record, you may wish to direct them to their academic advisor to discuss the process for petition for exception to academic regulations in line with Policy 70.

Other accommodations

At this point in time, if students have a one-off illness (suffering from the flu or cold for example), they need to seek medical services and receive a completed Verification of Illness form (VIF).

After the form is complete, if they are requesting accommodation due to the illness they need to connect with their instructor within 48 hours to explain their situation and show them the VIF. Once the student and instructor meet, the student should be instructed to keep the VIF in their personal records in case the need for a petition for exception to academic regulations arise; in this instance, the VIF will be needed to support their request. Neither the course instructor nor the undergraduate advisor should keep these forms. It is up to the student to reach out for this accommodation and any accommodation that is provided is then up to the course instructor.

If students have a chronic condition and require long term accommodation, their documentation should be taken to AccessAbility Services. AccessAbility Services will then contact the instructor and will act as a liaison between the student and the instructor. Again, neither instructors nor the undergraduate advisor should keep the documentation shown by a student.

AccessAbility Services launched a new software system in Fall 2016 to make the accommodation process more efficient and secure, and align it with current legislation. A key improvement in the new process is that students will no longer be required to approach their instructors with a paper form for signature.

What does this mean for instructors?

AccessAbility Services will notify instructors about approved accommodations for a specific student with one or more disabilities, using an email, called the ‘Faculty Notification Letter’. Instructors are to commence provision of the approved accommodation upon receipt of the email.

The Faculty Notification Letter will include four important components:

1. Accommodation: A list will be provided of the accommodation(s) that are to be provided to a specific student. AccessAbility Services Advisors makes accommodation decisions after assessing the student’s request as well as the validity and relevance of submitted documentation.
2. Alternative Testing: A link is provided to the ‘Alternative Testing Agreement’, which instructors must complete before a student can receive testing accommodations. The agreement allows instructors to articulate how they want the exam to be administered (e.g., allowable aids; acceptable writing utensils). It is completed once a term, per course.
3. Resources: An AccessAbility Services informational resource link is provided that: a) describes accommodation types; b) articulates the role of instructors in facilitating accommodations; and c) specifies how AccessAbility Services supports instructors in delivering accommodations. This enables instructors to have a greater understanding of their role in the accommodation process.
4. Contact information: Instructors are part of the accommodation process and will have the opportunity to seek clarification or suggest an appropriate alternative accommodation, if needed.

AccessAbility Services is your partner in the student accommodation process, and we are here to support you. We are excited to continue to work with you using our new online system.

The Student Academic Accommodation Guidelines

It is beneficial to become familiar with the University’s Student Academic Accommodation Guidelines, as it articulates the roles and responsibilities of students, faculty, and staff in the academic accommodation process. The Guidelines provide procedural guidance for a) the registration process, b) the process for providing retroactive accommodations, and c) the dispute mechanism process. The Guidelines include resources related to a) defining reasonable accommodations, essential requirements, and undue hardship, b) course instructor timeline requirements for facilitating accommodations, c) ways to protect student personal health information, and d) scripts for rereferring students to AccessAbility Services.

The impact of Universal Learning Design on accommodations

Universal learning design (ULD) is a great way to increase the accessibility of your course for all students; however, it is important to be mindful of how ULD may impact students who require academic accommodations. AAS created a new tip sheet for faculty members/course instructors planning to implement ULD in their upcoming course which includes tips and scripts for students who inquire about how it will impact their accommodations.

The duty to inquire

As noted in the Student Academic Accommodation Guidelines, the University (according to the Ontario Human Rights Commission) has a duty to inquire into the possible relationship between a student’s behaviour and a disability to assist and accommodate students. The duty to inquire also means that we need to consider the student’s disability prior to imposing measures that may affect the student negatively. The educator’s perception of disability will engage the protection of the code and as such, we all must continue to pay attention to signs/cues to students who appear unwell or where you perceive a student may have a disability. If you believe a student may require accommodations, you are to attempt to assist them by refer them to support services, such as AccessAbility Services (you can use the ‘referral scripts’ in the appendix of the Student Academic Accommodation Guidelines).

Academic accommodations for students experiencing trauma

AAS provides academic accommodations to students with disabilities, and the term disability covers a broad range and degree of conditions including, the physical, emotional, and psychological effects of a trauma (e.g., sexual violence, and/or racial trauma). Students are not required to provide documentation verifying their trauma to begin the registration process, to get connected with resources and supports, and to work with AAS to create an interim accommodation plan. If a student discloses that they are being impacted by a trauma, please know that you can refer them to AAS to explore whether academic accommodations will be required.

Manage your student's academic accommodations in AIM

AAS’s online system (AIM) is used by students and AAS staff to request and manage accommodations. Course instructors can use this same system to manage their course accommodations, through the Faculty Module. This module enables you to:

• View a dashboard listing of your students and their accommodations for each of your courses.
• Export a list of students by eligibility (e.g., Extra time: 5, 10, 15 minutes per hour, etc.).
• Receive real-time updates to accommodation plans should it change throughout the term.
• Navigate between courses and sections using the Advanced Search Panel option.
• Submit and make changes to your Alternative Testing agreement, so AAS can appropriately facilitate your in-person tests on your behalf (when offering in-person exams).

Watch this quick instructional video to learn how to use the Faculty Module, or contact Sarah Turner, sarah.cm.turner@uwaterloo.ca, to schedule a training session.

Faculty support

AAS is here to support you in upholding our collective duty to accommodate. We can offer 1:1 support to you to a) explore how your course design will meet the specific accommodation needs of a student, b) to develop a safety-based accommodation plan for a student in your lab or other ‘high risk’ area, c) to assist you with accommodation disputes, d) to ‘vet’ the need for exemptions to your program/course requirements, and e) to work with you to identify essential requirements of your course or program to explore whether an accommodation will cause undue hardship. We also work with thesis supervisors to explore appropriate accommodations for graduate students for the various graduate milestones. Essentially, we are here to help. Just reach out to Casey Gautreau (Manager, Student Accommodations) by email: casey.gautreau@uwaterloo.ca.

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