The activity of the President’s Advisory Committee on Student Mental Health (PAC-SMH) and the Committee on Student Mental Health (CoSMH) been noted by the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC), which is collaborating with the Canadian Standards Association to create a National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety of Post-Secondary Students. Dr. John P. Hirdes, CoSMH chair, and Dr. Walter Mittelstaedt, director of Campus Wellness, are working together to engage in the consultation process on a technical committee. This voluntary standard will go through a public consultation process prior to its projected release in 2020.
CoSMH has received feedback on specific recommendations from the AccessAbility Services Student Advisory Committee, and is discussing all provided feedback with Jennifer Gillies, Associate Director of AccessAbility Services.
A steering committee has been struck by Campus Wellness with members from the Centre for Teaching Excellence, Organizational & Human Development, the Student Success Office, Human Resources, academic leadership, and more. Its focus will be on mental health training programs, including an environmental scan of the current training landscape and UWaterloo’s complement of training programs, and will make recommendations to CoSMH. Continue to check back for updates on CoSMH’s various sub-groups and working groups.
