Supporting Panel Guidelines

Background information

The President’s Advisory Committee on Student Mental Health (PAC-SMH) was formed in April of 2017 in response to a community desire to engage in conversations about student mental health and the University of Waterloo’s response to student concerns in this area. It was evident that many individuals on campus and in the broader community were eager to participate in this process. The PAC-SMH views this interest in contributing to the process as a tremendous asset in carrying out its mandate.   

Role of supporting panels

Our idea for leveraging the interest and expertise in the community is to create supporting panels whose members will conduct more focused analysis on some key topics that we have determined to be relevant to student mental health. The size of the membership might vary over the period of time of the mandate, depending on availability of members, but we expect that up to 15 individuals may be included in each panel.  

We want the panels to consider a variety of information gathering and engagement strategies to answer a series of questions on behalf of the PAC-SMH. These mandate questions are listed at the bottom of this page.

The approaches might include topic-specific events such as town halls or focus groups. The response to the questions may be elaborated by examining relevant literature. We expect the supporting panel groups to meet regularly and discuss their impressions and conclusions related to information gathering efforts. Ultimately, the PAC-SMH will be looking for a summary document that directly addresses the mandate questions.

Recruitment of panel membership

Recruitment of panel membership will be conducted by:

  • Issuing a broad call for expressions of interest on the PAC-SMH website (see webform).
  • Contacting specific individuals who have previously expressed interest in participating.
  • Recruiting specific expertise or constituencies, as required to address the mandate questions.

In reviewing the expressions of interest, the PAC-SMH will take care to ensure diverse representation. We will be seeking input from students, staff, faculty, alumni, community members, and parents. We will seek to ensure cross-representation from self-identified international students and domestic students. We will seek to ensure a contingent of co-op and non-coop student. We will want to see a mix of undergraduate and graduate students from each of the six faculties. We hope to have interest from the affiliated university colleges.

Suggested panel processes

Role of the Chair

We propose that each panel conduct its work under the leadership of a Chair or co-Chair. With the support of the Project Coordinator, the Chair will create a schedule of meetings. The chair will ensure that panel stays focused on the mandate questions, allowing that the discussion may move to related topics that have to be temporarily parked. The chair will communicate with other chairs and will from time-to-time join the PAC-SMH meeting to provide progress reports.

Meetings

  • The chair of each panel will schedule bi-weekly meetings for the duration of each panel’s mandate (July – December 2017).
  • In the kick-off meeting planned for July 27, 2017, each panel will review its mandate questions and propose a preliminary plan for meeting objectives within the panel’s time frame.
  • A summary of actions related to each meeting will be recorded as an ongoing record of the panel’s activity and progress.
  • The committee will have access to the PAC-SMH resource library on Sharepoint to aid the discussions.

Methods of community engagement

  • Each panel will define its community and constituents.
  • The panel will then determine the best methods to gather information.
  • Care should be taken to investigate whether some of this information is already available.
  • Each panel will need to assess what is realistic in the timeframe mandated.
  • The panels will then determine what additional resources are needed.
  • The panels, with help from the Project-Coordinator, will plan events as required (could be combined events with other panels).

Decision making

  • The PAC-SMH has a preference for a consensus-based model.
  • We recognize that the panel may report diverging views or alternative recommendations, but that it will helpful for the PAC-SMH to know that consensus was achieved on key items.

Accountability and Reporting

  • The panel reports to the chair of the PAC-SMH.
  • The panel chair(s) will provide overviews of the plan for information gathering at a regular PAC-SMH meeting.
  • A final response to the mandate questions, including rationale and recommendations will be provided to the chair, PAC-SMH on December 15, 2017.

Sample mandate questions for topic panels

Mental Health Experts Panel

  • What are the conditions needed to promote mental health on campus?
  • What should we be doing or emphasizing proactively to enhance mental wellness?
  • Are the clinical approaches we are using the most appropriate?
  • How far can/should an organization like the University go in providing treatment for mental illness?

Student Services Panel

  • How well are student services working together to provide a comprehensive mental health response?  (Housing, Campus Wellness, SSO, AccessAbility, Athletics, Academic Advising)
  • What additional supports are needed to ensure an adequate level of mental health awareness across student services?
  • What additional training can be beneficial?

Student Experience Panel

  • What do students wish to say about:
    • The culture of the University?
    • Their expectations and reasons for expectations of services?
    • What it takes to stay motivated?
  • What ideas do students have about communication and adaptation of services to meet their needs?
  • What unique experiences of international students do we need to address in our mental health promotion efforts?

Community Partners Panel

  • How do we currently characterize the relationship of the University Counselling Service with community agencies?
  • What services and supports can the University reasonably expect from community agencies and vice versa?
  • How can the University assist the community in advocating for appropriate level of resources for speciality services (i.e. first episode psychosis, eating disorders, substance abuse)?

Academic Panel

  • How do we understand the relationship between academic stress and mental health?
  • What is a reasonable level of demand in terms of academic load, scheduling, and other planning required by students (i.e., co-op)?
  • Are there exemplars of programs, instructors that represent a good balance between academic rigour and mental wellness?  Can we learn from these?