Foster Belonging through Connections | Office of the Vice-President, Academic and Provost

WatSEE-aligned Actions

Allow brief student announcements at the start of class
Employ short ice breaker activities
Invite students to share their experiences in the course (work, extracurricular, or life experiences) to promote community connections (class, global)
Incorporate one or more high impact practices (e.g. learning communities, writing-intensive assignments, undergraduate research, collaborative assignments, ePortfolios) in support of deep learning and cognitive connections
Support cognitive connections through:
- Learning outcomes
- Reflective prompts, and
- Concept maps
Create a positive environment that respects diversity (e.g., use inclusive language, model respect, strive to learn student names)
Foster a sense of belonging (e.g., normalize but don’t minimize academic stress or lived experience, learn how to respond to students in distress, refer students to supports and services)
Foster a growth mindset (e.g., share own academic and personal challenges while a student, communicate ability can be improved and developed, provide constructive feedback on how students can improve, give low stakes chances for students to ‘fail’ and learn from it)
Offer flexible community-building activities in your course
Encourage students to determine how they should mediate their UWaterloo experience and support their well-being via organized activities (e.g., sports), unstructured activities (e.g., crafts), and/or university services and supports

Office of the Associate Provost, Students
Campus Life

Student Success Office
Concept mapping: A powerful tool for notetaking

Wellness Collaborative
Creating a sense of belonging

Equity Accelerator
Creating a Belonging Story