Helping staff and students avoid burnout

Advice on protecting well-being and managing workloads
to ensure online teaching is sustainable for staff and students

Building resilience and wellbeing in challenging times

Supporting well-being in academia

Covid-19 continues to take its toll on the well-being of university staff and students who are grappling with ongoing upheaval, overwork, isolation and more. This collection of resources explores what individuals and institutions can do to protect well-being, manage workloads and build resilience.

By miranda.prynne, 11 February, 2021

Supporting academia’s well-being during Covid-19 and beyond

Advice on supporting the well-being of overworked academics

With an unprecedented global mental health crisis and rising stress among university staff, six academics come together to propose how best to support faculty and new ways of working now and well beyond the pandemic

Reading time

3minutes

What can institutions do to support staff?

Fostering a sense of belonging among remote students to aid learning

By miranda.prynne, 15 December, 2020

Steps universities should take to support staff with digital teaching

Tips for training university staff in digital teaching skills

For many academics, the move to online education has been a leap into the unknown. Gunter Saunders explains what institutions can do to support and train staff in this new mode of teaching, for the present and future

By miranda.prynne, 30 December, 2020

Building peer support networks to help staff navigate digital teaching

Build peer support networks to help staff navigate digital teaching

Kay Yeoman and Alicia McConnell explain how the University of East Anglia has used peer support networks to ensure all university staff have access to the advice, support and training they need to deliver quality online teaching

Managing change

Boosting student employability via digital learning

By miranda.prynne, 6 January, 2021

Creating a centralised advice resource to help faculty adapt to new teaching modalities

How to create a centralised online advice resource for instructors moving their courses online

To assist staff in adjusting courses to new online and hydrid teaching modes, the University of Arizona created a centralised information and advice resource. Here is a summary of how they did it and the key considerations and lessons learned

By miranda.prynne, 10 February, 2021

How strong, stable values can enable sustainable teaching transformation

Underpinning change with strong stable values that remain constant

Change can be disorienting but if it is underpinned by strong, stable values that remain constant, it is more likely to get staff buy-in and prove successful, Claire Taylor explains

Building staff resilience

Resources

By miranda.prynne, 4 November, 2020

Tips on avoiding digital burnout after moving all your teaching online 

How university staff can avoid digital burnout when teaching online

Many academics are at risk of "burnout" after working around the clock to move their courses online. A tweet on this subject sparked a flurry of responses offering advice and solutions to faculty overwhelmed by heavy workloads

By miranda.prynne, 4 February, 2021

How to manage your busyness to avoid burnout

Overwork and stress are growing issues among academics, particularly following the sudden transition to online teaching. Erin Wilson talks through how she manages her busyness to avoid burnout

By miranda.prynne, 14 December, 2020

This is not normal: advice for stressed academics

Advice for stressed academics on managing workloads

With the overhaul of teaching, soaring workloads, childcare demands and other challenges presented by Covid-19, many academics are at risk of burn-out. Psychology professor Jay Van Bavel outlines steps that stressed lecturers can take to manage workloads

Managing teaching to avoid being overloaded

By miranda.prynne, 13 January, 2021

Efficient communication that avoids overloading students or staff

Basic principles for keeping digital communications clear and concise to avoid information overload for students

Constant upheaval has left many university staff and students feeling overwhelmed. Wendy Zajack talks through basic principles for keeping digital communications clear and concise to avoid information overload

By miranda.prynne, 5 November, 2020

How to communicate your online teaching structure to students – and why it matters

Communicate your online teaching structure to students before the course starts

It is important to explain your online teaching plan to students at the start of the course, so they know what to expect. Here, Dawn Gilmore explains why and how to do this.

Protecting student well-being