About the Conference
Conference Theme: Dialogue to Action: Skills for the Future
The last few years have been difficult for post-secondary and have brought lots of changes. Now more than ever, staff, administration, and students need to prepare and build up their skills for a rapidly changing world. The ultimate goal of our conference is to improve the capacities of Ontario campuses to support student mental health. Throughout the conference, we encourage a spirit of reciprocity – it is an opportunity to celebrate and share skills, as well as learn new strategies and innovations to prepare for the future. We hope attendees will take initiative and bring our collective vision of a healthy campus to reality. In working with this conference theme, we encourage each session, regardless of stream, to intentionally highlight skill-building.
To facilitate this discussion, we will delve into the six following streams:
- Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Anti-Racism (EDIAA)
- Changing Systems
- Indigenous Student Engagement and Wellness
- Student Engagement in a World of Technology
- Substance Use & Harm Reduction
- Clinical Interventions and Skills
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Anti-Racism (EDIAA)
There is a growing movement for institutional leadership and campus frameworks to implement equity, diversity, inclusivity, accessibility, and anti-racism-related policies to ensure equitable access to services and programming on campus. Province-wide, there has been a focus on understanding the unique needs of students based on the various intersections of their identity, such as culture, race, religion, sexual orientation, and physical or mental health disability. Presentations in this stream will address equity-driven and student-driven programming and skill building.
Changing Systems
Presentations in this stream will focus on the overarching systems of mental health provision on campus and how students and staff are challenging and changing those systems through anti-oppressive practices. Presentations in this stream will speak to systemic barriers within this work and strategies for shifting the structure and organization of mental health services on campus through the implementation of EDIAA principles, including work around the Okanagan Charter, the Limerick Framework and the National Standard for Mental Health and Well-Being for Post-Secondary Students.
Indigenous Student Wellness and Engagement
Presentations in this stream will center around Indigenous world views grounded in holistic understandings and the value of interrelatedness as a model for wellness and engagement of Indigenous student populations. Areas of focus may include embracing Indigenous worldviews in campus and learning environments, Indigenous pedagogy, and educational interconnections.
Student Engagement in a World of Technology
New research from McMaster University shows that psychological distress among Ontario teenagers has nearly tripled in the past few years. Facilitating connection and belonging among students is vital to counter the increasing experiences of isolation and loneliness in the virtual world. Increased reliance on tech, AI and social media have highlighted a need to devise innovative strategies that allow students to meaningfully engage with their institution and peers. Presentations in this stream will center around innovative initiatives that create meaningful programming for students outside the classroom environment, utilize peer-to-peer models to develop meaningful relationships among students, emphasize communal spaces for students to address mental health and wellness topics, and feature co-design with students. We encourage presenters in this stream to consider the ways in which technology, and specifically social media, both help and hinder engagement and connection.
Substance Use & Harm Reduction
There has been an increase in substance-related harms and problematic gambling behaviours on campuses. Presentations in this stream will focus on the use and misuse of drugs, alcohol, and other substances by student populations, as well as behavioural addictions. Example topics might include trends and patterns in student substance use, harm reduction programming on campus, problematic social media use, and gambling.
Clinical Interventions and Skills
Presenters will have the opportunity to discuss specific clinical interventions, clinical skills, and the overall landscape on campus for clinicians. Presentations in this stream can focus on topics such as clinical frameworks, clinical supervision, the increase in complex mental health challenges, cultural safety in clinical work, or any area involving clinical interventions. We encourage participants to bring forward evidence-based practices and use a critical lens in discussing the plurality of interventions.