Helping Students
As a faculty and staff member, you have a tremendous opportunity to help our UF Gators. In fact, because of the day-to-day interactions with students, faculty and staff play one of the biggest roles in ensuring our students are as successful as possible. From teaching their class to serving as advisors and supervisors to meeting 1-on-1 you will see students at their peak and sometimes at their worst. It is the moments that you notice that something is not right with a student that can make the difference. Signs of distress are sometimes easy to spot and sometimes it can be very difficult to be certain that a student is performing at their best. But that is where the U Matter, We Care initiative and the countless campus resources can help! All that matters at those moments of uncertainty is that you do something.
On the side of this site are ways that you can help identify signs of distress and the action steps that you can take to help, not only the specific student but the UF community as a whole. Here are two quick ways to help:
1.) If you believe that a student is a danger to him/herself or others call 911 immediately.
2.) If you don’t believe that the student is in immediate danger to him/herself but know that they need help please refer them to CARE by completing a CARE referral here.
Helping Yourself or Fellow Faculty/ Staff
While the U Matter, We Care initiative is framed around helping students there are also resources at the University of Florida that are designed to help UF faculty and staff. Human Resources has support systems in place to help faculty and staff thrive at UF. If you or someone you know may benefit from support please visit: https://hr.ufl.edu/working-at-uf/support/.