Well-Being by Design

Many factors contribute to an individual’s state of well-being – including their level of mental, emotional, and physical health. As a students’ state of well-being increases, so do their levels of energy and cognitive resources available for the enterprise of learning. As a result, as student well-being increases, so does their likelihood for academic success.

While we cannot solve all of our students’ problems or remove all of the stressors from their lives, we can help to cultivate environments in which students are more likely to experience increased well-being and (as a result) increased learning and academic success.

For example, you can provide opportunities for your students to be intentionally connected with each other and the greater campus community, campus health and well-being resources, and opportunities to give back and help others. Further, well-placed growth-mindset reminders for students that their academic success or failure does not define their worth as a human, nor determine their ability to succeed more broadly, can reduce negative stress, lead to increased ability to focus and perform, and generally contributes to increased academic success for students.

The syllabus provides a common reference point for instructors and students, and begins to establish the course learning environment. It can also be used to communicate that all students are welcome and valued in your class, and to alert them to your plans to intentionally support their well-being through your teaching.

To that end, Well-Being by Design instructors are invited to include a statement on their syllabus introducing the remaining four Well-Being by Design strategies to their students, communicating their interest in supporting students’ well-being through the learning process. Instructors are also encouraged to reinforce their syllabus statement in-class during the first week and/or via an eLC announcement.

In collaboration with UGA’s Office of Student Care and Outreach, we’ve created slides for you to display for ~5 minutes as class gets started, once per week. These slides will showcase campus well-being resources and specific campus community events and opportunities, and will provide small opportunities for engagement and reflection for students. You will be able to access slide decks via eLC, and copy them into your own courses if you’d like!

One way to help students develop a growth mindset is to incorporate activities that prompt students to reflect on their experiences, identifying lessons-learned and making connections between what they’ve done and what happens as a result. And that’s your goal with this Well-Being by Design intervention: to intentionally create opportunities to help students engage in reflection and practice a growth mindset orientation.

We’ll provide you with several options to choose between, including options early in the semester, attached to low-stakes assignments, and in connection with major assignments and tests. These options are easy to incorporate and can have significant positive impact on your students, making it an easy win for everyone.

Well-Being by Design instructors create learning groups of 4-6 students, inviting them to create shared note-taking spaces and to check-in outside of class time on a regular basis. We’ll provide examples for you to adapt into your teaching context, with as little or as much monitoring from you as you would like.

Research with a similar approach at the University of Washington has shown that connecting students with each other in this way – particularly in large classes – is not only an effective way to contribute to students’ success, but it’s also something that students are likely to point out as something they valued about your course. Our own 2025-2026 surveys of students in Well-Being by Design classes point to similar results, with students making note of the value of being connected with their peers in simple but meaningful ways throughout the semester.

A mid-semester check-in is a structured way to learn what is working about your class and where there might be opportunities for adjustments in your teaching before the end of the semester. You’ll receive actionable insights from students, while signaling to your students that you care about their well-being and learning.

Well-Being by Design instructors can sign up for a CTL-facilitated Mid-Semester Formative Evaluation, or invite students to participate in a mid-semester check-in survey (we have templates!). In either case, we’ll provide you with a summary of what your students have said, and help you think through your options for responding to students.