New Canvas feature connects students, faculty to mental health resources

Students who need support or are concerned about a friend have a new, more convenient way to reach Auburn Cares and Student Counseling and Psychological Services. Beginning Thursday, Nov. 16, Canvas, the learning management system used by Auburn, will have a Mental Health button available for all students and instructors.

The mental health button feature is a collaboration among the Biggio Center, Student Affairs and the Student Government Association (SGA). Clicking on the button will allow students to access Auburn Cares resources and enable instructors to refer students needing additional support quickly.

Auburn University SGA representatives learned of the mental health button’s use at Texas A&M University during a recent SEC Exchange, an annual conference of SGA executive committee members from the 14 Southeastern Conference institutions.

Jocelyn Widmer, assistant provost of academic innovation at Texas A&M who oversaw the introduction of the mental health button, will present on student mental health trends and successes at Texas A&M at 1 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 16, in ACLC 259A (the Biggio Center suite) and via Zoom. More information can be found online at https://biggio.auburn.edu/events/mentalhealth.

In addition to Widmer’s talk, students are invited to stop by the Haley Concourse from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 16, to learn more about the new Canvas feature and the mental health resources available to students. 

For questions about the mental health button in Canvas and related events, please contact Katherine Hettinger, director of Auburn Cares, at keh0018@auburn.edu.