February 22, 2023
Dear Members of the Carleton community,
We have reached the mid-point in our winter 2023 term. Days are getting longer and before we know it spring will be here. As our students take a well-deserved winter break, I am pleased to provide you with some updates and reminders about supporting our students through the second half of the term.
Exam Support Initiatives
With midterm season underway and final exams approaching, I want to emphasize all the exam support initiatives available for students and faculty. Scheduling and Examination Services operates an emergency toll-free call line for exam emergencies and technical disruptions, as well as live chat support from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Monday to Friday and 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekends. They also offer an exam support ticket system during regular business hours to ensure our community gets timely support during the exam period. The Centre for Student Academic Support also has numerous resources to help students to prepare for exams and achieve their academic goals.
Mental Health and Wellness
We offer a wide variety of accessible resources and services that allow students to maximize and manage their mental health and wellness. We also continue to offer intersectional mental health support for our diverse community through resources like the Racialized Student Counsellors, Trans/2SLGBTQ+ Counsellor, Indigenous Cultural Counsellor, International Student Counsellor, Graduate Student Counsellor and more. Students who want to connect can call 613-520-6674 to make an appointment to speak with our Intake Counsellor. Undergraduate students also have access to free 24/7 mental health and wellness resources, including counselling services in multiple languages, through Empower Me.
If you are concerned about a student and are unsure of the best resource or support, you are encouraged to submit a Care Report. This will alert the Care and Support Team who will reach out as required and will provide the appropriate support and guidance to the student.
Employability
We continue to help students connect to great opportunities and develop their employability skills. For example, Career Services is leading our strongest year of Career Fairs yet, with a record number of employers registered for the fall and winter fairs and strong student attendance at both. In line with our Employability Framework, we are working to ensure students are equipped to recognize the skills gained in the classroom, to identify the opportunities available to them outside of the classroom and to make connections to their skill development so they are better able to articulate their skills when seeking employment upon graduation.
Carleton Mobile App
In fall 2022, we released the new Carleton Mobile app. The new app provides students with a modern user interface, improved access to support services, important academic information and much more. Carleton Mobile is also used to share Emergency Notification System (ENS) messages with the entire Carleton community, so I encourage all faculty and staff to download the app to receive ENS messages on your mobile device.
For a complete overview of our student support services, please visit the Current Students website. As always, should you have any questions, please feel free to contact my office at vpstudents@carleton.ca and we will be happy to assist you.
Wishing you all the best for the remainder of the winter term,
Suzanne Blanchard
Vice-President (Students and Enrolment)
carleton.ca/studentsupport