Anita Volkert, Glasgow Caledonian University shares her thoughts as someone who will soon be joining the inaugural Caring on Campus retreat in August 2024:
In summer 2023 and following the publication of my co-edited book Supervision for Occupational Therapy: Practical Guidance for Supervisors and Supervisees (Dancza, Volkert & Tempest, 2022), I became part of the advisory group of a collective aiming to address the mental health and wellbeing of everyone within the higher education sector: Caring on Campus. Developed by the student focused charity Student Minds, the University Mental Health Charter aims to provide a framework for senior higher education leaders to put in place a strategic approach to mental health and wellbeing in their institution.
Glasgow Caledonian University was awarded the Charter in 2022. Caring on Campus is a collective of higher education staff from across the UK and third sector parties that keeps the aims of the Charter in mind, but focuses specifically on the wellbeing needs of staff in the higher education sector, and will run its inaugural retreat in August 2024, which I am very much looking forward to attending!
Entitled Time Out to Go In, the retreats are aimed specifically at higher education staff, with a focus on academics, and will take place in person at a rural coastal setting near Aberdeen. The retreats aim to provide a space to recharge batteries, and replenish the self prior to the new academic year. The focus will be on reconnecting with self, purpose, and life aims, whilst balancing this with the inevitable demands of working in the higher education sector, particularly at this current time.
Read more about Caring on Campus retreats on the Events page.