Mindful Professor Training Program

Mindfulness can support leaders in being more fully present in the moment with what is going on in their inner and outer worlds, as well as be more thoughtful in their responses rather than operate with heightened habitual reactivity ^4,5. In the classroom and with students, presence-based faculty are consistently self-aware, manage emotions under pressure with poise and confidence, understand the people they teach, recognize their impact on others, as well as lead with empathy and compassion⁶. Faculty with these characteristics are more fully present, engender trust, and can increase their positive impact, personal resiliency, reduce stress and anxiety, and support academic flourishing in those that they teach⁷.

Substantial research has shown not only that mindfulness interventions for teachers can enhance their mental health and provide a more positive classroom environment, and also mindful leaders are deemed as more effective as a result of their ability to exhibit deep presence, self-awareness, emotional stability, and care and concern for the well-being and success of others⁶. However, limited research exists regarding the impact of mindful-based leadership programs in an academic environment⁸. While some studies are based in an academic setting with leaders, this is the first known study to investigate the impact of a mindfulness-based leadership program in an academic environment with University professors on faculty well-being, confidence in and comfort with supporting the well-being of students, as well as efforts to promote conditions for well-being in the classroom⁸.

Participation in our training would be extremely valuable both to inform a future larger-scale mindful leadership training at the University as well as help fill the gap in research in this field.

✔️ Help to fill a gap in knowledge about how mindful leadership practices can impact faculty mindfulness, well-being, stress, self-compassion, compassion fatigue, and teaching practices, but also improve the well-being and academic flourishing of students. 

✔️ Foster a culture of mindful presence on campus

✔️ Individual transformation that will have a spillover effect on students 

✔️ Form the beginning of a slow professor movement at the University and allow the University to take meaningful action to better support professor well-being and create a healthier institution

Please direct any training related questions to:

Rebecca Block (rblock@uhs.rochester.edu)
Manager, Health Promotion Initiatives – Student Well-being, UHS Health Promotion Office 

References

1. Boston University School of Public Health, Mary Christie Foundation, the Healthy Minds Network, and Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. (2021). (rep.). The Role of Faculty in Student Mental Health. Retrieved from https://marychristieinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/the-role-of-faculty-in-student-mental-health.pdf. 
2. Becker, E. S., Goetz, T., Morger, V., & Ranellucci, J. (2014). The importance of teachers’ emotions and instructional behavior for their students’ emotions – An experience sampling analysis. Teaching and Teacher Education, 43, 15– 26.
3. Watts, J., & Robertson, N. (2011). Burnout in University Teaching Staff: A Systematic Literature Review. Educational Research, 53:1, 33-50.
4. Brendel, W., Hankerson, S., Byun, S., & Cunningham, B. (2016). Cultivating leadership Dharma: Measuring the impact of mindfulness practice on creativity, resilience, tolerance for ambiguity, anxiety, and stress. Journal of Management Development, 35(8), 1056-1077.
5. Lippincott, M. (2018). Deconstructing the relationship between mindfulness and leader effectiveness. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 39(5), 650-664.
6. Archuleta, K., Jennings, C. T. & Cunliff, E. (2019). Mindfulness at Metropolitan Universities. Meditation and Mindfulness in Adult Education, 2019(161), 33-43. https://doi.org/10.1002/ace.20309.
7. Schwind, J. K., McCay, E.; Beanlands, H., Schindel, L., Martin, J., Binder, M. (2017). Mindfulness practice as a learning-teaching strategy in higher education: A qualitative exploratory pilot study. Nurse Education, Today, 50(1), 92-96.
8. Lomas, T., Medina, J. C., Ivtzan, I., Rupprecht, S., Hart, R. & Eiroa-Orosa, F. J. (2017). The impact of mindfulness in well-being and performance in the workplace: An inclusive systematic review of the empirical literature. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 26(4), 492-513.