Referring Students for Support

If you have concerns about the academic progress or emotional well-being of a student in your class, you should use the Support Messaging System to communicate your concerns to the student. Counselling and Accessibility Services manage the Support Messaging System. Faculty can email src-support@ecuad.ca for any questions specific to the Support Messaging System.

The Support Messaging System is an electronic messaging system for faculty, staff, and admin to communicate to students where there concerns, either academic or behavioural. The purpose of a Support Message is to draw attention to your concern, make suggestions for improvement and/or direct students to university resources that may help them.

It is appropriate to send a Support Message if students are not meeting their course requirements and are in danger of failing the class, have committed academic concerns, and/or are exhibiting emotional distress.

NOTE: Please address the Support Message to the student as they are the main recipient. The sender and the Student Resource Coordinator also receive a notification that the message was sent.

There are two types of Support Messages: Academic Check-in and Referral for Support.

Academic Check-in messages should include information regarding academic concerns and suggestions for improvement. Academic concerns may include:

  • lack of essential skills/competencies;
  • late/missing assignments, marked changes in quality of work;
  • pattern of ongoing requests for concessions;
  • inconsistent or lack of attendance or participation; or
  • academic misconduct (e.g. plagiarism).

Referral for Support messages should include information regarding behaviours of concern and support services suggested. Distressed behaviours may include:

  • changes in mood, energy, and/or personal hygiene/appearance;
  • crying, unusual irritability;
  • withdrawal from usual activities; or
  • depressed, anxious, agitated behaviour.

The Student Resource Coordinator (SRC) reviews all Support Messages to ensure that students are connected to the university resources that may be of assistance to them. The SRC will reach out to the student if they have received 1 Referral for Support message or 2 Academic Check-in messages.

NOTE: The Support Message goes to the student. The sender and the Student Resource Coordinator also receive notification that the message was sent.

REFERRAL FOR SUPPORT/DISTRESSING BEHAVIOUR

  • Write about what the student shared with you, what they told you, what actually happened.
  • Include the specific behaviours of concern.
  • Use concrete, observable, objective, behavioural language vs. interpretations or subjective assessment.
  • Include an expression of concern.
  • Encourage them to connect with support.

Template:

Hi Student,
When you ….. (what happened, concrete, observable language), I noticed that …. (behavior of concern), I became concerned about ….. (expression of concern). I would like you to connect with our Student Resource Coordinator, who is available to help you find supports you may need at this time (connect to support).

Example:

Hi Dan,
When you shared with me that you hadn’t slept for a few days because of personal reasons (what happened, concrete, observable language), and that you had an anger outburst in your class (behavior of concern), I became concerned about your well-being (expression of concern). I would like you to connect with our Student Resource Coordinator, who is available to help you find supports you may need at this time. (connect to support)

ACADEMIC CHECK-IN

  • Write about your concern.
  • Provide ways in which the student can work to address the situation.
  • Indicate what impact it will have on the student/student’s grade if the concern goes unaddressed.

Examples:

Hi Miho,
You have missed the last 2 classes without notifying me. If you are going to be absent, please let me know. Please review the attendance policy for Emily Carr as 3 missed classes without notification may result in an F for this course.

Hello Lisa,
As per our conversation after your presentation today, please prepare and submit the additional references that you used in the presentation by Friday, March 3. Failure to do so will result in a 10% deduction from your grade.

Examples of Academic Misconduct messages:

Dear Marcello,
Thank you for meeting with me today to discuss your first assignment. As we discussed, there were several passages in your paper that were copied directly from Wikipedia without citations. I understand that you were confused about the assignment instructions, so I have allowed you to resubmit the assignment with a 10% grade penalty. Please consider visiting the Writing Centre for support in learning citation practices. And please review the ECU Academic Integrity policy as a second mistake of this kind will result in a more serious punishment, including failure of the assignment or course.

Hello Jason,
I am sorry you were unable to attend our meeting this afternoon to discuss your final assignment. As I mentioned in my email, I was very concerned to see you submitting work that was clearly created for another class. This is a serious breach of ECU’s Academic Integrity policy, which is why I am giving you a zero on this assignment. If you feel that this assessment is in error, please contact me at your earliest convenience to reschedule our discussion. Otherwise, please be aware that any future academic misconduct may jeopardize your ability to continue in your program or at Emily Carr.


To send a support message for a student, you will need to first log in to MyEC.

On the vertical menu to the left you will see a section titled Daily Work.

Click to open the dropdown, click Support Messages and select "Create a Support Message"

Enter the student's name or student number and hit enter. Complete the form, selecting either Academic Check-in (for attendance, progress or quality of work concerns) or Referral for Support (for concerns about a student's behaviour or emotional wellbeing). There are instructions on the form page.