If there’s anything we’ve learned from the pandemic, it’s that plans can change in an instant. In November, we could not have imagined that spring semester instruction would begin virtually, albeit only temporarily, as students and employees prepared for our return to campus life by practicing wearing real shoes and counting down the number of Zoom meetings left on the calendar. The disappointment is real. The fatigue is real. Loss is real.
“Things have changed, and we’re not going back to what used to be ever again — that’s heavy,” said Shari Tarver Behring, dean of CSUN’s Michael D. Eisner College of Education. “It doesn’t mean it will all be bad, but it will be hard. When you’re under emotional stress, no matter who you are, it impacts your ability to perform optimally. It’s really important for us to understand that this is the state of affairs, and we need to be kind and patient with ourselves and each other.”
CSUN’s new Campus Care Recovery Plan was developed to provide resources to help CSUN students, faculty and staff foster resilience and create space to process the pandemic’s impacts.
The recovery plan — a collaboration between the Eisner College, Institute for Community Health and Wellbeing, Strength United, University Counseling Services and Human Resources — will offer comprehensive education and professional development, clinical services, research, toolkits and a one-stop website to help the campus community.
“Our goal is to help people understand the trauma of what they are going through and then help them identify ways to cope, recover and find resilience,” said Tarver Behring, who is leading and overseeing the plan.
Well-Being, Mental Health and Healing: Resources for CSUN Community to Process Pandemic’s Impact
January 24, 2022
