Old Dominion University is one of the many institutions offering the Uncancel That Class–style program, with its new program focusing on health education.
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“Hello teacher! Are you going to a conference, going on vacation, taking a sick day or want to take a break from your normal conversation? Consider having staff from the Health and Recreation Development team come and lead an engaging and informative presentation during your class!”
So reads a circular from the staff of Old Dominion University’s Rec Well, inviting professors to consider their services as a guest lecturer when conflicts arise with teaching schedules.
What it is: Health educator Steven Gunzelman says the new service—called “Don’t Cancel That Class!”—is available even to non-controversial professors who simply see the value in connecting their students with important health information they might not otherwise have access to.
“One of our basic programs is health and well-being, so we really wanted to develop something that will go into classrooms and meet students in that situation, where we can talk about these kinds of things that they might not learn. other ways, like feeling stressed or having trouble sleeping,” he explains. “Students are here to get their academics. But in order to be able to graduate and gain those life skills, they need health and wellness. It is a big part of [student success]like that.”
ODU follows an integrated approach to social impact, which means that no one department or office on campus owns this responsibility, or—to put it another way—that everyone owns this responsibility. Rec Well, on the other hand, offers programs across campus on a variety of topics. But saying “Don’t Cancel That Class!” The initiative allows professors to choose a guest speaker from the following list of five, starting with one about alcohol and other drug use:
- AOD & Me: Safety with Things
- Burn Bright, Not Out: Strategies for Managing Stress
- Food for Thought: Nutrition 101
- Play it Safe: The Lowdown on Safer Sex
- Zzz’s for a Better You: A Sleep Hygiene Journey
Why and how: Gunzelman says the list is informed, in part, by campus health’s top health concerns, based on internal data gleaned from the American College Health Association’s National College Health Assessment: stress, anxiety, depression and sleep.
This is a sequence Within Higher EdThe Student Voice survey series, which in 2024 found that almost all students say that stress affects their ability to focus, learn and do well in studies, either a lot (43 percent) or some (42 percent), and less than half. (42 percent) rated their mental health as very good or good. And in another 2023 Student Voice survey that asked about sleep, 60 percent of respondents said getting more of it is a top health goal.
ODU professors interested in scheduling a guest lecture can fill out this form. Gunzelman says that the first to arrange a guest lecture was an engineering professor, who wanted students to learn more about stress management. Expect this to be a very popular topic.
Although the current “Don’t Cancel That Class” staff is small, Gunzelman’s hope is to be able to accept as many applications as possible and possibly expand the topic options over time. In terms of measuring impact, Gunzelman initially plans to solicit feedback from students about the usefulness of the information shared and whether it might influence their behavior going forward.
Student feedback will also help staff improve their approach.
“Can we add more engagement, or can we add in more student-oriented topics?” he says, for example. Gunzelman also suggests that professors encourage student participation, “whether it’s surprising, whether it’s a program, whether it’s built into the syllabus for credit, or if they want to be a part of it and they’re in the room with us.”
Do not cancel that class: ODU is one of a growing number of institutions that offer a no-cancellation program. The University of Minnesota at Morris, for example, offers one that includes workshops on professional development and academic skills such as time management, financial literacy and resume building.
Such programs highlight the connection between academics and other pillars of student success, such as health and wellness. But the general practice of finding other ways to cancel study sessions, especially multi-study sessions, is also considered best practice in intellectual work. The English department at the University of Louisville, for example, suggests rescheduling sessions (including synchronous online sessions), asking a faculty colleague to complete or assign students an independent study project or an asynchronous course.
Does your institution have a different type of non-cancellation policy for that category? Tell us about it.
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