Overview
The Professor Hippo-On-Campus Graduate Student Mental Health Education Program is designed specifically for graduate students. This program is an extension of the Professor Hippo-on-Campus Mental Health Education Program for faculty and staff, tailored to meet graduate student needs.
The program has received funding from the McCall MacBain Foundation, and can train up to 200 graduate students in the full program (module and workshop) with incentives. We are currently recruiting McMaster graduate students to participate in the program this year and in an optional research study to assess the impact of this program. Graduate students can receive up to $175 in incentives for participation in the online module, workshop, and completing surveys (HiREB Project #16630).
Many graduate students oversee undergraduate students in TA, supervisory, or research assistantship positions, interact with many graduate student peers, and can experience distress or mental health difficulties themselves during graduate school. The program will help you, graduate students, build knowledge to approach and address situations that arise and understand the resources available at McMaster.
The program is available to all graduate students, and there are workshop spots allocated to each of the six Faculties based on the number of graduate students in each faculty to ensure fairness. An unlimited number of students can access the online modules but limited numbers will receive incentives for completing the program and limited numbers can participate in the online, synchronous, participatory workshop.
The online training modules are 70-minutes in duration and cover topics such as:
- Contemporary views of mental health
- Creating inclusive and mental health-positive environments in keeping with your roles during graduate school
- Communicating with and responding to students and peers in distress and recommending appropriate resources
This training equips graduate students with essential mental health literacy and actionable skills required to be successful as a figure of support that others in the academic environment may look to in times of need.
Training & Study Options
The main purpose of the online module is to help you, as a graduate student, develop mental health literacy to support undergraduate students and peers, and protect your own mental health.
You can choose to complete the online module only, or to be part of the research study that will evaluate the effectiveness of this program. Participants of the study will be compensated to a maximum of $175 for participation in the online modules, workshop, and corresponding surveys.
View the steps of the study and corresponding gift card incentives below.
- Complete a Pre-Survey before the educational modules – $5 (approximately 15-20 mins). You will have up to 7 days to complete the pre-survey after it is sent to you.
- View the online educational modules on Avenue to Learn and answer knowledge questions (approximately 70 minutes in total). You will have up to10 days to complete the modules and knowledge questions after you are given access.
- Complete the Module Post-Survey, including knowledge test – $15 (approximately 15-20 mins). You will have up to 7 days to complete the post-survey after it is sent to you.
- Participate* in an online interactive Workshop – $25 (2.5 hours)
- Complete the Workshop Post-Survey – $50 (approximately 15-20 mins). You will have up to 10 days to complete the post-workshop survey after it is sent to you.
- Complete the follow-up 3-Month Post-Workshop Survey after the workshop – $50 (approximately 15-20 mins). You will have up to 10 days to complete this follow-up survey after it is sent to you.
Note: If you complete all steps of the study process (1 through 6), you will be rewarded with a bonus gift card payment of $30. Incentives will be sent via email on a rolling basis as each step is completed, within 5 business days of completion. Limited time slots are available for workshops, and you must participate in the workshop to receive incentives #4, 5, and the bonus gift card. If you are unable to participate in a workshop, you will still receive incentives #1, 2, 3, and will be provided an opportunity to complete the post-survey with incentive (#6).
Register
To participate in the study or register for the online module, please fill out the Microsoft Form.
If you choose to participate in the study, you will receive further information regarding next steps.
Please note: To register you must be a McMaster Graduate Student and be enrolled in an eligible program. Failure to meet this registration requirement will result in termination from the program without compensation.
Graduate Student Workshops
These workshops are designed to be completed after taking the Professor Hippo-on-Campus Graduate Student course, which will be available on Avenue 2 Learn. Please note: All workshops will be held online. You will be able to choose a workshop date after completing the post-module survey step of the study.
February, 2024
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March, 2024
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April, 2024
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May, 2024
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Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to some of our most frequently asked questions. If you have any other questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to us at gshippo@mcmaster.ca
Many graduate students oversee undergraduate students in TA, supervisory, or research assistant positions, interact with many graduate student peers, and can experience distress or mental health difficulties themselves during graduate school. The intent of this program is to help graduate students build their mental health literacy, that is their knowledge, skills, attitudes and confidence, to support themselves and other students in distress and difficulty and to build more inclusive and mental health-positive learning and teaching environments at McMaster.
This current graduate program has been developed and tested over 2 years in a pilot project. Dr. Catharine Munn and an occupational therapist have developed the content with input from students, faculty and staff; they and other trained healthcare professionals will be leading the workshops.
We have evaluated this program and our faculty and staff program in depth, with consideration for improved knowledge, skills and confidence, satisfaction, impact and safety. Please contact us if you’d like more information on this process or results, which have very high satisfaction rates!
Additionally, McMaster School of Graduate Studies (SGS) is supportive of this program and has contributed to its development and promotion.
These workshops are open to all graduate students, and there are spots allocated to each of the six faculties based on the numbers of graduate students in each faculty, to ensure fair distribution. Our goal is to train 200 graduate students in the full program in the next 6 months.
While having some shared content, this is distinct from the TA training that we developed and you may be aware of, an optional online module (with no workshops) that can be selected by TAs within their 5 hours of compensated training offered each semester.
