Mental health challenges in college students have been on the rise since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent data suggest that over 50% of college students have experienced moderate stress over the last 30 days, with an additional 25% experiencing high levels of stress (ACHA, 2025). Over 45% of students report facing challenges with their academics in the last 12 months - 85% of whom said this issue caused them moderate or high distress. While poor mental health has been associated with impaired academic performance (Chu et al., 2022), cultivating a caring classroom environment can help to reduce student stress and bolster our student’s academic motivation and performance. 

Creating a caring classroom environment encourages a relational perspective of teaching, rather than a transactional one. Demonstrating empathy, understanding, and concern for our students can increase students’ perception of caring. Belonging is a core human need - when our students feel seen and supported in our classrooms, they feel safe to explore, take risks, and learn. There are documented benefits of cultivating a caring classroom environment, including improvements in students’ motivation to learn, attendance, time spent studying, and learning outcomes (Meyers, 2009).

How to Create a Culture of Care

You can demonstrate care for your students in many ways, both inside and outside of the classroom. For example:

• Review syllabus language for kindness and empathy (e.g., explaining student hours, grading policy, attendance expectations, etc.). 
• Consider implementing flexible deadline policies where feasible - for example, using tokens to give students a limited number of late assignments, or providing a short ‘no-penalty’ grace period after deadlines. 
• Adopt Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles in your courses to increase accessibility of course materials and learning outcomes. 
• Make an intentional effort to learn - and use - your students’ names. 
• Use a ‘getting to know you’ survey to understand who’s in your classroom. 
• Show students that you’re human - admit when you make a mistake or share stories of a time you struggled with the course content yourself. 
• Use ‘checking in’ surveys throughout the semester to assess students’ preparation for upcoming exams and assignments. 
• Tell your students that you care about them and believe in their ability to be successful in your course. One natural point to do this might be during a discussion of the syllabus early in the semester - after outlining the major course assignments or learning objectives, a faculty member could tell students, “While this might seem daunting, I believe that each of you has the ability to be successful in my class. I care about you and your ability to be successful, so if there are things in the way of your success this semester, I want you to let me know.” In an online course, this message could be delivered in a course overview video, or in a written message to students - either at the beginning of the semester or as students prepare for a major assessment. A message of caring could also be connected to explaining to students why you have them complete a ‘getting to know you’ survey (e.g., “I care about the students in my courses, and it helps me to get to know you better so that I can best support you this semester.”).
• Encourage students to get to know one another through icebreaker activities, discussions, and group work. 

Conclusion

Creating a culture of care in the classroom is an ongoing process, and one that is best approached through a lens of curiosity and empathy. It is not necessary to complete all of the suggestions listed above in order to demonstrate care - rather, faculty should play to their strengths and focus on the approaches that feel most natural and appropriate to them, their particular students, and their courses. Finally, many of these suggested activities are appropriate for a variety of learning modalities, and can be adapted for online courses as well. 

References and Resources

American College Health Association. American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment III: Reference Group Executive Summary Spring 2025. Silver Spring, MD: American College Health Association; 2025.

Burrow, L. (2023, January 11). Quick activities to prepare and maintain a classroom of care. Faculty Focus. 

CAST. Universal design for learning.
Chu, T., Liu, X., Takayanagi, S., Matsushita, T., & Kishimoto, H. (2022). Association between mental health and academic performance among university undergraduates: The interacting role of lifestyle behaviors. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 32(1), e1938. https://doi.org/10.1002/mpr.1938 

Denial, C. J. (2024). A pedagogy of kindness. (Vol. 1). University of Oklahoma Press: Norman. 

Meyers, S. A. (2009). Do your students care whether you care about them? College Teaching, 57(4), 205 - 210. https://doi.org/10.1080/87567550903218620

Miller, M. D. (2024). A teacher’s guide to learning student’s names: Why you should, why it’s hard, how you can. (Vol. 2). University of Oklahoma Press: Norman. 

Moore, C. (2024, February 12). Building a culture of well-being in your courses. CETL Teaching Tips Blog. 

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About the Author

Caitlin Demsky, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Management in the Department of Management & Marketing. She teaches courses on organizational behavior, human resource management, and work and stress. Her research focuses on employees’ stress and well-being and the work-nonwork interface. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her two young sons and taking time for her embroidery and pottery hobbies.

Photo by Nathan Dumla on Unsplash. Others may share and adapt under Creative Commons License CC BY-NC.

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