Certificate in Personal and Community Mental Well-Being

Schulich students

About the program

This certificate supports student wellbeing, ensuring that every student who enters engineering has an opportunity to develop their resilience. Research by Alameda (2009) found that students benefit from mental health and wellness instruction to teach resilience and coping skills. Using already scheduled class time to teach these topics, and delivering co-curricular material specifically for engineers, we support students' mental well-being as well as their academic achievement. 


Four-tiered program delivery

The Certificate in Personal and Community Mental Wellbeing is a combination of co-curricular activities and content that is embedded in courses. Registration is required for Tiers Two, Three and Four. Completion of each Tier is required before progressing to the next tier. Registration for Tiers Two and Three are capped at 35 people.

The first-year content includes 12 to 14 modules on mental wellness and learning strategies, delivered during class time, called “The Engineering Attributes Program.” Each module includes content delivery, an in-class activity, and a reflection assignment that is submitted for completion marks. Most modules are designed to be delivered in 15 minutes during class time. The modules culminate in a final-year reflection portfolio. Module titles include:

  • Wellness Wheel and Mental Health Continuum
  • Exam Anxiety
  • Imposter Syndrome and Resilience Techniques
  • Teamwork and Diversity
  • Academic Burnout and Personal Experience from an Upper-Year Student
  • Self-Care Check-In and Meditation Strategies
  • Motivation and Goal-Setting
  • Time Management and Planning Fallacy
  • Metacognition and Bloom’s Taxonomy
  • Emotions in Learning and Hidden Curriculum
  • Personal Finances
  • 'Errorful' Learning
  • Final Reflection Portfolio

This mental wellness programming is offered in collaboration with UCalgary Wellness Services, and is open to all undergraduate students at the Schulich School of Engineering. Combination of five core workshops and four lunch and learns. Registration is required by Jan. 12, 2024. 

Registrants will attend five, two-hour workshops, from 4 to 6 p.m. MT over the fall semester including:

  • Introduction to the certificate
  • Discovering self-care and changing unhealthy habits
  • Inquiring mind
  • Managing stress and anxiety
  • Motivation and procrastination

Registrants will choose a minimum of 4 lunch and learn sessions covering:

  • Social resilience
  • Exam anxiety
  • Physical literacy
  • Rest and slow down
  • Spiritual connectedness
  • Unwinding for the holidays

Register for the Schulich Certificate in Personal and Community Wellbeing Tier 2

Register for a Lunch and Learn

This mental wellness programming focusses on community wellbeing and is offered in collaboration with UCalgary Wellness Services. Combination of five core workshops and four lunch and learns. Registrants will attend five, two-hour sessions, from 4 to 6 p.m. MT over the winter semester covering Community Helpers and Bystander Intervention training. They will also be able to choose a minimum of 4 lunch and learn sessions covering:

  • Reflections on the Past Year
  • SMART Student Nutrition
  • Resilient Thinking, Rest & Slowing Down
  • Academic Resilience
  • Stress Management
  • Navigating Social Anxiety and Student Identity 

Registration opens Dec. 1, 2023.

Schulich School of Engineering will host an annual Community Wellbeing Student Conference. Students registered in the conference will deliver a poster presentation or an interactive session on a community wellbeing topic of their choosing. To be offered in Spring 2025.


Enhance Your Well-Being Skills

Self-care

Time management

Goal setting

Academic resilience

Healthy habits

Spiritual connection

Community helping

Stress management


Schulich Wellness Yoga

Schulich Wellness

The Schulich School of Engineering offers curricular, co-curricular and extracurricular programs for students, faculty and staff. We believe that healthy individuals create a healthy community and in a holistic approach to well-being.

Learn more


The Importance of Well-Being

The presence of positive well-being and absence of clinical symptoms relate to academic success for post-secondary students (Antaramian, 2015). Many factors impact an individual's well-being.

Adults with complete mental health

Are “flourishing”, in that they are filled with positive emotion, and function well psychologically and socially (Corey Keyes, 2002).

Flourishing is promoted

Through positive emotions, increased engagement in daily activities and interactions with others, and a sense of achievement and meaning in life (Seligman, 2011).

In the same vein as flourishing

Resilience is recognized as an individual’s ability to manage and cope with life’s challenges and to maintain wellbeing in spite of adversity (Masten, 2001).

Strategies to build resilience

And personal competence have been demonstrated to be effective in decreasing vulnerability to mental health issues.