Aloha Yellow Jackets,

I hope you have been taking advantage of the lovely autumn weather that we have been experiencing in recent days. It was welcome news that the 43-day federal government shutdown ended on Wednesday night of last week. Georgia Tech remained stalwart in our commitment to ensuring students are our top priority by protecting instruction and student services, so as to preserve the student experience to the best of our ability. And, we recognize there were still some disruptions and mishaps, but regardless, we will continue to prioritize supporting your holistic success. We are mindful of the January deadline for reassessing the federal budget and the possibility of another shutdown; we’ll continue to monitor the situation and keep you informed as needed.

In this issue of our monthly newsletter, we will cover the following topics:

• Building End-of-Year Resilience
• (Re)Introducing the Student Complaint Matrix
• Mandatory Training Deadline Quickly Approaching

Building End-of-Year Resilience

So many of our alumni tell us that their time at Georgia Tech constituted some of the most rewarding and memorable years of their lives. We also know that being an undergraduate or graduate student at Georgia Tech can be challenging. As we approach the end of the Fall semester and look ahead to the winter holiday season, I imagine that some level of anxiety and/or stress may be building for many of us.

Between academic demands, financial pressures, relationship challenges, the impacts of broader social/political issues, and the expected ups and downs of life, it can be normal to experience anxiety or stress or even feel overwhelmed. In addition, while many people have fond or positive feelings towards holidays, health research has shown that holidays can also result in feelings of depression or despair – due to the disruption and unmet expectations that they can generate.

This time of the year is an opportune one to talk about resilience. The American Psychological Association defines resilience as “the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands.” Resilience is not something you are born with or without – you can develop it, just like any other skill. In fact, growing a strong “resilience muscle” can become a valuable tool in helping you survive and thrive here at Georgia Tech and throughout life. In addition, resilience doesn’t mean you don’t feel any stress; rather, it encompasses your attitude and approach to resolving a crisis or challenge that causes you stress.

Some of the habits that can help cultivate resilience include, but are not limited to:

• Adopt a growth mindset. Carol Dweck’s 2006 book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, can offer some helpful insights here. Growth mindset entails a belief that one’s capacities, knowledge and talents can be honed through dedication, focused effort, an openness to learning, and humility. In contrast, a fixed mindset is associated with the belief that our characteristics are fixed and not fungible.
• Practice critical hope. In her book Critical Hope (2022), author Kari Grain contrasts critical hope – which is the faith that hope coupled with purposeful action can result in desired change, even if one must overcome barriers, confusion, discomfort and/or fear – with toxic positivity, which is hope without commitment to action or acknowledgement of reality.
• Build and sustain authentic human connections. As the 19^th US Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy pronounced in 2023 that social isolation was a public health emergency for our country and initiated a campaign to ameliorate this. His book Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World (2023) highlights the ways in which social connection and solitude serve positive influences on our health and healing. Based on his research, Murthy offers a number of strategies each of us can incorporate to enhance well-being and promote resilience.

Many of you may know about Georgia Tech’s four-year partnership with The JED Foundation to advance initiatives that promote mental health and enhance well-being. JED has a short but impactful article that provides additional tips for how students can build resilience: https://jedfoundation.org/resource/how-to-build-resilience/.  It’s a quick read and could help you prepare for the weeks ahead.

Again, resilience doesn’t mean living a life without stress. Rather, it’s about taking each of life’s crises and challenges and learning from them to develop a sense of agency. empowerment and self-efficacy to navigate the journey with grace, gratitude and joy. And remember, you’re not alone in this journey. Georgia Tech has resources and people ready to support you every step of the way.

While our formal partnership with JED ended in 2024, our work continues, and many of those efforts are sustained by departments including, but not limited to:

• Campus Recreation, which offers a wide range of individual and group activities, classes and events – both indoors and out – that help foster physical and social wellness;
• Center for Mental Health Care & Resources, which provides mental health services and treatment, as well as outreach around emotional wellness in close partnership with Stamps Psychiatry; and
• Wellness Empowerment Center, which hosts health promotion programs and prevention initiatives along all eight dimensions of wellness.

(Re)introducing the Student Complaint Matrix
At this time of the semester, many offices across the Institute experience an increasing number of student complaints, concerns, inquiries and questions. If you need assistance with resolving a concern, Georgia Tech’s Office of the Provost has produced a Student Complaint Matrix. Organized by the most common types of complaints that students lodge, this guide can help you find the right office to hopefully resolve your situation – and ideally save you some bouncing around between offices.

Whether you’re dealing with an academic issue, a grade dispute, a concern about quality of service, or a policy question, the matrix shows where to start and who to contact. Use the matrix when:

• You’re unsure which department handles your complaint.
• You need to escalate a concern beyond your instructor or advisor.
• You want to understand the formal process for resolving issues.

I encourage you to explore the full matrix to familiarize yourself with the various offices and procedures that may be applicable to your situation – either now or in the future.

Mandatory Training Deadline Approaching
If you’re a first-year undergraduate (including transfers) or new graduate student and haven’t completed Perspectives—Georgia Tech’s mandatory online civil discourse training—please do so now.

Check your inbox for an email from no-reply@constructivedialogue.org with the subject “You have been invited to the Perspectives program.” It contains your personalized access link. If you have technical issues, please emailinfo@constructivedialogue.org. Or if you are unable to find your invitation and need it resent, please email vp_sewb@gatech.eduand include whether you’re an undergraduate, master’s, or PhD student.

The deadline for completing this training is December 31, 2025, at 11:59 PM ET. Failure to complete the course may result in a hold on your student record, potentially delaying Spring registration and other services.

Closing Thoughts
As we move toward the end of the semester, remember that Student Engagement and Well-Being is here to enhance holistic student success. Whether you need resources, coaching, guidance, somebody to cry or laugh with, or just a listening ear, our team is committed to helping you thrive academically, socially, and personally. Don’t hesitate to reach out. In the meantime, I hope you have a restful and relaxing Thanksgiving break.

Go Jackets!