UNC Resilience Program

Posted on July 02, 2023

June 30, 2023

Dear faculty and staff,

Our students are worthy, deserving, and capable of completing their degrees at UNCG.  Cultivating resiliency is a significant factor in ensuring students’ academic success. We know that engaged faculty and staff directly impact student performance, retention, and resiliency.

To amplify students’ resilience, the UNC System has partnered with The University of Pennsylvania Positive Psychology Center to roll out its Penn Resilience Program aimed at helping more of our students develop the skills and habits that enable resilience in the face of life’s inevitable challenges.  You are invited to participate as a Resilience Instructor.

The structure is a “Train the Trainer” model where the UNC System – in partnership with professionals at the Penn Positive Psychology Center – will train ~70 UNC Resilience Instructors across two training cohorts in Fall 2023.  The UNC Resilience Instructors will in turn train 1500+ Student Resilience Ambassadors across the UNC System during Spring 2024. You can learn more about the Penn Resilience Program here.

If you are interested in participating as a trainer, please see program requirements, dates, and application process below. The deadline to apply is July 10th.

Program Requirements
UNC faculty and staff that apply to be a UNC Resilience Instructor will be required to:

Attend Resilience Training– Attend a 5-day, in person training workshop in Fall 2023 (Raleigh area).  The Training
workshops will be led by a team of 5-7 instructors/facilitators from the Penn Positive Psychology Center. Training costs,
accommodations, and meals are provided by the UNC system office.

Recruit two cohorts of UNCG students to participate in the resilience workshops. Resilience instructors will be
responsible for recruiting students to participate in their resilience workshops.

Lead On-Campus Student Resilience Workshops – After training in Fall 2023, UNC Resilience Instructors will train two
cohorts of Student Resilience Ambassadors at their institution in Spring 2024.  Each student cohort will be expected to
include 12-15 students and the Positive Psychology Center suggests that student cohorts meet once per week for 6-8
weeks (with each weekly session approximately 60-90 mins.

Training Dates & Location (Participants attend training as part of Cohort 1 or 2)
Cohort 1 Training Dates & Location:  Oct 10-11 & Nov 8-10 (Raleigh area)
Cohort 2 Training Dates & Location:  Oct 12-13 & Nov 29-Dec 1 (Raleigh area)

Who Can Apply?
All faculty and staff are eligible to apply.  A background in counseling or psychology is not required. At this time, there is no limit on the number of Resilience Instructors per institution.

Program Stipend & Trainer Requirements
Individuals accepted as a Resilience Instructor will receive training and a $3,000 stipend, paid by the System Office. The stipend requires the trainer to attend the resilience 5-day training, recruit cohorts of 12-15 students, and complete the training session for two student cohorts at UNCG. If only one student cohort is taught by a UNC Resilience Instructor, only half the stipend will be paid.

Application Deadline
Individuals interested in serving as a resilience trainer should first talk with their direct supervisor to ensure their workload is appropriate to take on this opportunity including the training, recruitment of students, and leading student resilience workshops in the Spring of 2024. Once they confirm support from their supervisor, interested persons should send an email noting their interest to Katelyn Smith in Student Affairs at kryoung3@uncg.edu by July 10th. Please copy your supervisor when you send your email note of interest.

Debbie Storrs, Provost 
Cathy Akens, Vice Chancellor for Student Success