Yes, I think it’s wild the infinite possibilities that wait for us in the future. …the mindfulness issue is so important to me because I feel like regardless of what might come, as long as we can think critically, we can make it through anything.

Yeah, it is a very difficult topic to talk about. It is important, I think, for us to have these discussions. It certainly is uncomfortable, and it is very sad. It should happen more often than the anniversary of the tragedy that happened that day in April, because mental health issues in higher education are much more prevalent than we are willing to recognize or admit sometimes.

My experience in higher education has not been without tragedy as well. During my master’s, one of my committee members committed suicide. Two years ago, my uncle, a faculty member at Delta State University, committed suicide after the deaths of two other people.

While I wasn’t a VT student when the incident took place, I am now, and so in some way, part of that story is part of my story now, too. My heart breaks for those families and I am so moved by the community that VT proved itself to be in response to the tragedy that happened here.

I don’t know that you should feel awkward or selfish for talking about April 16. I believe that it’s when we don’t talk about it that it becomes a worse issue. We have to talk about it so that we as a society don’t forget that it DOES happen and people need support. As a community, what happens when we don’t take care of ourselves, or care about each other? What happens when we purposefully forget the painful memories? We can’t forget those who died and we can’t act like it didn’t happen. Or that it couldn’t happen again, in some other community. I don’t know that it should be a politicized issue; but I do think it’s important to keep the discourse going.

I am very impressed by this post. First I want to note that producing “thinkers” has been a challenge for my department related to undergraduate students. There are a few consecutive generations of cohorts that have collectively wanted to be spoon-fed information. They push back when professors and/or graduate teaching assistants do not fill in all the gaps for them. However, those involved in working with food, even those at the entry level, have to think critically. Think of this scenario – A restaurant employee must make decisions relating to cross contamination of pathogens on a regular basis. You can’t see pathogens, so this becomes a little difficult. Can the lettuce be chopped up on this cutting board after raw poultry was sitting there? No. But can raw poultry sit on a cutting board after lettuce has been chopped up on it? Yes. Employees are continuously having to think about what they can or cannot touch after performing a task and doing so in a fast paced environment. There are so many things that can go wrong in the food industry, but what an individual decides to do after something has gone wrong can literally be the difference of someone living or dying.

The topic of automation within foodservice (i.e. a robot cooking a burger rather than a human) has come up frequently but continues to be shot down because a robot cannot make risk management decisions like a human can. This is always an interesting debate.

I also appreciate that you brought up the topic of mindfulness. I attended a lecture at Virginia Tech’s CIDER Conference this year having to do with mindfulness. Before then, I really didn’t understand how powerful it is. I have been trying to practice with choosing a certain task and then following through with it. In this day in age, we can be distracted so easily. And even when we are present physically, we’re often not present mentally.

Good idea! I think that if a faculty members puts that kind of emphasis on the students doing it, then the students are more likely to put thought into their responses. If they feel like they actually have a voice, then they would be more willing to provide constructive feedback.

Very interesting. Innovation and use of technology is something that will benefit higher education as well.

I agree. Maybe the faculty should pick a time slot and ask the students to do it as an in-class assignment, that way its likely that he/she gets more responses.

It’s gone by too quickly! I will miss all of you. I think the best part of the course is that people from all over campus get to know one another, understand each other’s research, and become friends. Stay in touch with one another–and me!

I’m so glad you had a good experience! I wish we had had a larger audience, but the people who were there seemed to appreciate it, and it’s good for the whole class to hear everyone’s presentations, too.

Sounds like a great workshop! I like the idea of direct, specific, non-punishing.

I agree that sustainability is crucial, and universities have a good opportunity to use best practices when it comes to sustainability, since students are often very passionate about these issues. When I was in undergrad, the students were always trying to push the administration to become more sustainable and I think a lot of concrete progress was made! By the time I left, students had to specifically ask to get to-go containers from dining halls (rather than have them be freely available), and an on-campus community garden was thriving.