SOS for Higher Ed
Your mental health, individual wellness, and collective well-being are important to your success at Illinois. Transitioning to graduate school is exciting, but it can also leave you feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or even scared. Left unchecked, these feelings can escalate leading to more serious conditions.
The State of Illinois, through the Mental Health Early Action on Campus Act, requires all incoming freshmen and graduate students, and all first-year transfer students, to receive an orientation session aimed at raising awareness of mental health conditions. To meet this requirement, you have been automatically enrolled in SOS for Higher Ed: Suicide Prevention for Students (SOS for Higher Ed).
SOS for Higher Ed is a 30-minute, self-guided online training program. It is designed to help individuals recognize signs of mental distress in themselves and others, encourage someone who may be struggling to seek help, build stronger connections with peers, and foster positive mental wellbeing.
Training for new graduate students can be found at: https://canvas.illinois.edu/courses/57478. If you are unfamiliar with using the Canvas online classroom system, an additional resource is the Canvas Student Guide. The deadline for completing SOS for Higher Ed is October 3.
Reminders will be sent to your university email until you have completed this training.
Questions can be directed to wellnesstraining@illinois.edu.
Sexual Assault Prevention (required for everyone)
The University’s Prohibition of Sex Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, and Sexual Misconduct policy requires all incoming, returning, and transfer students, as well as all faculty and staff, to be regularly educated on discrimination and harassment prevention, sexual violence, and reporting options and obligations. New students are required to complete training before or early in their first semester. All returning students are provided training materials and encouraged to review those materials each academic year.
For students starting in the Fall: Detailed instructions on how to access and complete the program will be provided by email to your Illinois email account early in the fall. New students can also self-register to complete the training. See details including how to self-register on the We Care website.
For students starting in the Spring: If you are a new student in the Spring semester, detailed instructions on how to access and complete the program will be provided by email to your Illinois email account. Self-registration will not be available in the Spring semester.
Read more about Sexual Assault Prevention Training and the U of I System Statement on Sex Discrimination, Sexual Harassment and Other Sexual Misconduct.
If you have questions accessing the training or questions, please contact titleixcoordinator@illinois.edu
Illinois Mandatory Ethics Training (required of all graduate assistants)
All state public university employees are required to complete the OEIG-approved annual ethics training program for University employees.
Graduate assistants will receive an email at their official university account, prompting them to complete their training.
Regulatory Compliance & Safety
The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research provides programs and services to help faculty, staff, and students meet the ethical and regulatory requirements for the responsible conduct of research. Many individuals are required to complete training provided based on the nature of their research (e.g. animal care and use, human subject use, laboratory and research safety, etc.) as well as laboratory specific training. Individual training requirements vary by field of study.
Check with your program to find out what training you may need to complete.