Following a successful inaugural year, we are pleased to invite applications for the next cohort of faculty instructors in the Learning Sustainable Well-Being (LSW) program. LSW is a growing set of 1-unit, P/NP undergraduate courses (taught within one’s home department) that integrate evidence-based approaches to well-being directly into UC San Diego’s curriculum.
Launched in 2025–26, the LSW program has now completed its first year of implementation, with trained faculty teaching during the 2025–26 academic year in 13 different departments. Building on this strong foundation, the university is now recruiting additional faculty to expand the program in the coming year.
We are inviting ladder-rank or teaching faculty to apply to teach “Compassion for Self and Others,” the foundational course in the LSW program. Faculty selected in this round will participate in a four-day intensive training workshop, Sept. 8-11, 2026, and will then teach the course during the 2026–27 academic year.
“Compassion for Self and Others” was developed and tested in the UC San Diego Department of Psychology (see Frontiers 2023). This 1 unit, P/NP course creates a distinctive classroom environment by combining lectures, discussion, and experiential exercises to help students develop practical skills for improving their relationships with themselves and others in a supportive academic setting.
Requirements
Academic Senate faculty selected to teach in the program must participate in the summer 2026 training workshop and commit to teaching the 1 unit, P/NP course twice during the 2026–27 academic year.
Compensation
Faculty will receive $1,500 in research funds for each offering of the course. The program anticipates offering a summer training stipend, contingent on the availability of funds, for faculty who participate in the summer 2026 training workshop.
Learn More
Additional information about the LSW program, including expectations for participating faculty, is available on the Details for Professors webpage.
Applications
Faculty interested in applying should complete the program application. The application deadline is March 1, 2026.
For questions not addressed on the website or application, please contact the LSW Program Directors: Karen Dobkins (kdobkins@ucsd.edu) or Janna Dickenson (jdickenson@ucsd.edu).
