Quadcast Ep. 38: A Student and his Headmaster Discuss the behavioral health of high school teens
Guest host, Carson Domey, interviews his headmaster, Alex Zequeira, at Saint John’s High School in Shrewsbury, MA. Zequeira shares his observations on high school mental health from his years of coaching, teaching, and leading high school students — from social media, the collective trauma of the pandemic, and building resilience before college. Carson and Zequeira worked together to implement the suicide hotline on the back of student ID cards.
Mental and Behavioral Health
Main Stories
Inside Higher Ed reports on the increase of students reporting psychological disabilities, writing that more students are registering to receive classroom accommodations for psychological disorders, affecting disability support offices. Students with psychological disabilities registering for support are growing faster than almost any other group seeking accommodations. “Students who are experiencing mental health challenges tend to have trouble with executive functioning skills like time management, prioritization and focus,” said Molly McClelland, director of Point Park’s center for student success. Experts say accommodations may be seen as a temporary solution, and advocates argue that the long term goal should be to expand accessibility to teaching and learning so all students are met.
Other News
William James College is launching a police and mental health practitioner co-response program towards pre-arrest jail diversion and intervention.
A new paper examines anxiety and suicidality in the college student population, using national survey data from the Healthy Minds Study.
The College of William and Mary’s wellness center hosts a mental health focus group with student ambassadors.
News Medical Life Sciences reports on how mental health issues take a toll on college students from a new study on trends in college student mental health and help-seeking by race/ethnicity.
CBS News reports on the uptick of suicides amongst NCAA women’s athletes.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
The Chronicle reports that Native American students will now be able to attend the University of California for free. The University of California system announced that in-state Native American students from federally recognized tribes will have $14,000 of tuition and fees waived starting in the fall. Native American students make up less than 1% of the total enrollment at the University of California system. “There’s huge implications being a land-grant university, because the sale of Native land that was taken in a number of ways — but primarily stolen — really helped start the university system,” said Phenocia Bauerle, director of Native American student development at the University of California at Berkeley.
The Chronicle showcases a data table of the race, ethnicity, and gender of full-time faculty members at over 3,300 institutions. The table includes data from all 50 states and in Washington, D.C. on two- and four-year degree-granting institutions, compiled from the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. Full-time faculty members include staff with or without faculty status, whose occupation is classified as instruction, research, or public service.
Inside Higher Ed reports that some community colleges are dropping “community” from their names to avoid negative stereotypes. “We have a long-held perception that community college has a stigma attached to it among many of the students that we’re actually trying to serve. This is primarily the issue we’re trying to overcome,” said Lance Bolton, president of Pikes Peak State College. Steve Robinson, president of Lansing Community College, thinks the word “community” can be a selling point, seeing how community colleges have long served local students and their families to meet regional workforce needs.
The Chronicle reports on whether eradicating grades may work against disadvantaged students. Research on equity often compares students’ grades from different racial and socioeconomic groups. However, non-grading practices, in which students are able to evaluate their own grades, may leave out vulnerable students who may not have had the chance to develop skills in self-evaluation. Studies support that highly structured courses can be especially important for less-advantaged students.
Sexual Assault and Title IX
Inside Higher Ed and The Chronicle report on New York University’s announcement that it would not hire biologist Dr. David Sabatini due to sexual misconduct records. Sabatini resigned from his tenured faculty role at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after accusations of sexual harassment surfaced. MIT stated that Dr. Sabatini failed to disclose a relationship per policy and “behaved in ways incompatible with the responsibilities of faculty membership [by engaging] in a sexual relationship with a person over whom he held a career-influencing role.” Last week, hundreds of NYU students, researchers, faculty, and alumni walked out of their labs to protest the medical school’s serious consideration of hiring Dr. Sabatini, demanding to “pass the harasser.”
Reproductive Health and Rights
The Chronicle reports on how the overturn of Roe v. Wade could affect colleges and universities. The U.S. Supreme Court will vote to overturn Roe v. Wade – the 1973 Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion in the first trimester of a woman’s pregnancy. About one in four women are expected to have an abortion at some point in their life, and women in their 20s who have attended some college are the most common demographic to receive an abortion.
Student Success
The Chronicle analyzes the latest data from the federal employment and enrollment report. Trends show that there is a declining share of high school graduates going on to college, and the pandemic has widened the gap of women attending college at higher rates than men. The unemployment rate also declined for those who held graduate and associate degrees, however, not for those with bachelor’s degrees.
Inside Higher Ed shows findings from a new report about obstacles preventing students from returning to college to complete their degrees. The report found that there are 36 million students in the United States who have some college education but did not complete their college degrees. The report found that students stopped their education due to reasons of: financial difficulties, inability to attend college while working, supporting families, and feeling their institutions were not invested in or supportive of their circumstances. “[Students] need to be connected to the institution,” said Barbara Henry, assistant vice president for nontraditional and military student services at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.
Higher Ed Dive reports that transfer enrollment has fallen by 6.9% this spring, as of a year ago. According to new data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, transfer enrollment dropped the most from two-year colleges to four-year institutions by 11.6%. All student groups experienced declines, regardless of age, gender, race or ethnicity, however, the decline has diminished progress for upward transfer enrollment numbers amongst women, and Asian and Latinx students.
College Affordability
The continuing momentum around student debt cancellation ensues debate. The Chronicle and GBH News report on advocates’ concerns on how conversations around canceling student debt exclude tangible solutions on a more structured level for future borrowers. “Loan forgiveness has to come with rethinking some of our national student-loan policies,” said Justin Draeger, president and chief executive of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. Diverse Education reports on debates around the topic, including the argument that debt cancellation may help close the racial and gender wealth gap. Many students of color and women disproportionately hold student debt. Experts weigh in on the Education Department’s newly fixed Income-Driven Repayment plans, after announcing them last week.
The Hechinger Report and The Washington Post report on how many colleges continue to offer certificate programs, despite evidence suggesting they are not paying off. The nonprofit National Student Legal Defense Network and researchers at George Washington University found that almost two-thirds of undergraduate certificate programs left students worse off than high school graduates, making less than $25,000 a year. Regulations proposed by the Department of Education would set an earnings threshold for these programs, where programs could lose federal financial aid.
Physical Health
Inside Higher Ed reports on disability advocates’ concerns around the relaxation of policies for COVID-19, fearing that high-risk individuals may suffer. Infection rates vary by state, county and city levels. While some colleges have dropped mask and vaccine mandates, others have shifted classes online due to surges. “During COVID, they have risen to the challenge and provided more services, more hours and focused especially on students with high-risk conditions, those students who are disadvantaged in some way, that have a greater risk for exposure or risk of serious disease from COVID,” said Gerri Taylor, co-chair of the American College Health Association’s COVID-19 task force.
