Webinar: The Mental Health and Wellbeing of Recent Graduates
The Mary Christie Institute will host a free webinar to examine the role of higher education in preparing students emotionally for the transition to career and the demands and culture of the workplace. This live web event on Wednesday, February 22, 2023 from 1:00pm to 2:00pm EST is a partnership between MCI, the Healthy Minds Network, the American Association for Colleges and Universities (AACU), and the National Association for Colleges and Employers (NACE). After an overview of the findings of MCI’s recent Young Professionals Mental Health and Wellbeing Survey, a panel of experts in higher ed will discuss how mental health and career counselors can work together to set students up for holistic success after graduation. For more information about the presenters and to register to attend, click here.
Mental and Behavioral Health
Main Stories
The Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH) at Penn State University will be providing a FREE 2-Hour CE program on “Trans Affirming Care and Practices” with PESI on April 18, 2023 from 12:00pm to 2:00pm EST. The program is available to anyone in a helping profession who wishes to attend; CCMH membership is not required. The presentation will offer CE opportunities for Psychologists, Professional Counselors, Marriage & Family Therapists, Physicians, Nurse/Nurse Practitioners, Addiction Counselors, and Social Workers. Please see the event flyer for more information about the program and CEs, or sign up here.
Other News
For The Hechinger Report, a current senior at Boston College explains how she believes receiving and providing peer support saved her life after the transition to college and stress of the pandemic jeopardized her mental health.
The Chronicle covers the tension colleges are facing when it comes to providing mental health accommodations to students while still maintaining a traditional level of academic rigor.
Similarly, for Inside Higher Ed, two faculty members from Meredith College assert that self-care is not at odds with accountability and suggest several ways in which professors can strike a balance.
An op-ed in Inside Higher Ed from Paul F. Steinberg, professor of Sustainability and Society at Harvey Mudd College, presents several ways for colleges “to make climate action compatible with personal well-being.”
Also in Inside Higher Ed: peer counseling need not be reserved to traditional mental health support, as Barnard College enlists undergraduates to help their classmates in the transition to career.
NPR profiles several of this year’s college first-years, considering how they’re coping with the transition to college after spending most of their high school years embroiled in the pandemic.
In Diverse Education, four faculty members offer modes of supporting the wellbeing and academic achievement of minoritized students, including through counseling that brings an understanding of racial identity development.
The Wall Street Journal publishes the responses of college students across the country, articulating their views on causes and possible solutions to the widespread physical and mental health challenges of their generation.
In The Conversation, Janelle R. Goodwill, assistant professor of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at the University of Chicago, reviews her study, finding that Black students “who turned to their faith to cope” were less likely to consider suicide.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
The Washington Post reports that the College Board has unveiled an altered version of its previous plans for a new Advanced Placement African American studies course. The revisions, which include removing several topics from the curriculum, are facing widespread criticism and accusations of bending to the objections of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, The Post adds. An op-ed in the The New York Times regards attempts to stifle the AP course “not as some kind of culture war sideshow but as the very lifeblood of the anti-democratic, sometimes violent political movement gaining currency in the United States.” For The Hechinger Report, Dr. Altheria Caldera, CEO of Caldera & Associates Equity Consulting and former highschooler in Alabama, writes about the necessity of Black history courses for secondary schools, having never had the opportunity to take one.
Diverse Education reviews a recent study finding that, despite student debt being a “heavily racialized issue,” lawmakers almost entirely avoided discussing race during a markup of the College Affordability Act. This study emerges amidst concerns around the end to race-conscious practices in college admissions and calls for the Education Department to be more transparent about “racial and ethnic demographic data for applications and admits,” Diverse Education explains. Although the number of American adults with a postsecondary degree or credential is on the rise, Inside Higher Ed says of new data from the Lumina Foundation, rates for Black, Latino and Native American adults continue to trail.
Student Buzz
According to The Daily Orange, Syracuse students have been reaping the mental health benefits of bringing pets on campus—sometimes from home—to serve as emotional support animals.
The Emory Wheel covers a recent panel of health professionals from Emory’s Oxford College, delving into student mental health challenges and clearing up myths about seeking care on campus.
The Ithacan considers a recent study which analyzed student tweets to evaluate stress levels in college towns across the country and deemed Ithaca, New York the tenth most stressed.
Student Success
The Chronicle covers new data from National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, suggesting that college enrollment numbers this fall seem to be stabilizing after years in decline. Yet as enrollment in four-year liberal arts continues to wane, Wesleyan University president Michael Roth reasserts the value of a “pragmatic” liberal education in The Washington Post.
Efforts to do away with standardized testing requirements to gain admissions to law schools has reached an impasse, The Washington Post reports. Earlier this week, the American Bar Association’s (ABA) House of Delegates rejected a proposal to admit law students without test scores, although the motion still stands to pass if approved by the Council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.
Sexual Assault and Title IX
Higher Ed Dive suggests the Education Department may be “ramping up” efforts to ensure Title IX protections for pregnant students. Namely, the Department recently struck a deal with Troy University to strengthen accommodations, finding the school failed to support a pregnant student during the 2020-21 academic year.
College Affordability
The Chronicle considers a new report from the U.S. Department of Education, revealing that federal emergency aid supported millions of college students—approximately two-thirds overall—during the Covid-19 pandemic. State support for higher education will continue to rise by nearly 7% in 2023, Inside Higher Ed adds, although some are worried about future funding given the impending end of Covid federal stimulus.
Basic Needs
Cal Matters announces plans in California to devote $2.2 billion to building dorms over three years, including at community colleges, where housing can be a major obstacle to enrollment and attainment. According to The Hechinger Report, creating housing dedicated to recently incarcerated students could have a “revolutionary” impact on their academic success.
On the other hand, at High Point University, where housing insecurity seems a distant problem, Forbes contributor Ryan Craig argues top-notch housing and amenities leave its wealthy students shortchanged on education.
Campus Safety
After a campus police officer drew a gun on a Black student during an outdoor theater rehearsal at the University of Houston, school officials asked all the performers to start wearing vests to distinguish themselves. Yet according to The Texas Tribune, the order has since been rescinded, following complaints that it placed responsibility for student safety on the students themselves, instead of police.
A faculty member at the University of Arizona was shot and killed on campus by a former student in October, 2022. Now, The Chronicle finds a faculty committee has published a 30-page report in response, suggesting the professor’s death was a “glaring institutional failure” and demanding the university develop a new risk-management system.
An op-ed for Slate suggests that the proliferation of ChatGPT on college campuses will bring with it increased surveillance of students. Like when students began studying and test-taking from home during the pandemic, efforts to curb students’ abilities to cheat with new technology could start to encroach on their privacy.
