Quadcast: University of Michigan’s New Approach to Mental Health and Well-Being
In this week’s Quadcast, Anne Curzan, the dean of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) at the University of Michigan, and Joslyn Johnson, assistant dean of Student Development & Career Initiatives at LSA, discuss a new initiative at Michigan’s largest school where mental health ambassadors work in curricular and co-curricular settings, doing research and making recommendations for environmental improvements for student mental health and well-being. The Mental Health and Well-Being Student Advocates are two new professional positions dedicated entirely to understanding and improving the institution’s impact on mental health and well-being and making systems-level changes in support of student wellness. Curzan says the new initiative is another example of the wellness work taking place at the school, which recently joined the Okanagan Charter.
Mental and Behavioral Health
In an op-ed in Inside Higher Ed, Dave Smallen, a research psychologist with a focus on the study of relationships and human connection and a community faculty member at Metropolitan State University in Minnesota, promotes six research-backed insights that could help address loneliness on campus. His advice: Encourage students to connect across various kinds of relationships (like close friends, mentors, and acquaintances), since research shows that it is positively related to well-being; create opportunities for many repeated interactions; encourage a variety of ways to connect; encourage in-person and online interaction; cultivate safety; and finally, recognize that loneliness may require mental health intervention, noting that cognitive behavioral therapy has been shown to be effective for chronic loneliness.
A recent experimental study published in Psychology Today found that college students who were randomly assigned to reduce time spent on social media reported feeling less depressed and anxious.
Other news
A new study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that the prevalence of depression is increasing in the United States. According to the new data, nearly one out of five Americans has been diagnosed with depression.
Inside Higher Ed explores how The University of Connecticut established student well-being as an institutional focus, getting buy-in from the entire campus.“This is a joint partnership and a joint investment, honestly, between the student body and the administration, which I think amplified the fact that this was on everybody’s radar,” says Kristina Stevens, director of mental health for the Student Health and Wellness department (SHaW). “This wasn’t one group pulling another group as much as everybody really swimming in the same direction.”
In the Baltimore Sun, Andrew Reiner, a professor at Towson University and the author of “Better Boys, Better Men: The New Masculinity That Creates Greater Courage and Emotional Resiliency,”argues that “colleges need to make mental health support central and permanent to their mission” and that innovation and collaboration give students more agency and could help keep students afloat and engaged. “Unless colleges devise more creative mental health safety nets, they risk losing or partially preparing a generation of college students.”
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Inside Higher Ed compiled five examples of actions being taken at institutions across the U.S. to promote belonging and inclusion among LGBTQ+ students. They include: Offer LGBTQ+ housing; host affirming events to foster belonging; educate community members on LGBTQ+ issues; address LGBTQ+ needs in mental health supports; and foster LGBTQ+ student/staff relationships.
As the Supreme Court is once again set to make a decision on whether colleges and universities can use race-conscious admissions practices, the Washington Post explores the court’s past affirmative action decisions – from Regents of the University of California v. Bakke in 1978 to Fisher v. University of Texas (Fisher II) in 2016.
In over two dozen interviews with The New York Times, Black and Hispanic college graduates, whose lives were directly shaped by race-conscious college admissions practices, shared their conflicted and sometimes divergent views and emotions about the practice. “A few concluded that the downsides of race-conscious admissions outweighed the benefits. Some spoke of carrying an extra layer of impostor syndrome. Many more grieved the closing of a path that led to rewarding careers and the building of wealth.”
As college and university administrators wait for the ruling on affirmative action, many are considering what they will do to enroll diverse classes in the event that the Supreme Court bans the consideration of race in admissions practices. Inside Higher Ed highlights two possible policies: Percentage plans, and embracing community college transfers. Percentage plans, like the one in Texas, allow every graduate of a Texas public high school in the top 10% of their class to get into any Texas public college.
According to the Washington Post, under the deal to avert a default on the national debt, more work requirements were added to SNAP and other benefits programs. Federal benefits programs are already largely designed to exclude college students, who don’t qualify unless they work 20 hours in addition to their classes or meet other conditions like caring for a dependent child under the age of six. Experts say that this leaves students struggling with food insecurity, and discourages SNAP recipients who are not already in college from enrolling. Critics of the work requirements say that changing SNAP rules to encourage education, rather than just employment, could help more people improve their circumstances.
A report this week from a Cal State workgroup asserts that the California State University System must “reimagine long‐held assumptions around student success” to close college achievement gaps for its Black students. It calls on the 23 institutions in the system to develop a data-driven retention plan for Black students and other groups facing similar persistence gaps.
Higher Ed Dive reports that the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider an appeal from a Christian college in Missouri that sued the Biden administration over a federal directive protecting gay and transgender people from housing discrimination. In 2021, College of the Ozarks filed a lawsuit over the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development determination that the Fair Housing Act shielded people from discrimination based on their gender identity and sexual orientation. Their reasoning was that it doesn’t comport with its religious tenets, as it sought to assign students housing based on their sex at birth, rather than their gender identity.
The Chronicle’s analysis of legislation designed to ban diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts finds that the bills have been largely unsuccessful and have resulted in only a handful of laws. Of the 38 bills in 21 states that The Chronicle is tracking, five have been signed into law and one awaits the governor’s signature.
The Chronicle highlights the success of DEI policies and programs at the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor, which is doubling down on their commitment to the efforts, detailing its work on a website and in campus and community meetings. “Some institutions were preemptively tamping down their efforts so they wouldn’t be the target of inquiry or be noticed, and there was some concern we might go in that direction,” said Tabbye M. Chavous, vice provost for equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer. “Michigan learned there’s nothing we can do to avoid scrutiny, so why not try to be creative and bold within the confines of the law to take every effort to still uphold the value of diversity in higher ed. We just have to be prepared to defend it.”
Michigan’s DEI structure, with $85 million in initial funding and more than 100 employees contributing at least part-time to diversity efforts, is widely considered among the most ambitious and well-funded offices in the nation.
Student Success
Augusta University in Georgia is starting Jags4Jags Mentoring Program, a formal peer mentoring program which will be evaluated on a number of metrics. A unique aspect of the program is that the peer mentors can create alerts for university staff if their mentee mentions, for example, “considering a change in major or needing additional wellness support.” The mentor can make a note in the online system and a staff member will contact the appropriate department to reach out to the student.
College Affordability
Higher Ed Dive reports that beginning in fall 2023, Duke University will cover the tuition of undergraduate students from North and South Carolina whose families earn $150,000 or less a year. It will also provide financial assistance to cover housing, food, and other expenses for residents of the two states whose households make $65,000 or less annually.
Substance Use
An NCAA panel is calling for the association to remove cannabis from its list of banned substances for college athletes, recommending that drug testing exclusively apply to performance enhancers. “Marijuana is not considered a performance-enhancing substance, but it remains important for member schools to engage student-athletes regarding substance use prevention and provide management and support when appropriate,” Dr. Brian Hainline, the NCAA’s chief medical officer, said in 2022.
