Issue 17

On March 2nd and 3rd, student and academic affairs professionals, experts, and researchers from around the country gathered at Georgetown University for the second in a two-part convening series focused on college student behavioral health and wellness. The gathering of administrative leaders from these two areas was an attempt to…

Equity and Admissions Policies As admissions policies nationwide are scrutinized more closely, two recent papers address policy changes that can affect equity in higher education. According to a working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a Texas policy that promises in-state college applicants in the top 10%…

As the threat of COVID-19 escalated, colleges and universities had to make quick decisions regarding how to best protect the welfare of their students, faculty, and staff. Institutions with residential learning environments had to decide both how classes should be transitioned to online teaching, and the extent to which people…

Approximately nine million students and alumni are members of fraternities and sororities in North America. Roughly 750,000 of those members currently belong to an undergraduate fraternity or sorority chapter, yet there is much debate on whether Greek life should remain a part of the college tradition. As a current member…

I recently met with a school district administrator about conducting a research project in one of the district’s high schools around alcohol use during high school prom, since this can be a high-risk event related to drinking, driving, and other behaviors for students. I knew that there was interest in…

Most in the field of college mental health will remember that the American Council on Education (ACE) conducted a survey last year indicating that eight out of 10 college presidents saw student mental health as a rising priority. They might also remember that an ACE brief written by Healthy Minds…

In talking with President Fedrick, you can’t help but feel that she is the right person for the right job at the right time because of her passion, tenacity, and experience. At a minimum, you are cheering her on, given all Fedrick hopes to accomplish at Albany State University (ASU),…

For the last 20 years, the Jed Foundation (JED) has helped hundreds of colleges and universities strengthen their approaches to protecting their students’ emotional and behavioral health. They will soon offer similar support for high schools in a move that reflects both the importance and the need to address emotional…

In the wake of nationwide college closures due to the coronavirus crisis, many students, suddenly at home with their parents and siblings, are struggling to adjust to their new normal. Somewhere in between the adults they are soon expected to become and the children they once were, students at home…

If it were not already top of mind for those worried about mental health amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, Congressman Joe Kennedy, III, D- Massachusetts, is crafting legislation that he says will be the “North Star” for a mental health system that many believe is off course. “For far too long,…

Philip Glotzbach has been president of Skidmore College for the last 17 years, a period in which the idyllic school in upstate New York has changed significantly – as has higher education overall. Founded in the early 20th century as an institution for women hoping to gain self-sustaining professional and…

Unprecedented. In recent weeks this word has risen to prominence in our collective lexicon. We are living in unprecedented times. Nothing is as it was before. Now more than ever, we need data and evidence to guide our decisions and inform policies and programs. This is true at all levels,…