Mental and Behavioral Health
According to a new study published in the Journal of American College Health, university students in the US are showing increasingly higher rates of diagnosis for a range of mental health conditions. Using data from the National College Health Assessment consisting of more than 450,000 undergraduate students, researchers investigated whether mental health diagnoses and treatment among university students changed between the years 2009 and 2015. The researchers found a significant increase in the diagnosis and treatment for eight of the 12 mental health conditions examined, with the largest increases in anxiety, depression, and panic attacks. Treatment and diagnosis of anxiety increased by 5.6 percent over the study period, closely followed by depression (3.2 percent) and panic attacks (2.8 percent). Anxiety is now the most common mental health concern among university students in the U.S., affecting almost 15 percent of students nationally. Speculating on the reasons behind this upsurge in mental health treatment and service usage, The study’s authors suggest that the increase reflects a combination of deteriorating mental health and increased willingness to seek help, driven by reduced stigma surrounding mental health and greater awareness of campus services.
New research found that racism, violence and sexual assault are key contributors to mental health challenges for students. The researchers, Fay Cobb Payton, Lynette Kvasny Yarger, and Anthony Pinter, used text mining techniques to analyze 165 articles, both peer-reviewed research literature and articles published in higher-education news outlets, related to mental health in higher education published between 2010 and 2015. The research also highlighted the need for additional mental health services, and outlines some ways that mobile technologies may be able to help address these needs.<
A new Pennsylvania bill aimed at improving suicide prevention services and mental health resources at Pennsylvania universities is close to being signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf. The legislation defines a new set of standards that four-year institutions must meet to become a Certified Suicide Prevention Institution of Higher Education, as recognized by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. To receive the certification, schools must provide contact information for suicide prevention hotlines, crisis intervention services, mental health services, post-intervention plans in the event of a suicide, and a description of how these plans will be communicated with student body.
Kylie Qiu, a counselor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln counseling center, is working to offer stability to the nearly 2,000 UNL international students dealing with stress with a new program called Stress Management Consultation for International Students, a brief and confidential one-on-one therapy session that occurs once a month. She said she hopes the sessions spearhead the effort to translate cross-cultural understanding into the therapy room.
Diversity and Inclusion
Three weeks into a trial gauging whether Harvard University discriminates against Asian-American applicants, eight current and former students came to the school’s defense. The witnesses described their personal experiences at a university that they cast as a work in progress, a place where minority students feel welcome in some ways but excluded in others. They extolled the value of a diverse campus in enriching their college experiences and said they supported the university’s consideration of race in admissions decisions.
One of the students, a senior named Thang Q. Diep, spoke to The Chronicle last week ahead of his testimony on Monday. He said, “My involvement in this case is not necessarily to defend Harvard. It’s more about testifying about the importance of race-conscious admissions. If there is discrimination against Asian-American students, then we should talk about it.”
In the trial, the plaintiffs, Students for Fair Admissions, have proposed ways to maintain diversity without considering applicants’ race. One of the proposals was to eliminate preferences for legacies, or the children of alumni. Another would get rid of admissions advantages for the children of faculty and staff; students from families on the Dean’s and Director’s interest lists, who are often major donors; and students on the Z-list, a back door for those who are not as qualified as most of their peers and are asked to defer admission. Harvard said these alternatives would not work.
This year’s Harvard College admissions procedures include explicit instructions on how to use race when evaluating students’ applications. The question of whether and how admissions officials are trained on considering race has been a focal point of the trial. The procedures, meant to train officials who read applications for admission to the Class of 2023, were submitted as evidence on Thursday. The guidelines say, readers of applications “may consider whether a student’s background, including his or her race or ethnicity, may contribute to the educational benefits of diversity at Harvard College. The consideration of race or ethnicity may be considered only as one factor among many.” The word “only” is boldfaced and underlined.
The University of Virginia banned the white supremacist and campus provocateur Richard Spencer and nine others from its campus in connection with a 2017 rally that escalated into violence. The move, following a yearlong investigation by the university’s police department, will raise questions about who should be allowed to speak on public-college campuses in light of a university’s need to protect itself. James E. Ryan, UVA’s newly appointed president, sought to strike that balance in a written statement: “The trespass warnings issued today reflect our commitment to ensuring the safety of our community while upholding the principles of freedom of speech and assembly.”
A course at Georgetown University was created to help first-generation students adjust to college life. The experimental, one-credit course, “Mastering the Hidden Curriculum,” welcomes students in their first semester to educate them on the “unwritten rules and unspoken expectations” of academe. The course shows students how to cultivate relationships, advocate for themselves, and pursue opportunities in ways that their more advantaged peers have learned from college-educated parents and mentors. The program has created a host of resources – including mentoring and assistance with buying winter coats – to supplement financial aid to low-income students, many of whom are also first-generation students.
Students in predominantly poor and small schools had less access to high school courses that help prepare them for college, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. The research found that high-poverty schools and small schools were less likely to offer advanced classes like calculus or physics, and Advanced Placement classes (which allow students to earn college credit).
Overall wellness
UCLA’s Healthy Campus Initiative launched Engage Well focused on providing projects, resources, and events that emphasize the ties between positive relationships and physical health. “Things like smoking and obesity are really important factors in one’s health,” said Ted Robles, an associate professor of psychology and an Engage Well leader. “And the effect of social relationships is equally as important.”
Yoga can reduce stress through deep breathing, mindfulness, and physical practice, but it can also be prohibitively expensive for students. At Penn, a group fitness pass costs $50 per semester for undergraduates, while a pass just for yoga costs $225 per semester.
The University of Vermont’s board of trustees approved a $1 million wellness center project that will support the university’s Wellness Environment Program, “a neuroscience-inspired behavior change program that incentivizes college students to build healthy brains and healthy bodies.”
Sexual Health
In an op-ed in the GW Hatchet, Jack Murphy argues that all sexually active students at GW should be getting tested for HIV and other STDs. GW’s optional Student Health Insurance Plan only covers a full suite of STD tests once per year and students using any other insurance will be forced to pay the office visit and any added deductibles. SHIP should cover sexual health testing for students more regularly throughout the year and the CHC should offer free testing more regularly to improve campus and citywide health.
In the Daily Californian, Sophia Yen, a physician, UC Berkeley alumna, and the CEO and co-founder of Pandia Health, a birth control delivery company, argues in an op-ed that students deserve equitable access to reproductive health care and contraceptives. She writes that she is disheartened by the actions of Gov. Jerry Brown, who, at the end of September, vetoed a bill that would have required health centers on college campuses to offer students access to medication abortions. According to Yen, Gov. Brown’s justification for the veto cited research by proponents of the bill that the average distance to abortion providers in campus communities is 5 to 7 miles. Brown called it “not an unreasonable distance,” dismissing the notion that this averages to about a two to 2 1/2 hour walk. And Yen points out that this is only an average – there are far greater distances for others. Yen writes that students face a multitude of barriers in regard to accessible reproductive health care and contraceptives, and with increased barriers, individuals aren’t able to make informed and autonomous decisions about their bodies.
College Affordability
This fall, North Carolina launched a program called NC Promise that sets tuition at a flat rate-$500 a semester for in-state students, and $2,500 a semester for out-of-state students-at three public universities in geographically disparate parts of North Carolina. To fund the program, the state legislature has set aside $51 million. And its goal is self-evident: Make college affordable enough to boost the number of students who enroll, while ensuring that they aren’t saddled with debt that could affect whether or not they graduate. And, for all intents and purposes, it’s working. The three institutions-UNC Pembroke, Western Carolina University, and Elizabeth City State University-have seen immediate enrollment jumps of 14, 6, and 19 percent, respectively.
Healthcare
In an op-ed in the Daily Bruin, Omar Said argues that on-campus health care should be an option for all University of California Los Angeles students, not just those with the student health insurance plan (SHIP). Currently the student health center does not accept any insurance except the SHIP. Students who don’t have UC SHIP are forced to pay for on-campus health visits, from the Ashe Center or pharmacy, and wait for reimbursement from their insurance companies. Treatment at the Ashe Center can range from $12 to up to $507 for certain specialist visits.
Substance Use
A new study suggests that amnesty policies protecting students seeking medical treatment for alcohol-related emergencies from disciplinary process may encourage college students to call for help with alcohol-related issues before they or their intoxicated peers become seriously ill. After a medical amnesty policy was implemented at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, the average daily number of alcohol-related calls to the school’s emergency medical services (EMS) agency went up, but calls requiring advanced life support services fell by nearly 60 percent. Georgetown implemented its medical amnesty policy in August 2014.
Student Success
A new report by labor analytics firm Burning Glass Technologies showed that on average, 43% of college graduates are underemployed in their first job. Of those, roughly two-thirds remain in jobs that don’t require college degrees five years later. College graduates who studied homeland security and law enforcement had a 65% probability of being underemployed in their first job out of school. Those with degrees in psychology and biology stood chances of 54% and 51%, respectively, of working jobs that don’t require college degrees. Engineers had only a 29% probability of being underemployed, the best outcome for any major.
