New Active Minds Guide: Supporting the Whole Student
A new report from Active Minds and the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition addresses barriers to including mental health promotion in First Year Experience initiatives. A survey by the two groups found that more than half of the 48 institutions that responded revealed that mental health content had been integrated into FYE initiatives only slightly or not at all. The report identifies barriers including limited time available within the curriculum to address mental health, limited resources, especially in the counseling center, and a lack of training or confidence among staff to teach students about mental health.
The guide offers recommendations and case studies from campuses recognized for their student mental health efforts with the Active Minds Healthy Campus Award, including Denison University, University of Richmond (UR), University of South Florida (USF), California State University at Long Beach (CSULB) and Skidmore College. Their recommendations draw on Active Minds’ evidence-based Healthy Campus Framework, and include:
1. Taking a collective strategic approach
2. Committing to sustainable, systems-level changes
3. Creating equitable approaches to mental health promotion
4. Championing and empowering student voices
Mental and Behavioral Health
Mental health concerns are mounting at colleges and universities across the country as coronavirus cases spike. As young adults experience unprecedented upheaval to their daily lives, leaders and experts are reporting that students are struggling. At a Board of Regents meeting last week at Iowa State University, Michael Newton, chief of police at Iowa State University said there has been a significant increase in suicidal ideation and suicidal attempts. Scott Leon, an associate professor of psychology at Loyola University Chicago, told the Loyola Phoenix, “I am seeing an increase in mental health issues and more students taking leaves and having to go for treatment. The things that reward us in our life are no longer there. College is a time for new beginnings and a time where identities and friendships are really developing and not being able to be on a college campus is impacting students.” University of Iowa Counseling Service Director Barry Schreier said that students’ understandable sadness and frustration doesn’t necessarily correlate with diagnosed mental illness. “They simply are responding reasonably to a really bad thing,” he said.
Counseling services nationwide are experiencing staffing shortages, as mental health issues are rising and financial upheaval caused by the pandemic has led to limited budgets and an inability to hire new counselors. The University of Cincinnati’s Office of Counseling and Psychological Services is operating with a nearly 50% reduction in staff. But some counselors across the country have been surprised to find that the switch to telehealth is working, despite their initial misgivings about the technology.
The Editorial Board of the California Aggie, UC Davis’ student newspaper, writes that there is an urgent need for universities to develop new strategies addressing student mental health, and for UCDavis to mitigate long appointment wait times and understaffing. “While it is clear that students deserve more from university-provided mental health resources, it is not only the job of administrators to solve these challenges,” the board writes. “Students, faculty and staff can help by openly discussing mental health. Students should increase their conversations with peers about mental health… Professors should check in with students, be flexible with assignments and do whatever they can to decrease stress in class.”
In University Business, Robert Meenan, MD, President of Christie Campus Health, argues that outsourcing can help schools strengthen their mental health services, expanding student-centered options for support. Dr. Meenan writes that using the classic model of campus-based mental health services and hiring additional counselors is not a scalable or sustainable option. He argues that the main elements of a new approach should include student-centered options that are easily transferable to outside partnerships and typically involve new technologies. The Mary Christie Foundation is funded in part by Christie Campus Health.
Pandemic stress, election anxiety and seasonal affective disorder are all causes of increased mental health issues this fall. Arizona State University newspaper The State Press quoted Emily Hinsberger, president of Devils 4 Devils, a peer-led organization that focuses on empathy and mental health,who said, “Even after the election, I still kind of feel like the world is on fire. There is still a lot that I feel needs to be done in our country, and personally that has taken a lot out on my mental state.” The Daily Pennsylvanian reports on a survey conducted by Penn Leads the Vote, a student-run, non-partisan voter engagement program that found that 80% of respondents reported that they were somewhat, moderately, or very anxious and stressed leading up to Election Day.
Many colleges and universities have nixed spring break from the spring academic schedule to accommodate timeline shifts and/or limit student travel that could result in virus spread. Students are pushing back claiming that academic breaksduring the semester are essential to maintaining mental health. The Undergraduate Assembly at UPenn passed a resolution demanding the administration incorporate two to five single day breaks into the spring semester after students’ experiences this fall without a fall break and learning that spring 2021 break would be shorter than previous years. A faculty senate at Kansas State University rejected a proposal submitted by the Student Governing Association requesting mental health days out of concern for negative impacts on course timelines, and students travelling on the days off.
The newly launched University of Calgary Suicide Awareness and Prevention Framework aims to eliminate suicide on the campus. “The University of Calgary’s mission is to prevent suicide,” says Debbie Bruckner, senior director, student wellness, access and support. “The only acceptable goal for us is zero suicide.” The framework’s comprehensive action plan will “lead a university-wide, safety-orientated culture committed to suicide prevention, reducing stigma and promoting a community of caring.” It aims to educate the campus community to encourage help-seeking and help-offering, identify students with suicide risk via skills training, reach out and engage students through supportive outreach, improve and communicate policies and procedures, and identify clear measures for evaluation.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
The American Council on Education released six chapters of recent data and findings as a supplement to ACE’s February 2019 report, Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education. The most striking finding is that students of color, especially Black and Native students, have a significantly harder job paying off student loans after graduating. Black, Hispanic and Lantinx, and Native students are more likely than their white and/or Asian-Americans to enroll in for-profit colleges, which sometimes have higher tuition, resulting in more loans for these students. Additionally, researchers found that individuals of color were underrepresented in campus life, leaving a number of students without an ally or partnerships in upper level decision-making positions.
A federal appeals court ruled that Harvard’s race-conscious admissions policy does not violate civil rights law. Many anticipate this case will be brought in front of the Supreme Court and speculate that the justices may rule against affirmative action despite forty years of precedent. Students for Fair Admissions brought the Harvard case forward on behalf of Asian-American students who claimed they did not receive admission into Harvard because of their race. Students for Fair Admissions has filed two other lawsuits of similar arguments against the University of Texas and the University of North Carolina.
Education Dive reports on an alliance formed this week between more than 50 liberal arts colleges, which aims to fight systemic racism and foster diversity and inclusion on their campuses. Founding members include DePauw University, Macalester, Oberlin, Occidental and Pomona colleges. The alliance is collaborating with the University of Southern California’s Race and Equity Center to host virtual meetings about campus equity, survey students and employees, and give workers equity-related resources.
The number of international students studying at US colleges and universities declined 16% this year, with the number of new international students down by 43%, the first decline in a decade. In addition to pandemic complications, the Trump administration has imposed multiple restrictions on immigration, which include restrictions on student and work visas. The Chronicle notes, these policy changes and pandemic-related complications likely contributed to the decrease in international enrollment in US institutions. “Well before the pandemic struck, a climate of harsh rhetoric on immigration and concrete actions taken by the Trump administration, such as the travel ban and slower visa processing times, helped fuel the perception that this country is no longer a welcoming place for study and research for outstanding students and scholars from across the globe,” said Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education. Experts report that President-elect Joe Biden could quickly reverse many of these restrictions once he takes office in January.
Thirteen former University of Iowa football players have filed a lawsuit claiming they were the victims of “targeted discriminatory behavior,” and that longtime coach Kirk Ferentz enabled it. The suit reads, “Under the watchful eye of Kirk Ferentz, Iowa football coaching staff utilized racially discriminatory and punitive means to force African-American athletes into strict compliance with the program’s racist philosophy that effectively stripped away every cultural aspect of being an African-American.” The players, all of whom are Black, allege that “African-American athletes were more harshly, if not exclusively, punished or reprimanded for menial ‘disruptions’ like singing, dancing or ‘looking funny” and ridiculed about their hairstyles, the way they dressed and talked. The lawsuit claims that the atmosphere led to a graduation rate of Black male athletes at Iowa of just 42%, compared with a 77% rate for athletes overall at Iowa. The lawsuit is asking for the university to add personnel and training designed to rid the football program of racial biases.
Managing class schedules across time zones presents a number of challenges for international students, including maintaining a healthy sleep schedule and work/life balance, and connecting with classmates and professors in real time and/or during the work day. In the UCLA Daily Bruin, a number of international students spoke to the efforts the University and faculty have made to accommodate international students’ needs, and the noticeable gaps in understanding or support. UCLA indicated which classes were synchronous and asynchronous in the course catalog, which a number of students found helpful. But when it comes to exam time, it seems that not all professors are flexible with timing. “Students should be focusing on achieving academically and focusing on their work instead of trying to explain why… it is a bad idea to have classes or exams at 4am. That should be the least of their worries,” said Bakur Madini, a second-year physics and economics student who lives in Saudi Arabia.
Over the last decade, there has been a rise in largely low-income, Hispanic and first-generation students going to college in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. But since the start of the pandemic, stakeholders and experts fear that the hard-won educational progress will reverse. As The Hechinger Report states, overwhelmed school and university administrators cannot focus on their efforts to close the achievement gap, absenteeism in high school classes is up across the country, and uncertainty about the future has caused some students to wonder whether applying to college is worth it. New data has shown that Black and Hispanic college enrollment has already started to decline since the onset of Covid-19. “We’re going backward,” said Tania Tetlow, president of Loyola University New Orleans.
Sexual Assault and Title IX
USA Today reports that Louisiana State University failed to bring forward multiple allegations of sexual assault and misconduct against LSU’s star running back, Derrick Guice. Federal law and LSU policy requires athletic administration to report incidents to the Title IX office but instead, the supposed mandatory reporters doubted and denied the survivors’ stories, a pattern of protecting abusers which includes other athletes (including nine football players over the past four years) and fraternity brothers. In October, USA Today sued LSU, which has previously been under investigation for similar matters, for police reports, often public documents, that involve four football players that LSU had yet to make public. LSU released three of the reports in November with names redacted. LSU continues to withhold Title IX and police documents from victims who have requested their own files, reasoning that they must wait until the statute of limitations ends six years after the incident. Elizabeth Taylor, PhD, a professor at Temple University who studies sexual misconduct and violence within athletic organizations, said “I don’t assume that any of these coaches don’t understand that what’s happening is wrong. I think they’re making decisions that are best for the success of the program, and they’re making the decision to put the safety and well-being of other students behind a player’s ability to play on a Saturday afternoon.”
The University of California system has agreed to pay $73 million to more than 5,500 women who were patients of a former UCLA gynecologist who has been charged with 20 felony counts of sexual assault. The class action lawsuit was initiated by seven women who say that the physician, Dr. James Heaps sexually abused them during medical examinations.
Student Success
The latest enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center show that undergraduate attendance is trending down. The data reveal that undergraduate enrollment has dropped by 4.4 percent, compared with the same time last year. The number of Hispanic first-time freshmen fell sharply in the fall of 2020 after having grown 1.3 percent the year before.
Data from this November indicate community college enrollment has declined9.5%, a trend that goes against previous patterns of students flocking to community colleges to develop new skills and competencies during economic downturn. Freshman enrollment declined 18.9%, with Native American, Black, and Hispanic student enrollment taking the largest hits – 29.3%, 28.4%, and 27.5% decreases, respectively. Community colleges hope that the Biden administration will support their institutions and their students, especially considering the fact that Dr. Jill Biden wrote her doctoral dissertation on community college student retention and teaches English and writing as a professor at community college (something she plans to continue after she moves into the White House). Dr. Biden’s dissertation rests on four key retention strategies: deep advising relationships, faculty mentoring programs, mental health services, and more deliberate thought to students’ pathways.
College Affordability
NPR reports that President-elect Joe Biden has affirmed his support for erasing some student debt “immediately,” but the campaign promise remains controversial even among some Democrats. On Monday, Biden repeated his support for a provision passed as part of the HEROES Act, which calls for the federal government to pay off up to $10,000 in private, non-federal student loans for “economically distressed” borrowers. Some Senate Democrats are pushing for much more debt relief. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer co-authored a resolution with Sen. Elizabeth Warren calling for the next president to cancel up to $50,000 of outstanding federal student loans per borrower.
Coronavirus: Safety and Campus Reopenings
Two new studies from the U.S. Navy found that young, healthy people who contract the coronavirus are often asymptomatic, very rarely need hospital care and can transmit the virus to a roommate unwittingly even when following strict quarantine orders. The New York Times reports that the findings support the need for strong measures, like daily testing. “These findings all point to the need for ongoing testing strategies,” said Dr. Andrew Letizia, a commander and infectious disease specialist at the Naval Medical Research Center, in Silver Spring, Md., and lead author of one of the studies. “We need to augment public health measures and reinforce them with regular testing” in such settings, he said.
The GW Hatchet reports that students living in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington D.C. are witnessing weekly parties near campus, many centering around fraternity houses. One student with a chronic health issue said, “A lot of people our age aren’t familiar enough with chronic diseases or health concerns to really understand that there are people our age who have those things, and it is up to everyone to protect them. And it just is very disheartening to see people so careless with other people’s health.” They also said their apartment building has levied “almost no enforcement” against social distancing violations.
According to a new report from the CDC, Duke University‘s mass, mandatory Covid-19 testing strategy has kept infection rates low. The university found success using pooled testing combined with a mask mandate and effective contact tracing.
Policy and Politics
The Chronicle reports that Americans are increasingly split along partisan lines when it comes to their impression of colleges and universities; Democrats continue to report positive feelings whereas Republicans’ support for higher education and its value has waned. The Trump administration’s engagement with institutions of higher ed over the past four years included threatening to cut funding for free-speech infringements, limits and obstacles placed upon or in front of international students seeking higher education in the US, and administrative rhetoric painting college and university faculty as looking to sway the minds and votes of young people. However, data indicates that college campus political climates are less of a monolith than portrayed. Furthermore, those with college degrees are more likely to support Democratic candidates, whereas those without college degrees are more likely to support Republican candidates, though this is overwhelmingly reflective of white people whereas people of color generally support Democratic candidates regardless of education status.
The New York Times explores what a Biden administration Education Departmentwill look like. Besides more cautious school reopenings amid the pandemic, Biden has promised to make public college free, expanding federal financial aid and canceling some student debt. The incoming administration also plans to restore Obama-era civil rights guidance that allowed transgender students to choose their school bathrooms, and dismantle Betsy Devos’s new rules for federally funded schools investigating sexual misconduct, which could prove difficult. The administration is also likely to prioritize the immense backlog of loan forgiveness claims and the denials of assistance the Education Department has issued to students who claim they were cheated by their colleges.
