Transitions ACR’s Faculty Guide for Students with Serious Mental Health Conditions
The UMass Chan Medical School’s Transitions to Adulthood Center for Research (Transitions ACR) has published “The College Faculty Guide to Academic Supports for College Students with Serious Mental Health Conditions.”
A set of short videos narrated by college faculty and college students offer specific, actionable ideas for college faculty to support students with mental health conditions. From encouraging collaboration instead of competition, to increasing a sense of community, the series aims to dispel misconceptions and provide research-based information regarding how the experience of a mental health condition can impact a student’s academic participation and performance.
Mental and Behavioral Health
Main Stories
GBH News reports on students seeking peer support for help with mental health issues. Reporter Kirk Carapeeza focuses on a peer program at Boston College that helps students feel connected and supported. The story cites new national survey findings from Born This Way Foundation and the Mary Christie Institute, that shows keen interest in peer counseling among students on college campuses. The report found that Black, transgender and first-generation college students were more likely to say it’s very important to find a peer counselor with similar identities. It also found that interest in peer counseling has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic.
New data shows that age, gender, and college year affected the likelihood of students struggling with their mental health during the pandemic. On Tuesday, the National Survey of Student Engagement released results from over 230,000 survey responses. According to the research, female students and first-year students were more likely to experience mental health challenges. “One of the things that we have come to understand through these last couple years is the times students spend interacting with each other, … really connect very directly to students’ well-being, but also to their academic success as well,” said Kevin Kruger, president and CEO of NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.
Other News
In an op-ed for Yale Daily News, Yale graduate Nealie Ngo ‘18 argues that college suicides should be treated as a public health crisis in need of a public health solution. “At the community level, administration, faculty and student leaders need to normalize failures and mistakes in order to dismantle the culture of striving for perfection at the expense of mental health,” Ngo argues.
Inside Higher Ed reports on Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s grieving community after a series of student deaths over the past eight months, multiple of which were suicides. Students report the current campus atmosphere to be somber and heavily affected by the news.
Based on results from its Student Voice survey, Inside Higher Ed outlines 10 ways faculty, staff, and administrators can connect with students by hearing their personal stories. The data charts showcase childhood traumas carried by college students and whether students felt understood by their college or university.
Ohio State University’s Commission on Student Mental Health and Wellbeing shared recommendations on mental health initiatives after analyzing current and evolving students’ mental health needs.
Students and alumni at Bridgewater College urge peers to take care of mental health following the aftermath of a shooting that killed two officers. The community came together on campus on Wednesday to form a choir.
An article for The Beacon, the student newspaper of the University of Portland, offers a glimpse of stressors that feed into the college student mental health crisis. Experts discuss how the ramifications from the COVID-19 pandemic as well as isolation, stress, and trauma has increased anxiety and depression rates for young adults.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Recent bomb threats targeting HBCUs have raised safety concerns and discussions on historical racially-charged violence. As The Chronicle features an article on HBCUs reflecting on the history of racial violence, the Federal Bureau of Investigations has identified six suspects and are actively investigating the threats as hate crimes. At least 16 universities closed or cleared their campuses after the threats were received early in the morning.
In an op-ed for The Hechinger Report, Carolyn Dorantes, an 11th-grader at Rancho San Juan High School, writes about the lack of career and college advice in Hispanic communities such as hers. “Schools and community organizations in Salinas should invest more in developing college and career readiness. This could be done through career fairs and schoolwide college visits,” argues Dorantes.
Inside Higher Ed reports on California State University becoming the first system to ban Caste-based discrimination on campus. Although Caste, a system of social hierarchy determined from birth, is illegal in India and other South Asian countries, it still exists in practice. Prem Pariyar, whose last name identified him as part of the “untouchables,” began advocating to add Caste to the CSU’s nondiscrimination policies. Some faculty members opposed the move, arguing that it “will cause more discrimination by unconstitutionally singling out and targeting Hindu faculty of Indian and South Asian descent.”
Inside Higher Ed reports on San Quentin State Prison’s new accreditation as a college institution for incarcerated students. According to research by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, incarcerated people who enroll in college programs have a 43% lower recidivism rate than incarcerated individuals who do not. The program serves 300 students at a time due to space limitations.
Inside Higher Ed reports on faculty delaying their votes on a proposal for a new interdisciplinary center at Brown University. The Philosophy, Politics and Economics Center would allow scholars to do interdisciplinary work on social issues with colleagues who may not share the same political beliefs. However, the proposed center draws criticism and debate on the center’s accepting funding from concerning sources and groups.
Inside Higher Ed reports on a complaint alleging that fellow students and professors in Brooklyn College’s mental health counseling program have painted Jewish students as “white and privileged.” The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is investigating a complaint filed by two Jewish students who say that professors “have maligned Jews on the basis of race and ethnic identity by advancing the narrative that all Jews are white and privileged.”
Sexual Assault and Title IX
The New York Times and The Washington Post report that the University of California has settled to pay $243.6 million to 203 women following sexual abuse claims against James Heap, a former gynecologist at University of California at Los Angeles. “This is the latest in a series of massive, massive, systemic sexual injury of women at academic hospitals,” said John C. Manly, an attorney for similar cases at the University of Southern California and Michigan State.
The New York Times, Inside Higher Ed, and GBH News report on a lawsuit from three graduate students alleging that Harvard University ignored a decade of sexual harassment from a tenured professor. The accusations against professor of anthropology, John Comaroff, has led to controversy. Ninety faculty members have signed a letter defending Comaroff and fifty more replied in an open letter criticizing the defenders. Comaroff was placed on unpaid administrative leave last month once university investigations found that he violated sexual harassment and professional conduct policies.
Student Success
Higher Ed Dive and Inside Higher Ed report on college completion rates reaching 62.2%, the highest level to date. A new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center found that the national six-year completion rate for students who began college in 2015 increased by 1.2%. Completion rates increased for all institution types, with public colleges seeing the largest increases.
Inside Higher Ed reports that on Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the College Transparency Act. The Act would require colleges to release information on student enrollment, retainment, transfer and completion rates for all programs and degree levels to the Department of Education. Data will be disaggregated by demographics, race and ethnicity, gender, and age, providing information on how colleges fair in their education and postgraduate outcomes.
College Affordability
The Chronicle features an article on the latest college scorecard tool measuring college affordability and return on investment, released on Monday from the U.S. Department of Education. The tool, however, only includes information from students who received federal financial aid.
Inside Higher Ed reports that more states are considering legislation to require high school students to complete FAFSA applications upon graduation. The six states of Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Nebraska, New York and South Carolina are examining policies for public high school students to complete federal aid forms or sign waivers to opt-out in order to boost state college enrollment numbers and affordability.
Basic Needs
The Chronicle reports on California’s college students struggling with homelessness. California state senator, David Cortese, suggests providing state-aid payments on a monthly basis to low-income students. Approximately 53,000 students, or 11%, in the California State University system reported experiencing homelessness at least once in a 12-month period.
COVID-19: Safety and Reopening
The Washington Post reports that college students are worrying about Virginia’s recent decision to eradicate vaccine mandates. After Governor Glenn Youngkin ordered colleges and universities to stop requiring employees to be vaccinated, student organizers and groups expressed their concerns. The American College Health Association, recommends that higher education leaders implement vaccine requirements for their students.
The New York Times reports on states across the nation easing mask orders. On Monday, New Jersey Governor, Philip Murphy, announced that the state’s school mask mandate would end for students and employees in mid-March. Other states followed suit. Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont recommended that the statewide mask mandate in schools end by February 28th and the governors of Delaware and Oregon announced relaxing mask requirements by the end of March.
